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© 2002 Kiseido Publishing Inc.

Basic Techniques of Go

Haruyama Isamu, 9-dan & Nagahara Yoshiaki, 6-dan; edited by Richard Bozulich

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

The most useful book for beginning players ever written. After introducing the basic principles of opening play, the reader is shown practical sure-win strategies that he or she can use in handicap games. A chapter is devoted to tesujis (tactical brilliancies), with 69 examples and 50 problems. The book ends with a chapter on the endgame.

Copyright Page

Published by
Kiseido Publishing Company
Tokyo, Amsterdam, Santa Monica
CPO Box 1140, Tokyo, Japan

Copyright © 2002 by Kiseido Publishing Company

All rights reserved according to international law. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for public or private use without the written permission of the publisher.

ISBN of print edition: 4–906574–02–5

Conversion to SmartGo Books by John Mifsud

Contents

Basic Techniques of Go

Copyright Page

Preface to the Third Edition

Technical Terms

Chapter One:
Principles of Even-Game Openings

a) The Opening Moves

b) Corner Enclosures

c) Approach Moves

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

d) Timing of Corner Enclosures, Approach Moves and Extensions

How to Play Handicap Go

Chapter Two:
The Nine-Stone Handicap and the Attach-and-Extend Joseki

Chapter Three:
Six-Stone Handicap Opening Strategy

a) White’s Capping Strategy

b) Invading the Side

Chapter Four:
Four-Stone Handicap and the One-Space Jump Joseki

The One-Space Jump in Four-Stone Handicap Openings

a) The Pincer

b) Double Approach Moves

c) Double Pincer

d) The Attachment

e) Capping

f) The Invasion

Chapter Five:
A Survey of Tesuji

Tesuji Problems

Chapter Six:
The Endgame

a) Counting the Size of a Territory

b) Sente Endgame

c) Counting the Size of an Endgame Play

d) Endgame Tesujis

e) Endgame Problems

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Preface to the Third Edition

This book is written for players who know the rules and the most elementary tactics and wish to reach expert strength. It assumes that the reader has read one of the Ishi Press beginner books such as Introduction to Go, The Magic of Go, or Go for Beginners.

The text of this edition has been completely rewritten, although the diagrams (and content) are nearly the same as those in the second edition. The only major change has been the updating of an old joseki by Rob van Zeijst, which appears in Chapter Four in the Double Approach Moves section. In addition, the order of the chapters has been changed: what is now Chapter Five, Tesuji, was Chapter One in the previous two editions. In addition, a number of errors have been corrected.

In the first two editions, Japanese terms were used throughout the book. In this edition, I have eliminated almost all these terms, retaining only the most essential ones such as atari, sente, gote, etc. These terms are defined in the glossary at the beginning. I believe this change will make this book more accessible to all beginning players.

The three main areas of go are covered in this book: the opening, the middle game, and the endgame. The emphasis in the opening sections is on handicap go. Since beginners plays most of their games with handicaps, they will have ample opportunity to adopt the strategies described in this book. It is hoped that these strategies will help them win most of their high-handicap games.

Richard Bozulich
April, 1992

Technical Terms

Go has a number of technical terms which refer to concepts basic to the understanding of its tactics and strategies. Some of these Japanese terms have no good English equivalents, the reader should simply learn what is meant by them and add these words to his go vocabulary. Henceforth, these terms will be used just as if they were English words.

Atari

Atari is a threat to capture a stone or a group of stones on the next move. Diagrams 1a to 1c is an example.

Dia. 1a

In Dia. 1a, the white stone is in atari, since Black can capture it on the next move by playing at ‘a’. White could escape by extending to the point ‘a’ himself.

If White doesn’t play at ‘a’, Black could capture by playing 1 in Dia. 1b.

Dia. 1b

The result of this capture is shown in Dia. 1c.

Dia. 1c

When one player puts an opponent’s stone or stones in atari, he will often announce this by saying ‘atari’ (although this isn’t required), just as one announces ‘check’ in chess.

Sente and Gote

A move is called sente if it creates a threat so large that the other player cannot avoid responding to it. Gote is the opposite: it is a move which defends a position and the other player need not respond to it. (Note that many gote moves have some aggressive potential and are not completely defensive.) Dia. 2 is an example:

Dia. 2

White 1 is sente. Black must answer it by playing 2. If Black omits this move, White will play at 2 and the black stones will die. On the other hand, Black 2 is gote. It only defends the stones in the corner and creates no threats. White can now play elsewhere.

Fuseki

The fuseki is the opening stage of the game in which the two players map out their prospective territories. It is usually defined as lasting until the first fight begins. In this book we will use the English word ‘opening’ to refer to the fuseki.

Joseki

A joseki is a set sequence which are the best moves for each side. Joseki usually take place in the corners, although they can also occur on the side; some even involve a whole side of the board. They usually occur in the opening stages of the game.

