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© 1985 by Kano Yoshinori
English Translation © 1985, 2011 Richard Bozulich

Graded Go Problems
For Beginners

Volume One
Introductory Problems

Kano Yoshinori 9-dan
Translated by Richard Bozulich

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Graded Go Problems for Beginners are the ideal books for players who have just learned the rules of Go, bridging the gap between a beginner’s book and some of the more ‘advanced’ elementary books.

The almost 1,500 problems these four volumes contain thoroughly drill the reader in the fundamentals of the game. Once you have finished studying these four books, you will have mastered the elements of capturing and defending stones, life and death of groups, elementary tactics, the opening, and the endgame, thus laying a solid foundation for his future progress.

Volume One contains 239 introductory level problems (30-kyu to 25-kyu). It’s an ideal companion to Cho Chikun’s “A Complete Introduction to the Game”.

Copyright Page

Published by
Kiseido Publishing Company
CPO Box 1140
Tokyo, Japan

Copyright © 1985 by Kano Yoshinori
English Translation Copyright © 1985, 2011 Richard Bozulich

All rights reserved according to international law. This book and parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Contents

Graded Go Problems for Beginners
Volume One
Introductory Problems

Copyright Page

About the Author & Translator

Preface

How to Play Go

Glossary of Japanese Go Terms

Introductory Problems Level One

How to Capture Stones

How to Save Endangered Stones

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

Recognizing Atari

Connecting and Separating Stones

Ko

Ladders

Living Groups and Dead Groups

How to Play in the Opening

Endgame and Other Moves

Introductory Problems Level Two

How to Capture Stones

How to Save Endangered Stones

How to Give Atari

Ladders

Snapback and Related Moves

Connecting and Separating Stones

Living Groups and Dead Groups

Ko

How to Play in the Opening

Endgame

Introductory Problems Level Three
Life and Death Problems

Making Life

Killing Groups

Life and Death

Seki

Ko

Capturing Races

Introductory Problems Level Four

Atari

Capturing Races

Nets

Snapback

Oiotoshi

Brilliant Moves and Bad Moves

Seki

Connecting and Separating Stones

Living Groups and Dead Groups

How to Play in the Opening

Endgame

Go Books from Kiseido

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About SmartGo Books

About the Author & Translator

Kano Yoshinori was born on April 14, 1928 in Kyoto and died on May 2, 1999. He came to Tokyo at the age of nine and became a disciple of Suzuki Hideko 5-dan. He became 1-dan in 1943 and in 1968 he attained the top rank of 9-dan. In 1948 he won the Young Professional’s Championship, in 1955 he won the top section of the Oteai, and in 1961 he won the 5th Prime Minister’s Cup. He played in the 14th, 20th, 25th, and 26th Honinbo leagues. In 1975 he went to Austria and Russia, then in 1979 he led a team of high school go players to China for a goodwill match. He graduated from the Japanese Literature Department of Japan University, making him one of the few professional go players to have graduated from university. His most prominent disciple is the Taiwanese go player, O Rissei 9-dan, winner of the 2000 and 2001 Kisei titles. In 2001 he won the Judan title which he currently holds.

Richard Bozulich is the president of Kiseido Publishing Company. He learned how to play go in 1958 while a studying mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. He came to Japan in 1967 to study go and founded The Ishi Press for the purpose of publishing go books in English. In 1982, he founded Kiseido. Invincible: The Games of Shusaku by John Power was its first publication.

Preface

This collection of problems is intended for players who are learning the rules of go. They cover all phases of the game, from the opening to the endgame; the third part is devoted to life-and-death problems.

It is assumed that the reader is studying a good beginner’s book on go, such as Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game. For reference, we have included a brief summary of the rules.

It is my hope that by studying and solving the problems in these four volumes, the reader will establish a solid foundation on which to base his future progress.

March, 1985
Kano Yoshinori 9-dan

How to Play Go

Go is usually played on a 19x19 grid, or board, resulting in 361 intersections on which the pieces, or stones as they are usually called, are placed. Dia. 1 shows the empty board. Note the nine marked points on the board. These points are referred to as the ‘star points’. They serve as points of reference, as well as markers on which stones are placed in handicap games.

