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© 2012 Neil Moffatt

More Go by example

Neil Moffatt

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This book is the result of research and thinking about the nature of play by Go players with ranks from 9 kyu up to 1 kyu. More precisely, about the barriers in thinking that make the step up to dan level seem insurmountable for so many.

One of the unexpected conclusions I came to was that the kyu-dan boundary quite consistently represents a fundamental change in thinking. A quantum leap in the way that kyu and dan players see the board.

To define it in a nutshell:

Kyu players focus mostly on tactics.

Dan players employ tactics to fulfil their strategies.

This was never more evident than in the dozens of handicap games that I looked at between dan and kyu players. Whilst the local play by the kyu player could often not be faulted, it was often the case that the large scale dan player strategies resulted in larger gains. Sometimes this was due to the death of a large opponent group, but often it manifested in greater influence.

Of course, it would be highly remiss of me to ascribe the shortcomings in kyu play to one factor. But I see it as the main factor that seems to elude most kyu players. They seem to feel that by sharpening their reading, and stretching a bit more that they would bridge the gap to dan. But this is still the tactical mindset. The strategic mindset is a combining one, coordinating stones across the board to achieve more global effects.

Having driven that point home, it should of course be noted that dan players really do tend to read both deeper and more effectively. They also have a greater positional instinct. They are happier to sacrifice stones. They employ better shape, and tend to be better connected. They recognise and protect their vital stones. And they mostly steer play in the right direction.

So there are many aspects to good Go play, but my feeling is that recognising and correcting the horizons in kyu thinking will have the largest impact on your play as it is doing to my own game.

Contents

More Go by example

About the Author

On single-digit kyu players

A. The value of reading

1. Read-ahead avoids defence

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

2. Failing to search for key moves

3. Succumbing to dan pressure

4. The cost of cursory reading

5. A game of many possibilities

6. A series of misreads

7. Corner fight

8. Staying connected

9. Even 6 dans make mistakes

10. Using strength to net capture

B. Looking beyond the immediate position

1. A joseki ending in weak shape

2. Think before playing!

3. Gaining from your loss

4. Playing mechanically

5. Missing the other threat

6. Missing the big picture

C. Be prepared to sacrifice stones

1. Sacrifice to build an attack

2. Sacrifice to stay connected

3. Creating a dead shape

4. Failing to see possibilities

5. Sacrifice small to gain big

6. Sacrificing a single stone!

D. Coordinating tactics

1. Exploiting liberty shortages

2. Remembering a weakness

E. Steering play

1. Choosing the right joseki

2. Creating a target weak group

3. Attacking from strength

F. Whole board balance

1. Weak positions in the fuseki

2. But some kyu players get it

3. Sente or not sente?

4. Even dan players get it wrong

5. Less linear thinking

6. Large scale coordination

7. Seeing the bigger threat

G. Influence

1. The one-space chain

2. Using a wall indirectly

3. A contrast in styles

4. Defending influence!

5. Avoid damaging your influence

6. Battle of two walls

H. Playing with good shape

1. Playing too meekly

2. Making your opponent strong

3. Bamboo joint too automatic

4. Avoiding cutting points

5. The flow of good shape

6. Playing decisively

7. Making the opponent heavy

8. Living in the corner

I. Example games

1. 6 kyu vs 7 kyu game

2. 4 kyu vs 4 kyu game

3. 1 kyu vs 1 kyu game

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About SmartGo Books

About the Author

Playing Go constantly since 1990, Neil has a passion for helping beginner and intermediate players learn and improve. He has published four books on Go – “Learn Go”, “Games of Go”, “Go by Example” – which are all available on Amazon – and “Double Digit Kyu Games” available on SmartGo Books. He also runs the Learn Go web site, which uses innovative game display features, such as buttons to navigate to the next commented move or next move with a variation. Whilst not quite dan level yet, his familiarity with single-digit kyu play allows him to understand their thinking and explain moves and positions in an accessible way. Dan level proof reading helped correct and validate sequences.

On single-digit kyu players

If you are a 6 kyu, it is easy to think that the 5 kyu player you are about to play will somehow have a slightly superior understanding of the game, and that a 7 kyu player will be accordingly weaker.