Ko

One of the rules of go states that no previous board position may be recreated. This rule prevents endlessly repetitive situations from occurring.

Dia. 3

Diagram 3 shows an example. If Black captures the marked stone with 1, then White recaptures the marked stone, Black again recaptures, etc., we would have an endlessly repetitive situation. The ko rule prevents this from happening. After Black captures at 1, White must play on a point other than where the marked stone was. If Black doesn’t connect at the point where the marked stone is with move 3, then White can recapture the black stone at 1.

Ladder

A ‘ladder’ is a method of capturing stones which results in a pattern resembling the steps of a ladder tilted diagonally. Diagram 4 below is an example.

Dia. 4

Black 1 catches the marked white stone in a ladder. If White resists, Black will drive him to the edge of the board and capture all his stones with 17. If White had a stone in the vicinity of 10 before Black played 1, the ladder would not work and Black’s efforts would end in failure. Such a stone is called a ladder-breaker. When you are thinking about capturing stones with this tactic, close attention must be paid to all stones in the line of the projected ladder.

Chapter One: Principles of Even-Game Openings

a) The Opening Moves

In the opening both players should aim at occupying the corners because it is easier to construct territory there. Moreover, a stone in the corner can be easily defended.

Dia. 1

Dia. 1 (Six stones, nine points)

Black’s six stones in the corner surround nine points of territory.

Dia. 2

Dia. 2 (Nine stones, nine points)

For Black to get nine points on the side, he needs nine stones. Now try taking nine points in the center. You will find that twelve stones are necessary. These diagrams illustrate a basic principle of the opening: ‘Play first in the corners, then on the sides, and finally in the center.’

Dia. 3

Dia. 3 (It’s easy to defend the corner)

This diagram shows that a stone in the corner can be easily defended. Black has played 1 in the corner, and White attacks it with 2. If Black ignores this move and plays 3 elsewhere, letting White attack again with 4, Black can still play the sequence to 9. Black’s stones in the corner are now secure and White has no viable way to attack them. Note that this way of playing is a bit inelegant; it is given only for the purpose of illustration.

Dia. 4

Dia. 4 (Defense on the side is harder)

If Black plays a stone on the side with 1, letting White have two moves with 2 and 4 leaves the black stone without a base. Black’s only recourse is to jump into the center with 5. Without the option of securing a base on the side, these two black stones could become a burden on Black.

Dia. 5

Dia. 5 (The usual opening corner moves)

There are five corner points where the first move is usually played: the 3—4 point at ‘a’, the 3—3 point at ‘b’, the star point (the 4—4 point) at ‘c’, the 5—3 point at ‘d’ and the 5—4 point at ‘e’. Each of these moves has a different strategic aim.

Dia. 6

Dia. 6 (The 3–4 point)

A black stone on the 3—4 point is easily defended, as we saw in Dia. 3 above. The stability of a stone on this point enables Black to answer a white approach move at ‘a’ with a pincer at any of the points ‘d’, ‘e’, ‘f’, ‘g’ or ‘h’. If White neglects to play an approach move, Black could enclose the corner by playing at ‘a’ (or ‘b’ or ‘c’) himself, taking a profit there. Corner enclosures will be studied in the next section.

Dia. 7

Dia. 7 (The 3—3 point)

When Black plays a stone at the 3—3 point, he intends to secure the corner with one move. If White doesn’t attack this stone, Black can make a corner enclosure at ‘a’ or ‘b’, or extend to ‘c’ depending on the situation.

Dia. 8

Dia. 8 (The shoulder hit)

The shoulder hit of White 1 is a severe attack. The moves to White 5 are a typical exchange. Black secures the corner, while White gets outside influence.

Dia. 9

Dia. 9 (Other ways White can attack)

Besides the shoulder hit of White 1 in Dia. 8, White can also attack the 3—3 point stone with an approach move at ‘a’ or ‘b’. If White ‘a’, Black ‘c’ is the usual reply; if White ‘b’, Black ‘c’ and ‘d’ are both possible.

Dia. 10

Dia. 10 (The star point)

The strategy of the star point is just the opposite to that of the 3—3 point. When Black plays 1 on the star point, he is not concerned with territory; rather, he wishes to use this stone to get influence on the outside. That’s why it’s not a good idea for Black to make a corner enclosure at ‘a’ or ‘b’, since this kind of move doesn’t secure the corner — White can still invade at ‘c’ and live. To secure the corner, Black needs an additional move at ‘d’. However, using three moves to enclose a corner is a bit slow. This is contrary to the strategy of playing on the star point, which is quick development.