Dia. 1

Although most go games are played on a 19x19 board, beginners often learn the game on a 9x9 board with 81 intersections. After a few games they will move up to the 13x13 board, then graduate to the standard 19x19 board.

A standard go set contains 361 stones: 181 black stones and 180 white. They are put inside containers, called bowls.

To play go, it is necessary to learn only a few simple rules. We will first start with seven general rules.

General Rules

1. Go is played by two people.

2. One side plays with the black stones, the other side with the white ones. The players take turns playing their moves, one at a time.

3. A move consists of placing a stone on an intersection of the board. Stones can also be placed on the edge and corner points.

4. Once a stone is placed on an intersection, it cannot be moved to another point.

5. When there is a difference in strength between the contestants, the weaker player places extra stones on the board to compensate for the difference in strength.

6. In an even game, the side holding the black stones always plays first, but in a handicap game, it is White who plays first.

7. The object of the game is to take more territory than your opponent.

An Example Game

To show how the game of go is played and its objective is achieved, we present a game on a 9x9 board. Don’t think so much about the reasons for the moves, rather, concentrate on how Black and White form territory.

Figure 1

Figure 1 (1–9). Black plays his first move on the central point and White plays 2. With the sequence to Black 9, White has staked out the top as his territory and Black has laid claim to the bottom.

Figure 2

Figure 2 (10–27). White 10 and 12 reduce the size of Black’s territory at the bottom. Before blocking at 15, Black plays 13, threatening to break into White’s territory at the top. White must defend with 14. White again expands his territory with 16 and 18, while reducing Black’s. Black 19 forces White to connect at 20. After Black plays 27, the boundaries of Black’s and White’s territories have been defined and the game is over.

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the result. White has taken control of 23 intersections and Black 31. Therefore, Black wins by 8 points.

Four Technical Rules

1. Capturing Stones

Dia. 2

A stone can be captured if all the lines leading out to adjacent intersections are blocked by the opponent’s stones. In Dia. 2, if Black plays 1 in any of these three positions, the white stone will be captured and taken off the board. The stone that is threatened with capture is said to be in ‘atari’.

Dia. 3

This rule also applies to groups of two or more stones. For example, Black can capture three stones and take them off the board in the lower right of Dia. 3 by playing at 1. Black 1 in the upper left also captures four stones.

Dia. 4

In the previous example game, no captures were made, but there were a few threats to capture. For example, when Black played 17 in Figure 2, White defended with 18. If White had ignored Black 17 (the marked stone in Dia. 4), Black could atari the marked stone with 1 in Dia. 4. White could also atari with 2, but Black would capture with 3.

Dia. 5

Suppose White tries to escape by extending to 2 in Dia. 5. Black pursues him by making another atari with 3. White continues his attempt to escape by crawling to 4. Even though this move is an atari, White has not gotten out of atari himself and Black captures three white stones with 5.

Dia. 6

Now look at Black 19 in Figure 2 (the marked stone in Dia. 6). We said that this move forces White to defend at 20. What happens if he doesn’t defend? Black will atari two stones with 1 in Dia. 6. There is no way to escape, so White must atari with 2 and Black captures two stones with 3.

What about White 22 and 24 in Figure 2? Both these moves are atari and Black defends against capture by connecting at 23 and 25 respectively.

Please note that defending against an atari is not mandatory. There are many positions in which the best move is not to defend.

2. Suicide Is Illegal

Dia. 7

Although a player can make a move anywhere he chooses, there are two restrictions. The first one is the prohibition against suicide. In the four positions shown in Dia. 7, White 1 are illegal moves. That is, White is not allowed to play on these points because he places his stone(s) in atari and they will be taken off the board. However, you should note that there is no restriction on Black with respect to playing on these points.

Dia. 8

The moves Black 1 in Dia. 8 may seem illegal, like the ones in Dia. 4, but even though Black seems to be playing on prohibited points, he is capturing stones, so these moves are not illegal. In other words, capturing stones takes priority over illegal moves.

3. Ko

Dia. 9

Look at the position in Dia. 9 where Black captures a stone with 1. The result is shown in Dia. 10.

Dia. 10

Dia. 11

You might think that White could recapture with 1 in Dia. 11, but the position in Dia. 12 is the same as Dia. 9.