At this level of Go rankings, the player ability is volatile – 5, 6 or 7 kyu will merely be an approximate average of current ability. And it is easily possible that the 7 kyu has superior ability and understanding to the 5 or 6 kyu players.

He may be settled at 7 kyu because he loses concentration late in games, even when he is leading. Or he gets too emotionally agitated, or fearful of ‘stronger’ players. The 5 kyu may grab easy, early wins because of greater knowledge of obscure joseki, but otherwise fails because of weaker mid game play.

The point I am driving at here is that there are many factors that contribute to the rank of Go players. And that there are many factors that have nothing to do with Go ability or understanding that adversely affect that ranking.

Stamina, sustained concentration, the focus and discipline to read properly and count regularly, clear headedness, detached emotions, and a calm demeanour all enable better play. But these are factors that are separate from Go ability and understanding. A 5 kyu may beat a 1 kyu without handicap if the 1 kyu has slept badly, and is too agitated to read properly, making rash judgements. The 1 kyu has the ability to easily beat the 5 kyu, but is not able to apply that ability.

Whilst this book can help improve single-digit kyu Go understanding, that is only half of the story. To improve your play, and get to dan level, you need both the understanding and the right attitude. You should aim to be disciplined, calm and detached. You already know this frame of mind if you ever watch high dan games.

Additionally, on a pet subject of mine, if you insist on playing blitz style – to run before you can walk in effect – you will likely reinforce bad habits. There appears to be a consensus that only when you reach about 4 or 5 dan will blitz play help develop intuition, because by then, you will naturally play with good shape, and steer play in the right directions. Blitz play gives too little time for accurate reading, and makes many tesujis invisible.

A. The value of reading

The number of fast games on the KGS Go server has risen over the last few years. But it would seem that rather than enhance intuition, fast games actually limit the amount of time given to positional judgement and fighting reading.

It should not be forgotten that accurate reading is a critical part of good Go play. It is not limited, as many think, to fighting. Sharp reading can yield ways to exploit weaknesses in an opponent position, allowing you to invade a moyo, for example. Underestimate the value of reading at your peril!

A.1. Read-ahead avoids defence

Move 12

In this five stone handicap game between a 2 kyu and a 7 kyu, White has built around the Black stones in the lower left corner.

The Black pincer is a splendid splitting move since it also cuts underneath the marked stones, limiting their eye-space.

But rather than play a defence-only move in direct response to this Black move, White wants to sustain the attack on the corner as a way to strengthen his positions …

Moves 13–14

… so White looks to squeeze the Black corner while he has the chance, threatening to connect to his three stone group.

In spite of this, Black has now separated all three of White’s groups.

However, the Black group is baseless, so it might soon have to run to safety.

Move 15

White has strengthened on the left so now looks to strengthen his lower-side group, wrapping around Black’s shape. This starts to re-engage the marked stones.

Move 16

Black of course has to strengthen his baseless corner stones, and chooses to block White’s escape at the same time.

Moves 17–18

White threatens to link in the corner.

Moves 19–20

Only then does White play the hane.

Black plays a move that does not protect the cut well, allowing White to follow up at A.

Better shape move for Black

If Black had simply played at A himself, a White cut would have been punished neatly.

Here we come to the key point that I want to make. Many kyu players would see this as a fine time for White to strengthen the cut at B by attacking the single (marked) stone.

But White wants to strengthen his relatively weak left side stones. He wants to play the key point for Black – at A – and thereby keep up the attack on the running Black stones by then playing at C. Before he can play at A, however, he first has to be sure that the Black cut at B can be handled safely.

The reality is that many single-digit kyu players, especially those who play fast, would skip reading the cut at B properly. Be honest – do you tend to have a quick look and make a judgement before reading it out fully?

Move 21

White did read it out, and saw that he could defend against a cut at B so was then able to play at A with confidence rather than hope.

And you can hopefully see now why the marked Black move was in poor shape. White gets to build a wall facing up the left side, strengthens his weak group here, and attacks the cutting point in the Black shape. This move was played with the simple confidence that White could handle the cut at B. I cannot emphasise how often kyu players fail to read accurately in such situations, and defend unnecessarily as a result.