Dia. 11

Dia. 11 (Invading the corner)

When Black plays on the star point, he should not worry about a white invasion at the 3—3 point. Rather, he should extend to 1 (or even as far as ‘a’, depending on the situation) and hope White invades. Look at the result when White invades at 2. Black blocks at 3 and the moves to 13 naturally follow. White has taken the corner while Black has magnificent thickness. The black stone at 1 is on a very good point (in this case, ‘a’ would be even better). White has gained about 10 points in the corner, but the value of Black’s outside thickness is far greater.

Dia. 12

Dia. 12 (The 5–3 point)

When Black plays 1 at the 5—3 point, his intention here is to emphasize the side. The usual way for White to attack this stone is to play at ‘a’. If White neglects to play this move, Black will occupy ‘a’ and make a corner enclosure.

Dia. 13

Dia. 13 (Black expands the side)

Against White 1, Black’s standard reply is to press at 2. Up to 5, White secures some area on the lower side, and Black extends to 6, expanding his area on the left side.

Dia. 14

Dia. 14 (The 5—4 point)

A move on the 5—4 point emphasizes central influence. It is not as tight as the star point, since White has more leeway when he invades the corner at ‘a’. Still, the 5—4 point is not inferior. If White neglects to play at ‘a’, Black will play there to make a corner enclosure.

Dia. 15

Dia. 15 (White is confined to the corner)

This diagram shows how easy it is for Black to get central influence with the 5—4 point. When White plays 2, Black plays a knight’s move with 3. After the moves to Black 7, White is confined to the corner, while Black dominates the center.

b) Corner Enclosures

In the opening, it is quite common for one or both players to make corner enclosures. The advantages of enclosing a corner are: 1) it secures a profit in the corner; 2) it projects influence along the sides and into the center. We will study the three main types of corner enclosures.

Dia. 1

Dia. 1 (The small-knight corner enclosure)

The small-knight enclosure shown here is very popular among professional players nowadays. It emphasizes corner territory, but its influence towards the center is not so strong, because of a weak point at ‘a’.

Dia. 2

Dia. 2 (The one-point corner enclosure)

In contrast to the corner enclosure in Dia. 1, the one-point enclosure is strong in the direction of the center. However, the corner territory is not as secure because of a possible white approach at ‘a’.

Dia. 3

Dia. 3 (The large-knight corner enclosure)

The large-knight enclosure is similar to the small-knight enclosure in that it emphasizes defense of the corner. But this defense is looser. White can wrest the corner away from Black by invading at ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’. Moreover, there is also an erasure move at ‘d’.

Dia. 4

Dia. 4 (Developing from a corner enclosure)

Since a corner enclosure exerts influence along the sides, the best way to use this influence is by making an extension. The correct direction is towards 1, perpendicular to the line of the enclosure stones. Later, Black can play at ‘a’, forming the boundary for a huge valley of territory.

Dia. 5

Dia. 5 (The wrong direction)

Extending to Black 1 is the wrong direction. This move should be played only after Black has played 1 in Dia. 4, because White can easily invade at ‘b’ or ‘c’, even after Black has reinforced at ‘a’. In Dia. 4, however, the best White can do after Black reinforces at ‘a’ is to make an erasing move at ‘b’, to which Black responds with ‘c’. In addition, the scale of Black ‘a’ in Dia. 4 is much larger than the scale of Black ‘a’ in Dia. 5. These same principles of extending from a corner enclosure also hold true for both the small-knight and large-knight corner enclosures.

Dia. 6

Dia. 6 (Priority of extension)

Black and White have each made two corner enclosures. Where is the key point for Black?

Since the black and white enclosures on the left side are facing each other along the line of their strongest influence, ‘a’ is the key point. Not only does it extend from the enclosure, it also limits the influence of the opponent’s enclosure. The points ‘b’ and ‘c’ have almost the same value. If Black had already played at ‘a’, White would play ‘b’ next, since this would extend from his enclosure at the bottom right and limit the scope of Black’s enclosure on the left. The point ‘d’ is the least important. An extension in this direction has the least value for either side.

Dia. 7

Dia. 7 (The limit of an extension from a corner enclosure)

Black 1 is the furthest Black should extend from his enclosure. After extending to 1, he still has the possibility of another extension to ‘a’. Extending as far as ‘b’ is not good. Black’s stone is too close to the white enclosure, so he hasn’t room to make a good extension.

Dia. 8

Dia. 8 (The power of the one-point enclosure)

After Black plays the marked stone, White might invade with 1. Up to Black 8, White’s invasion fails. He has no way of saving his four stones.

Dia. 9

Dia. 9 (White escapes)

In contrast to Dia. 8, if Black has a small-knight enclosure, White’s invasion will succeed. With the moves up to 5, he escapes into the center.

