© 2012 by Yuan Zhou

Deep Thought: Extremely Thorough Commentaries on Pro Games

Yuan Zhou

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

This ePub reader does not support full scripting, so diagrams may not be interactive.

This book contains two famous pro games that are commented on in an unusually thorough way. Every move is explained and critiqued, except for a very few cases in very normal short sequences. Hence, almost all game diagrams show only one new move. The aim is not only to give readers a full understanding of what is happening in the game, but also to encourage readers to study the games properly by thinking about how they would continue before looking at the next diagram. Doing this requires some time and discipline, but it will repay you handsomely in terms of strengthening your play. Frequent queries about what to do next are intended to remind you to do this. You will also be surprised to discover how much more fully you understand these games as a result of the unusually full commentary.

Zhou has a particular talent for helping weaker players understand what is going on in pro games and guiding them to become stronger players by studying pro games. He intentionally includes kyu players in his intended audience, not just stronger players. Zhou can be contacted through his web site at www.zhouyuan.com.

Yuan Zhou (American Go Association 7 dan) was born in Tianjin, China. Tianjin is a major city in the northern part of China, near Beijing. His father taught him to play go at the age of six, and a year later he won the Tanggu District Junior Championship. After this auspicious beginning, Zhou began professional go training while he was still seven years old. He was twice invited to represent Tianjin in the All China Go Prodigy Cup.

In 1989 Zhou immigrated to the USA, became a US citizen, and joined the American Go Association (AGA). Zhou was the president of the go club at the University of Maryland, from which he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, and became increasingly involved in AGA events, winning many go tournaments. Please see the list below for Yuan Zhou’s thirty US go titles. Zhou was also elected to the AGA board of directors in 2005.

Zhou is one of the top competitors on the American go scene, winning the Eastern US Open, one of the biggest US tournaments, in 1992. He also won the New Jersey Open, another of the biggest US tournaments, four times. Twice he has won the Maryland Open, another major tournament that attracts strong players. Zhou placed in the top ten many times in the US Open, North American Masters Cup, and the North American Fujitsu Qualifying Tournament. These tournaments involve the strongest North American go players and include pros. In Zhou’s go career, he has defeated pros many times, including four times in even tournament games: Hak Soo Kim 6p in the 1996 Fujitsu, Xuefen Lin 1p in the 2001 Eastern Oza, Huiren Yang 1p in the 2009 North American Masters, and Feng Yun 9p in the 2011 SAMG World Team Go US team Qualifier. Zhou has also won the US Pair Go Championship four times, and he has represented the USA in international tournaments many times (WAGC, Korea Prime Minister Cup, World Pair Go Championship, etc).

In 2009, Zhou represented the USA in the 4th Korea Prime Minister Cup World Go championship in Jeonju, Korea and finished in 5th place.

In addition to his competitive successes, Zhou has become a popular teacher and lecturer, frequently giving lectures and teaching lessons at various go clubs in the eastern US region. He has also published many go books at Slate & Shell (www.slateandshell.com). Zhou resides in Germantown, Maryland, and can be contacted through his web site at www.zhouyuan.com.

Yuan Zhou’s Thirty US Go Tournament Victories:

Mid Atlantic Open 1990
Eastern US Open 1992
NoVa Cherry Blossom 1992
NoVa Cherry Blossom 1993
NoVa Pumpkin Classic 1993
University of Maryland Open 1993
Maryland Open 1994
New Jersey Open 1995
University of Maryland Open 1995
New Jersey Open 1996
New Jersey Open 1997
Philadelphia Open 1998
NoVa Congress Tune Up 1999
Mid Atlantic Open 2000
Pennsylvania Open 2000
Korean Baduk Eastern US Open 2001
New Jersey Open 2001
Maryland Open 2002
Pennsylvania Open 2002
Virginia Open 2003
US Ing Redmond Cup 2004
US Pair Go Championship 2004
Virginia Open 2004
Philadelphia Open 2007
Mid Atlantic Open 2007
US Pair Go Championship 2009
North American Ing Masters Qualifier 2009
North American Ing Masters Qualifier 2011
US Pair Go Championship 2011
US Pair Go Championship 2012

William Cobb, October 2012

Copyright Page

© 2012 by Yuan Zhou

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

Slate & Shell
1425 Westshire Lane
Richmond, VA 23238
www.slateandshell.com

Special thanks are due to Ryan Smith for help with proof reading.