Moves 22–29

But Black had not read the position out, so continues to play the cut at B.

And the Black attack fails. Not only that, but the Black failure to read means that he has now given White a really strong position with a ‘snake’ poking out into the centre.

And Black still has not dealt with the potential White cut at C.

So one player reads carefully and by doing so can safely tenuki. The other fails to read and strengthens his opponent as a result.

Move 30

Black then plays this slow, bad shape and defence-only move to protect the cut.

Moves 31–35

Play digresses a little as White seeks to re-engage his two stranded stones.

By attaching on top there, White looks to link out his two marked stones.

Move 36

But for Black, it threatens more, so he tries to rescue his stranded stones.

Move 37

White could have killed the three Black stones by playing at C, but White is happy enough with his wall for now, and prefers to expand his weaker left side stones with a nice fifth line move.

Move 38

Black fails to read the danger of that White move and chooses to tenuki.

Of course this is a huge move, but defence of his running group was urgent.

As a famous Go proverb says:

“Play the urgent move before the big move.”

To paraphrase, a matter of life and death generally takes precedence over moyo expansion.

Move 39

So White gets to play the wrapping up move, in good shape.

Move 40

And Black can no longer run out. His base is also too constrained to get two eyes.

Move 41

This is a smart idea, but White reads that he can safely hane.

And Black resigned at this point.

If Black had tried to kill White

Moves 42–45

This does not quite work for Black.

B. Looking beyond the immediate position

One of the defining qualities of kyu play is a tendency to focus too much on the recent area of play. Not just in the sense of unnecessarily replying locally to opponent moves, but in failing to see the effect that these moves are having beyond the immediate position. Dan players, by contrast, tend to keep a much broader vision of the board, and are not drawn into such blinkered views.

B.3. Gaining from your loss

Move 1

In this even teaching game between a 3 kyu and a 7 kyu, White makes a big blunder that stops him making two eyes.

He should, of course, have played the simple atari at A. After Black runs his stone out, White then has a dead group on his hands …

Moves 2–7

His only hope of salvaging the situation is to try to threaten the marked Black group, but White is too thin on the outside for this to work.

Move 8

When stuck like this, it is too easy to get caught up in continuing the attack on the Black group, and risk losing more in the process, such as the lower side group.

There is another way – to milk your loss by gaining as you force your opponent to take.

Looking at the whole board again, you can see that the marked cutting stone does more than just attack the Black group below. It also isolates the four stone Black group to the left, which now has only three outside liberties.

If White can safely reduce those outside liberties to 2, he can then play the atari at A to get his second eye since Black would not be able to join.

White cannot play B just yet

White cannot simply play at B since his stone will immediately be put in atari.

It makes the White cutting stone just a little too weak to kill the Black corner. So Black lives safely.

Moves 9–10

White looks to invade the corner with the aim of playing the liberty reducing cut in sente.

Black does not look beyond the immediate position, so sees only the local threat, playing right into White’s hands.

White has his eyes focused on the marked stone all the while, entirely happy to sacrifice above if he can play at B in sente thereby reducing the four stone Black group’s outside liberties.

Moves 11–12

By contrast, Black has his eyes only on the local position again following White’s natural extension.

Move 13

And because Black has played both locally, and sub-optimally, White can now play the move he hoped to play, reducing that marked stone to two liberties.

Black must now lose the three stones above and play the vital defence at B. He should lose a few to save the many.

Move 14

But, as you will of course have guessed, Black is still focused on the small picture and settles his corner, saving just four stones.

It is time for White to underplay, declining the bigger move at B that would have settled his left side stones immediately …

Move 15

… of course, Black should now let these two stones go and save his four stones by playing at B.

This is terribly simple when explained stage by stage, but at a fast pace, these matters are regularly overlooked. As Black, intuition may tell you to stop White making two eyes, but if you give yourself time to look beyond that immediate position, you will see that White will live regardless of where Black plays, so Black should minimise his losses.

Moves 16–19

Black fails to realise his mistake, and proceeds to compound the situation by losing the whole corner! Again, he tries to hang onto the stones immediately under threat, but damages other stones nearby.