Dia. 10

Dia. 10 (Weakness in the corner)

The above examples show that the one-point enclosure exerts strong influence towards the center. However, since White can play at 1, this enclosure does not defend the corner so strongly. If Black extends to 2, White will aim at ‘a’, followed by Black ‘b’, Depending upon the situation, White might choose to play ‘b’ instead of ‘a’.

Dia. 11

Dia. 11 (Double-wing formation)

When Black has made a one-point enclosure, the extensions of the two marked stones are ideal. This shape is called a ‘double-wing formation’. The reason why it’s so good is that the marked stone on the left is a perfect extension from the strong side of the enclosure, while the marked stone at the bottom removes the weakness at ‘a’. Moreover, the territory which Black is mapping out is very large.

Dia. 12
10: connects

Dia. 12 (Erasing Black’s central influence)

However, when Black has a small-knight enclosure, the double-wing formation is not so effective. White can cap at 1, effectively erasing Black’s central influence. The moves shown here are a common pattern. Instead of 12, Black could play 13, but the situation in the corner will become complicated. After 13, White will aim at attacking the marked black stone.

Dia. 13

Dia. 13 (The diagonal move)

Against the cap of White 1, Black can reply with the diagonal move of 2 if he wants to secure territory on the lower side. The moves up to White 7 are one way of playing.

Dia. 14

Dia. 14 (Sacrifice)

Even though White’s stones in Dia. 13 seem thin, they are actually quite resilient. If Black pushes out and cuts with 1 and 3, White simply sacrifices three stones with the moves from 4 to 8. Black’s ‘ideal’ extension (the marked stone) is now cut off and faces a strong white wall.

c) Approach Moves

A large advantage in one part of the board can be obtained by making a corner enclosure. Therefore, whenever possible, this should be prevented. The standard move used to do so is an approach move. Against the 3—4 point, there are four standard approach moves.

Dia. 1

Dia. 1 (The small-knight approach)

Of all the approach moves, the small-knight move of White 1 is the most severe. Not only does it prevent Black from securing territory in the corner, it also threatens to play at ‘a’ or ‘b’ next.

Dia. 2

Dia. 2 (The diagonal attachment)

Black can certainly secure the corner by diagonally attaching at 2. The result to 5 is equal, but since Black played in the corner first, he should do better than this. A more aggressive style of playing is recommended.

Dia. 3

Dia. 3 (The pincer)

The standard way of answering the approach move at 1 is with a pincer like 2. Other pincers, such as ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, or ‘d’, can also be played. White responds by jumping to 3 and Black extends to 4, staking out territory on the side. This result is better for Black than Dia. 2: he has taken territory, while the two white stones are under attack.

Dia. 4

Dia. 4 (The diagonal response)

In certain circumstances, Black might also make the diagonal move of 2 against the approach of White 1. This is a good move, though not as severe as a pincer, because it’s a bit slow. However, it gives Black a number of options: he can press at ‘a’ or extend to around ‘b’. In addition, he can attack from the right with a pincer at ‘c’ or ‘d’.

Dia. 5

Dia. 5 (The one-space high approach)

If White is concerned about central influence, he will choose the one-space high approach of 1. Black can either answer with a pincer at ‘a’ or ‘b’ or attach at ‘c’ or ‘d’. These are the most common. When Black wants to keep things peaceful, he may simply extend to ‘e’ or ‘f’.

Dia. 6

Dia. 6 (Attaching)

Attaching at 2 is also a peaceful way of playing. After the moves to White 7, Black has a territory in the corner while White has developed along the side. In contrast to Dia. 2, this result is satisfactory for Black since his corner territory is larger than White’s territory on the side.

Dia. 7

Dia. 7 (The large-knight approach)

The large-knight approach of White 1 is a bit passive, because Black can respond with 2, thereby securing the corner. White must now extend to 3 to establish a base along the side. Black will now aim to attack the two white stones from the point ‘a’. However, this result may not necessarily be bad; in some positions the large-knight approach may be a good move.

Dia. 8

Dia. 8 (An ideal approach)

Considering White’s thickness on the right, the large-knight approach of Black 1 is the best move available. If White defends the corner with 2, Black will extend to 3, nullifying White’s thickness. Alternatively, for White to make a pincer around 3 would be too close to his thickness.

Dia. 9

Dia. 9 (The wrong approach)

The small-knight approach of Black 1 allows White to utilize his thick position on the right to the maximum with the ideal pincer of 2.

Dia. 10

Dia. 10 (The two-space high approach)

The two-space high approach of White 1 is also a passive way of playing. It is rarely used in professional play.

Dia. 11

Dia. 11 (White has failed)

When White plays 1, Black can play 2, 4, and 6, taking area in the corner almost as if he had made an enclosure. Since one of the reasons for playing an approach move is to prevent the formation of an enclosure, there seems to be something lacking in this move. However, if White already has a thick position towards the right, the wall made with the moves to 7 might be adequate compensation for the territory Black has taken.