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

Table of Contents

Deep Thought: Extremely Thorough Commentaries on Pro Games

Introduction

Copyright Page

Fujisawa Shuko vs. Nie Weiping

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

Sakata Eio vs. Fujisawa Shuko

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About SmartGo Books

Fujisawa Shuko vs. Nie Weiping

This is one of the most famous games in go history. It stands among the games all serious go players should know, along with such games as the one between Go Seigen and Honinbo Shusai (the “diagonal sanrensei” game, see Old Joseki vs. New Fuseki by John Fairbairn published by Slate & Shell) and that between Kitani Minoru and Honinbo Shusai (see The Meijin’s Retirement Game by John Fairbairn published by Slate & Shell). This game is the final match in the first of the China-Japan Super Go Series in 1985. At that time, the Japanese were established as the strongest go players in the modern world. The situation was similar to the status of US professional basketball—until recently the world-wide dominance of US teams was accepted as an unquestioned fact. In the China-Japan Super Go Series, there were six to nine players for each side and the procedure was “win and continue” until all the members of one team had been eliminated. In 1985, although he was then sixty years old, Fujisawa Shuko was considered the top player in Japan, having recently earned the title of Honorary Kisei by winning the number one title in Japan six years in a row. The Japanese were expected to win this tournament and Shuko was seeded as their last player with the expectation that he would not be called on to actually play. In the event, the first Chinese player, Jiang Zhujiu (nicknamed “Jujo”—he was active in the USA for several years beginning in the mid 1990s and now lives in Korea), who was in his early twenties, defeated the first five Japanese team members. He was then defeated by Kobayashi Koichi who defeated the rest of the Chinese team until losing to the last Chinese team member, Nie Weiping, who also defeated Kato Masao. This left only Shuko for the Japanese to face Nie, the last member of the Chinese team. This is their game—the final showdown between the Chinese and Japanese teams, a momentous event that was followed with enormous interest in both countries.
The game is an excellent example of classical, traditional, standard play, which is territorial. Nie Weiping plays Black, Shuko is White. Komi is five and a half points. Basic time is three hours each with one minute byoyomi.

Move 1

＞＜

In traditional Japanese theory, Black 1 at the 3–4 point is the best way to start the game. This is a view that is still widely held. The style of this move is obviously territorial, which was the most common way of playing at the time.

Move 2

＞＜

Shuko continues, also playing territorial style. This kind of game is normally long, without a lot of fighting, and is settled in the endgame. Shuko was considered particularly strong in the opening—the best in the world at the first fifty moves of a game. Nie said later that Shuko’s reputation led him to play a very normal opening, nothing fancy.

Move 3

＞＜

Alternating komoku (3–4 points) is the standard way for Black in this style. With Black 3, the weak side of the lower right corner faces a black stone in the upper right while the strong side faces the open corner. It is unattractive to an opponent to approach the strong side of a 3–4 point stone.

Move 4

＞＜

White takes the last corner—the normal way to continue. White can instead approach one of the black corners, but that becomes more complicated.

Move 5

＞＜

Black closes the upper right corner—a very peaceful opening play. This solid opening by Black is still very popular. Black would now like to play at A to close that corner as well. Having two solid corners would make the game easy for Black. Hence, White would normally not allow Black A.

Move 6

＞＜

White could also approach this corner at A, B, or C. At the time, the game play was the most popular choice. If White plays the low approach at C, Black will pincer for sure since the low stone is easy to harass. If White 6 is high, as here, it is easier for White to deal with a pincer.

Move 7

＞＜

Black has a choice of many josekis, but there are two major branches: one is to protect the corner territory and the other is to attack White. The latter would start with a pincer around A. Both are playable in this situation. However, attacking with a pincer is more complicated: a fighting situation with many options. This Black 7 is solid territorial style, which is clearly consistent with making the corner enclosure in the upper right. What follows in the game is a simple, well-known joseki.