Dia. 12

If Black were allowed to recapture again, an endless repetition of capture—recapture could result if both sides refuse to stop. This kind of situation is called a ko.

To prevent this from happening, the following special rule was created:

If one side captures a stone in a ko, the other side cannot recapture on the next move.

Another way this rule is stated is:

No move is allowed that will recreate a previous board position.

The next example on a 13x13 board shows how a ko can arise in a game.

Figure 4

Figure 4 (1–14). Black stakes out the top with 1 and 3, while White plays 2 and 4 at the bottom. The game continues to Black 13, after which White captures the stone at 7 with 14, starting a ko.

Figure 5

Figure 5 (15–17). Because of the ko rule, Black cannot immediately capture the stone at 14. Therefore, he plays elsewhere at 15, threatening to split White’s stones on the lower left in two. If White defends with 16, Black can capture the ko at 17.

Figure 6

Figure 6 (18–20). It is White’s turn to make a ko threat. He attaches at 18. Black captures a stone with 19, ending the ko, but White takes the initiative at the top with 20.

Figure 7

Figure 7 (15–17). Instead of 16 in Figure 5, White might choose to end the ko by connecting with 16. In that case, Black would split the white stones on the left in two by playing 17. Regardless of the strategic merits of these moves, this game shows how a ko is fought.

4. The End of the Game

The game is over when there are no longer any profitable points to be taken. This stage has been reached in Dia. 13. Four things must now be done.

A. Both sides must first agree that the game is over.

B. The neutral points are filled and the defects in one’s territory are defended.

C. The dead stones are removed from the board and placed in the opponent’s territory.

D. The amount of territory each side has is counted.

Dia. 13

In Dia. 13, the points marked with an ✕ are the neutral points. Since they have no value, it doesn’t matter which side plays them, but it is customary for the players to take turns filling them as is done in Dia. 14. Neither side has any defects, so defensive moves are not necessary.

Dia. 14

There are three dead white stones and three dead black ones. These stones have no chance to make two eyes, so they are removed from the board. White removes the three black stones in the upper left in Dia. 13 and places them in Black’s territory in the upper right in Dia. 14 (the three marked black stones). For his part, Black removes the three white stones in the lower left in Dia. 13 and places them in White’s territory in the lower right in Dia. 14 (the three marked white stones). The territory is now counted.

Black has 20 points in the lower left and 19 points in the upper right for a total of 39 points.

White has 16 points in the lower right and 22 points in the upper left for a total of 38 points.

Black wins by one point.

This is all you need to know to start playing go.

Living Groups

Are there stones that are completely surrounded but still alive? If you understand the rule about suicide, you should be able to answer this question.

Dia. 1

In Dia. 1, there are three black groups which can never be captured. In the group at the bottom, White can never play on the points A or B because he would be committing suicide. Therefore, even if all the outside liberties remain, Black can never be captured. For the same reason, the black group in the upper left corner and the one on the right side are also immune from capture.

The points A and B are called eyes. If a group has eyes in at least two separated places, the group is said to be ‘alive’. It doesn’t matter where these eyes are: in the center, on the edge, or in the corner.

Dia. 2

As we explained, it is impossible for the black group on the right in Dia. 2 to be captured, even though it is completely surrounded. But the black group on the left is dead; that is, White can capture it by playing 1 in Dia. 3.

Dia. 3
3 at 1

If Black captures at 2, he is left with one liberty. White plays back in at 1 and captures the black stones. You might have thought that Black had two eyes, but this is just a two-point eye space and not two separated eyes.

False Eyes

Dia. 4

The black stones at the bottom in Dia. 4 are dead since they have only one real eye. They certainly have a two-point eye space in the corner, which is certainly a real eye, but the eye at A, even though it looks like an eye, is a ‘false eye’. If White fills the two liberties of the three-stone group surrounding the point A, Black will be in atari and will have to defend by connecting at A. Black’s only eye is the two-point eye space in the corner.

In the group at the top, the points A and B on the edge are also false eyes. Black can be forced to play on these points, so his group will be left with only one eye and is dead.

Seki

Dia. 5

Look at the position in Dia. 5. The group of four black stones and the group of three white stones in the middle do not have eyes. However, both groups are alive since neither side can atari the other.