Black has lost all his stones because of narrow vision compounded by poor local move selection.

Seeing the bigger picture

If Black had seen the bigger picture, he could have foreseen White’s aim and stopped it in addition to killing the invading corner stone.

A simple bamboo joint is all that was needed. If White cuts at D, Black can atari at E. If White extends to E, Black can join at D and White has too little room to make two eyes.

D. Coordinating tactics

As they gain experience, kyu players tend to become sharper at exploiting weaknesses in opponent positions, making telling cuts and strong pincers. But they are less good at coordinating such tactics towards a bigger aim.

Dan players frequently coordinate both their stones and their tactics on a bigger scale than kyu players, looking to force their opponent into local responses that fail to deal with the overall effect of a sequence of moves.

D.1. Exploiting liberty shortages

Move 1

In the position above, White has gained influence along the upper side in exchange for the Black position on the right, but the Black corner is not quite secure. There is still the tantalising atari at A.

Moves 2–3

It is tempting of course to jump right in at A. But after the atari, White appears to have no obvious follow-on move.

Move 4

The marked stones have a liberty shortage however, which White can exploit.

And Black has essentially two choices now. To cut at B or atari at C. In the game, Black cuts at B …

Moves 5–6

… White then threatens an atari.

Of course, Black can play a couple of ataris before he has to play at D …

Moves 7–11

… White has lost a stone, but the stone was there for forcing purposes, and is now happily sacrificed as it has served its purpose.

Moves 12–13

White must play the vital atari now before he embarks on a corner attack.

Move 14

Now White gets to extend into the corner.

Moves 15–18

Black squeezes White …

Moves 19–20

… but then White is able to reduce from the outside, creating a Ko fight.

Moves 21–22

It was early in the game, so Black wanted to avoid a Ko fight.

Move 23

And Black reduces the White liberties …

Move 24

… but White has the key move now, again exploiting the Black shortage of liberties to create at least a seki.

Move 25

Because Black has these liberty problems he can only atari from the right side, so must play a slow move to ensure it is seki rather than death.

Move 26

And this allows White to tenuki. It also leaves behind a perfect ko threat combination of A and B to kill.

If Black had played safe instead

If Black had played the safe atari in the corner instead.

Then White can connect to isolate the Black stones below.

So, Black has a group under attack. And he has no support from the corner. He also has a soft underbelly, but if he tries to connect to his corner, he will give his corner problems.

White can look to capitalise on the liberty shortages of the corner stones. If Black makes the mistake of playing the atari, then he reduces the liberties of his marked group, allowing White to exploit …

If Black tenukis …

… if Black feels it is safe to now leave the corner alone, he can suffer from the liberty problems.

When White extends here, Black has a false eye at A, and is in a collapsing state.

It is a complex position, so I will be obliged to cover just one variation here.

And Black is left with only a ko (at A) to save the corner from becoming a seki again.

The point here is not so much in the detail, but in the principle – that what looked like a very secure Black corner was weakened by liberty problems. But you need to be sharp to see them – focusing just on the group extending below could easily have blinded you to these possibilities.

E. Steering play

One of the consequences of too great a focus on the local consequences of moves is that it can lead to a damaging direction of play. Namely, that a fight can actually strengthen an opponent group, or push it towards one of your weak groups, damaging your own position. Or an invasion can yield a weak group that will give your opponent a target to relentlessly attack. By playing tactics in the context of the whole board, you should start to steer play to your advantage.

E.1. Choosing the right joseki

Move 13

Most kyu players only know a limited number of joseki. This in itself need not be so much of a problem – better to understand the reasons for the moves in a few joseki rather than blindly know the sequences to many.

There is another aspect to joseki that often gets overlooked – the need to choose a joseki to suit the whole board position.

The game here is between two 3 kyu players, where Black has just prematurely played a pincer to try to establish presence on the left side.

Move 14

White wants to squeeze Black to stop the left side position being settled too easily. This move also starts building an upper-side moyo in conjunction with the marked stones.

Move 19

Black managed to settle his position to a degree, in sente, allowing him to invade the corner.