Moves 8–10

＞＜

White can also connect solidly at A and then extend to B, making a position that is one line shorter than in the game but more solid. The game play leaves a peep at C that Black may be able to exploit. Nevertheless, the larger position White gets in the game makes this a popular variation. White can also play elsewhere with 10, but that would again be more complicated.

Move 11

＞＜

Black can also consider playing 11 at A aiming to exploit the weakness in White’s shape instead of making a more solid position.

Move 12

＞＜

This is another peaceful development as both players make territory. However, more players would prefer Black in this local situation. Black has about fifteen points of solid territory in the corner while there is still a weakness in White’s position at A. Also, Black retains sente. However, from the whole board point of view, Black cannot make a big moyo now. With komi, White is happy for the game to be broken up into smaller pieces. So this joseki is considered even.

Move 13

＞＜

In accordance with traditional theory, Black continues in the corners. A corner with a 3–4 stone has a higher priority than one with a 3–3 stone because White can develop the 3–4 stone corner more effectively. So Black 13 continues to follow traditional theory, that is, it is a “honte” play. This sort of opening is easy to understand, which is why it is good for weaker players.

Note that at this point a black play at A would be a very big move. It not only would increase Black’s territory; it also would make an invasion at B much more severe. Black A would likely be sente even at this point in the game.

White can survive an invasion at B, but would get no territory on the right edge. If White now continues in the lower left corner it is difficult to know whether White will end with sente there. However, if White now plays at C it would not be sente against the black corner since the corner shape is so strong and Black could attack with a second move in the lower left corner. White needs to think about how to continue.

Move 14

＞＜

White 14 looks very strange and likely to entail a loss. However, with this move Shuko shows why he is considered so strong in the opening. He had achieved a good result before with this move in this situation. The move involves an advanced strategy.

Move 15

＞＜

When Black responds with 15, it looks like the unusual move with is doomed. However, is really a testing move, a probe. Black can respond at A through D as well as at Black 15, and Black can just play elsewhere on the board, of course. If Black plays elsewhere, White would play at C and Black’s corner will be lost. Under normal circumstances, that would be unacceptable to Black as it would give White a huge area of potential. The game play as well as A or B are outside plays, while C and D are inside options. Obviously, an outside play is attacking while an inside play is defensive. See diagrams Inside Black Response and Outside Black Response for an explanation of why the game move is Black’s best option.

Inside Black Response

＞＜

If Black defends on the inside with 15 at Black 1, the result is obviously good for White, expanding White’s territory and reducing Black’s corner. Normally, this would be weak play by Black. Similarly, if Black starts at A, White would again play at 2. Black would extend with 3 at B and White could then play elsewhere since the white position would be much more secure. So neither of the two inside moves is normally good for Black.

Outside Black Response

＞＜

Black 15 at this 1 is playable for Black. If Black had a 4–4 stone at Black 1 and White played , playing would be a natural response. Black 1 avoids giving White much in the way of forcing moves. However, this would be a loss for Black locally. When White extends to A, Black would still need to block in the corner at B. Normally, Black should not play this way since it is good for White.

See the variation Black Responds at C for Black 1 at C in this diagram.

Black Responds at C

＞＜

If Black responds to at this Black 1, after White 2 through 6, White is alive in the corner. This is very big. White has a solid corner that was supposed to be Black’s while Black’s outside shape has some weaknesses.

These diagrams show why Black chose the game play with 15.

Move 16

＞＜

White was planning to cross-cut with 16 and does so. Again, this may look like White is going to take a loss, but see diagram White’s Plan after Black’s next move.

Move 17

＞＜

Black plays atari with 17 rather than at A as in diagram White’s Plan.

White’s Plan

＞＜

White’s aim with his play in this corner is to eliminate Black’s good extension to A that was mentioned earlier. So if Black now plays 17 at Black 1 to capture , White is happy and plays elsewhere after Black captures with 5. If Black plays at A later anyway, White will connect at B and Black’s stone will be cut off. If Black cuts at B, White can play atari at A and would be happy to give up some light stones to secure the right side position. This is a good example of White using sacrifice strategy. However, in the game Black finds a way to get a better result than this.

In the full book, this game and the next game are commented in similar detail to the end.

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© 2012 by Yuan Zhou

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