Dia. 6

For example, if White attacks the black stones by playing at 1 in Dia. 6, he puts himself into atari and Black will capture four white stones with 2. On the other hand, if Black plays at 1, White will capture five black stones by playing at 2. As you can see, neither side can play here without suffering a loss, so the stones remain on the board at the end of the game. This kind of a position is called a seki.

A necessary condition for a seki to exist is that all the stones surrounding the stones in a seki are alive.

The two points between the groups in seki do not count as territory.

Dia. 7

In the seki in Dia. 7, each of the black and white groups have an eye, but there is a white stone inside Black’s eye. At the end of the game, before Black passes, he will capture this stone, thereby gaining a point. However, the eye in each of the groups in the seki are not counted as territory.

Nakade

It often happens that when a group of your stones is surrounded and has an eye space, your opponent will place a stone inside that eye space, and reduce it to one eye. This kind of move is called nakade.

Dia. 8

The three positions in Dia. 8 are examples of the three-point eye spaces: in the corner, in the center, and on the side. White can kill each of these groups by playing on the point A. These moves are examples of nakade. On the other hand, Black can make two eyes and live in each of the three positions by playing at A.

There are many varieties of eye spaces. They come in all sizes and shapes. Many of them can be reduced to one eye with nakade moves, others can not. You will find many examples in the problem section.

Handicaps

When there is a difference in strength between two players, the weaker player will take a handicap and place stones on specified points to compensate for the difference. Handicaps range from nine stones to two stones.

Dia. 9

Dia. 9 shows the order of placement for a nine-stone handicap. In an eight-stone handicap, Black doesn’t put the stone at 9 on the board. For a seven-stone handicap, Black 7 is placed on the central point. Finally, for a six-stone handicap, Black only places the stones from 1 to 6.

Dia. 10

The placements for five- to two-stone handicaps are shown in Dia. 10.

Komi

Since Black moves first, he has the advantage. In order to make a game an even contest, Black concedes to White a number of points of territory before the start of the game. When the score is counted, these points are subtracted from Black’s score. This compensation is called komi. The usual komi given to White by Black is 6½ points. Although half points do not arise in actual play, it is a device used in tournament games to ensure that draws do not occur.

Other Books to Continue Your Study of Go

This has been a brief introduction to go. It is recommended that you study a more complete presentation of the rules. The book we recommend is Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game, by Cho Chikun, which is available from Kiseido Publishing Company in printed form and in SmartGo Books on the iPad. See Go Books from Kiseido for a partial listing of go books and magazine published by Kiseido.

Glossary of Japanese Go Terms

atari — A move that leaves an opposing stone or group with only one liberty, threatening to capture on the next move.

dame — Neutral points which profit neither Black nor White.

dan — A ranking scale running from shodan (1-dan) up to 9-dan. For amateurs, there is a one-stone difference between ranks. For professionals, the difference is usually a third of a stone. At present, the top amateur rank in Japan is 8-dan, which is considered comparable to professional shodan.

double atari — an atari that threatens to capture two different groups of stones.

eye — A point which is surrounded by stones of the same color.

ko — A shape in which your stone is captured, but it is illegal to retake the capturing stone even though you can occupy all of its liberties.

kyu — A rank given to players to indicate their strength. Beginners are arbitrarily classified at 35-kyu and as they become stronger, the numerical value of their kyu decreases. For example, 15-kyu is stronger than 20-kyu. See dan.

oiotoshi — A move which gives atari to a group of stones in such a way that no matter how one defends, the group will still be in atari.

seki — A stalemate between opposing groups. If one side tries to attack the other side’s group, his own group will find itself in atari and be captured. Therefore, neither side can attack or atari the other.

snapback — A tactic in which one stone is offered as a sacrifice. If it is taken, the capturing stones are in turn captured.

For a complete glossary of Japanese go terms, see The Go Player’s Almanac, published by Kiseido.

Introductory Problems Level One

How to Capture Stones

Problem 1

Problem 1
Black to play

How does Black play to capture a white stone?

Answer 1

Correct Answer

By playing at 1, Black can capture one white stone.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White can escape by playing 2.

Problem 2

Problem 2
Black to play

How does Black play to capture a white stone?

Answer 2

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black can capture one stone.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White can save his stone by playing 2.

Problem 3

Problem 3
Black to play

How does Black play to capture a white stone?