It is certainly questionable whether this was the right time to invade, but more questionable was the joseki White chose.

Move 20

This is a fine starting point, of course.

Moves 21–22

And it continues perfectly well here.

Moves 23–29

But it is then that White chooses the wrong joseki.

Move 30

Black takes advantage of White’s mistake.

The joseki ends in gote for White, and now Black has built a strong left side position, helping his unsettled stones.

A better joseki choice

This joseki would have been a much better choice for White.

Which leaves the board looking like this.

White has strengthened the upper-side, and the left side.

He has conceded more in the corner, but those corner Black stones have very limited future potential. This does not compare with the large central influence White now possesses.

White has also built a strong position from which to attack the marked stones.

G. Influence

The recognition of influence, along with the understanding of its value, starts around about the double-digit to single-digit kyu boundary. This is very approximate of course. But the perception of influence is often still limited in many single-digit kyu players to ‘what you get on the outside of a corner you lose’.

I’ll show examples of various ways that influence can be used to optimal effect.

G.4. Defending influence!

Move 1

In this game, a 9 kyu player had built a large upper right position that he could expand, but chooses an overly defensive move against the White stone of his 8 kyu opponent.

Move 2

This makes it easy for White to start running out. And this also weakens the four marked Black stones a little, although White has two weak groups himself now.

Move 3

But it is here that Black loses the plot and decides to defend his moyo instead.

Move 4

So White happily skips to A, leaving Black with a weak central group.

Push White to your strength

Black could have instead played a keima to cap the lone White stone to block its escape route and run it towards Black strength on the right.

White should struggle to live now. Even if he lives, Black will get huge outside influence, and maybe build an attack on the three marked stones.

Notice also that Black does not really need a stone at A to contain White.

Here, it is a case of trusting that pushing a weak group towards your own strong position, even if incomplete, can be successful.

The best way to see how well it works is to try it in your own games and feel the effect.

H. Playing with good shape

Good shape is vital to the stability of your positions on the board. Professionals often sacrifice speed of development in order to retain good shape. It is a matter of very high importance to them.

Amateurs, especially kyu players, tend to favour rapid development – to the point of over-stretching – in preference to slower, more solid shape moves.

As players move up the kyu ranks, especially into single-digit kyu, they seek to expand across the board faster and faster. It just seems too slow to stop to defend in good shape because they focus on the now – getting on – rather than the future where good shape will give them solid platforms to extend from to capitalise on the weak shapes of your opponent.

But the harsh reality is that many kyu players simply do not know the right shapes to adopt in the first place.

H.7. Making the opponent heavy

Move 1

Shape is not always about expanding with minimal cutting points. It is also about inflicting bad shape on your opponent.

The 6 dan in this game against a 4 dan has a position where a single (marked) Black stone bars his group from escape into the centre.

It is terribly tempting for most kyu players to atari the stone at A and push the White group out with it – without checking in advance what will actually transpire.

Moves 2–5

White, however, has a clear idea (at least I assume he has) to make Black very heavy by playing the atari at B instead.

It looks scary for White, but the defence from the Black pressing here will force Black to atari his way out …

Moves 6–7

… when Black ataris, White is given a clear choice now.

If he sacrifices his stone on top of Black, he can run out solidly by playing at C then D.

Moves 8–13
13: connects

But White wants to keep Black heavy.

Move 14

The White plan was to maintain attacks on all of the Black groups on the left side of the board. He has kept that possibility alive, and made Black heavy in the process.

If he had played the atari at A

Playing the atari at A would appeal to most kyu players since it strengthens White immediately.

But this pushes Black into freedom, and still leaves White with a weakness to fix.

Allowing Black to turn at A would be bad news, enclosing White. So White is pretty well obliged to play there himself (or maybe at C) …

But this gives Black time to play the atari at B (or to extend), and thereby stop White build pressure there …

… even if White forces Black to capture, he still needs an extra move to run his group out …

White plays a similar move to the main game, but Black no longer has a heavy shape above, so he gets to keep up the pressure on White and maybe also play at D as well, to strengthen his left side in sente.

Compare with the actual game to see the effect of the actual White play.