Answer 3

Correct Answer

White captures the corner stone with 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White can save his stone by playing 2.

Problem 4

Problem 4
Black to play

How can Black capture two white stones?

Answer 4

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black can capture two white stones.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays a move like 1, White can save his stones by extending to 2.

Problem 5

Problem 5
Black to play

How can Black capture two white stones?

Answer 5

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black can capture two white stones.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White saves his two stones by connecting with 2.

Problem 6

Problem 6
Black to play

How can Black capture two white stones?

Answer 6

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black can capture two white stones.

If White Plays First

If it’s White’s turn to play, he will capture two stones with 1.

Problem 7

Problem 7
Black to play

How can Black capture two white stones?

Answer 7

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black can capture two white stones.

If White Plays First

If it’s White’s turn, it is White who will capture two stones.

Problem 8

Problem 8
Black to play

How can Black capture some white stones?

Answer 8

Correct Answer

By playing 1, Black captures two white stones at the same time.

The Resulting Shape

This is what the position will look like after the capture.

Problem 9

Problem 9
Black to play

How can Black capture three white stones?

Answer 9

Correct Answer

Black can capture three stones by playing 1.

If White Plays First

If it’s White’s turn, he can save his three stones by playing 1.

Problem 10

Problem 10
Black to play

How can Black capture some white stones?

Answer 10

Correct Answer

Black can capture three stones by playing 1.

If White Plays First

If it’s White’s turn, he can save his three stones by playing 1.

Problem 11

Problem 11
Black to play

How can Black capture some white stones?

Answer 11

Correct Answer

Black can capture three stones by playing 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, it is White who captures four black stones with 2.

Problem 12

Problem 12
Black to play

How can Black capture one white stone?

Answer 12

Correct Answer

Black can capture one stone by playing 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White connects with 2 and White cannot be captured.

Problem 13

Problem 13
Black to play

How can Black capture some white stones?

Answer 13

Correct Answer

Black can capture five stones by playing 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White plays 2 and his stones are saved.

Problem 14

Problem 14
Black to play

How can Black capture some white stones?

Answer 14

Correct Answer

Black can capture five stones by playing 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, it is White who captures four black stones with 2.

How to Save Endangered Stones

Problem 15

Problem 15
Black to play

How can Black save his endangered stone?

Answer 15

Correct Answer

Black can save his stone by connecting with 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black threatens to capture a white stone by playing at 1, White captures a black stone with 2.

Problem 16

Problem 16
Black to play

One black stone is about to be captured. How can Black save it?

Answer 16

Correct Answer

Black can save his stone by connecting with 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black threatens to capture a white stone by playing 1, White captures a black stone with 2.

Problem 17

Problem 17
Black to play

Two black stones are in danger. How can Black save them?

Answer 17

Correct Answer

Black can save his two stones by connecting at 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1, White will capture two black stones with 2.

The following sample problems are out of sequence to give you more of a flavor of the difficulty of the book.

Problem 25

Problem 25
Black to play

How should Black atari the three white stones?

Answer 25

Correct Answer

Black can capture three stones with an atari at 1.

Wrong Answer

If Black ataries with 1, White plays 2 and his stones cannot be captured.

Problem 60

Problem 60
Black to play

Where is the last point of profit?

Answer 60

Correct Answer

Black 1 is the last point of profit left.

Wrong Answer

Black 1 is on a neutral point. White 2 takes the last profitable point. Black has lost a point.

Problem 72

Problem 72
Black to play

How should Black answer White 1?

Answer 72

Correct Answer

Black should play 1, connecting his four stones in atari to the ones above.

Wrong Answer

If Black captures two stones with 1, White captures four stones with 2.

Problem 136

Problem 136
White to play

Where does White play to live?

Answer 136

Correct Answer

White 1 is the vital point. White has two distinct eyes and cannot be killed.

Wrong Answer

If White captures a stone with 1, Black 2 leaves White with only one real eye, so he is dead.

Problem 207

Problem 207
Black to play

Capture three white stones with the connect-and-capture technique.

Answer 207

Correct Answer

Black sacrifices a stone with 1, then plays 3. White can’t connect, so he has lost four stones.

Wrong Answer

If Black plays 1 first, he fails. White connects with 2 and his stones are safe.