© 2009 by Jonathan Hop

So You Want to Play Go?

Level 3: 9 kyu to 1 kyu

Jonathan Hop

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Go is an ancient board game, invented in China almost 4,000 years ago and now sweeping it’s way across the world! The So You Want to Play Go? series is a step by step course that begins with the bare basics for beginners in the first level, to more advanced topics in level 4. Great for total beginners or even experienced veterans, the So You Want to Play Go? series is aimed at teaching the principles and fundamentals of the game in a fun and interesting way, so that Go is enjoyable for everyone.

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Copyright Page

So You Want to Play Go?
Level 3: 9 kyu to 1 kyu

Jonathan Hop

© 2009 by Jonathan Hop
All rights reserved.

Other publications:
“So You Want to Play Go?” Level 1, 2, and 4

Visit www.sundaygolessons.com to take a look at current and future publications.

Converted for SmartGo Books by John Mifsud.

Contents

So You Want to Play Go?
Level 3: 9 kyu to 1 kyu

Copyright Page

Introduction

Foreword

About the Author

Crash Course Guide to Japanese Pronunciation

Crash Course Guide to Chinese Pronunciation

How to gain the most from this book

Learning About Go

Chapter 1: Stone Development

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

Chapter 2: Tactical Concepts

Chapter 3: Attacking

Chapter 4: Invading

Chapter 5: Sabaki

Chapter 6: Essential Shapes

Chapter 7: Common Kyu Level Mistakes

Wrap Up

Dedication

Tsumego Problems

Glossary of Terms

About SmartGo Books

Foreword

Welcome to level 3 of the “So you want to play Go?” series, intended for 9 to 1 kyu players. If you have read level 1 and 2 of the series then you know what to expect, but for those of you who are just getting acquainted I wanted to say a few words. First off the title is a bit of a misnomer. While the name of the game is known as “Go” in the West, because of our relationship to Japan, the game was invented in China 4,000 years ago, and the Chinese call it “Weiqi” (pronounced Way-Chee). I think that it is important we remember this heritage, so I will be referring to the game as “Weiqi” for the remainder of the book.

Now the road to 1 dan is laid out before you, and let me tell you it’s going to be an interesting trip. In order to improve further as a single digit kyu, you will have to master the fundamentals rather than necessarily learn complicated techniques. Learning a 100 move joseki or memorizing a bunch of openings is not really what is going to skyrocket your strength (although if you do manage it, my hat is off to you). Instead, I would rather you take your time to make sure each of the fundamentals is clear to you, and by the time you are a high level kyu player, to begin working on your ability to judge positions.

Being a single digit kyu is also a lot of fun, because you can really begin to appreciate the many different types of strategies there are. You understand all the basic building blocks of the game and it is now time to fit the pieces together. Begin to be more discriminating about your own moves. Try and adopt the attitude that you should not settle for less than what you should be getting. Also, if you have the time and the energy, increase the amount you play per week. Studying pro games, doing Weiqi problems, and reading books can realistically only teach you so much. Actual playing experience can teach you volumes. You know your own ideas best.

About the Author

I remember when I turned 9 kyu and entered into my second tournament. The first one I participated in when I was around 11 or 12 kyu but I did not do so well. Now that I was a single digit kyu, I felt that I could conquer the world of Weiqi. The University of Michigan Spring Tournament was held at the Michigan Union and ran by Jin Chen, 7 dan who served as Tournament Director. I had arrived late as I had mixed up the location of the tournament, so I did not have time to chat and had to sit and immediately begin playing. My first opponent was someone from the Kalamazoo Go Club. Since they are nearby, people from both the University of Michigan Go Club and the Kalamazoo club know each other pretty well. The game was indicative of my style at the time, intense and complicated fighting. At the end of the tournament I won second place next to Albert Guo who managed to not only play six games in one day, he also won them all.

Let me tell you, Weiqi players love tournaments, it’s in our blood. There is nothing like the tense and quiet atmosphere of a tournament, where the only sound is the light tapping of stones hitting the boards. There’s also nothing like the joy of winning game after game in a tournament, where you feel like you are practically invincible. But one must also learn to accept defeat gracefully. This is something I had a hard time with. Sure, I would say “thanks for the game” but I didn’t really mean it. While I was putting away the stones, I’d beat myself up over all of the silly mistakes I played, or all the times I was not able to punish my opponent. I’d tell myself “Man, he played a silly move and won because I let him. He didn’t deserve to win.” Honestly, I’m embarrassed to even admit such a thought crossed my mind, because it’s not only against the spirit of the game, it’s also pretty egotistical. I’m also sure I’m not the only one who has ever had this thought.

Saying your opponent did not deserve to win is against the philosophy of the game is because your opponent did win. I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, Weiqi is not a game of chance. The person with the better strategy wins. Your opponent won because he played better moves overall, and even if he did make a mistake, you made more. Your opponent played better, so he deserved to win. Your ego is just going to have to take it.

What I liked about going to Weiqi tournaments is that they taught me about what winning and losing was about. Yes, you are a single digit kyu and that is something to be proud of, but in the grand scheme of things you are only so high on the Weiqi ladder. Your opponent is probably the same strength as you are and has just as much of a chance to win as you do. Losing does not mean that you are not as good as you thought you were, but it does mean that you still have plenty of weaknesses and room for improvement. Do not let your attitude towards losing affect your ability to learn more about the game.

Crash Course Guide to Japanese Pronunciation

I finally get to use my Japanese major! To help you with pronouncing the terms in the book, here is a quick and easy guide on how to pronounce Japanese. The truth is, the Japanese language is extremely easy to pronounce for English speakers. Japanese is read exactly as it is written, and each letter is pronounced. Japanese has five vowel sounds:

A as in father.
I as in reed.
* U as in fool.
E as in bet.
O as in mode.

* The u sound can be a bit tricky, because it is not always the same. If the “u” comes after a “ts” or an “s” for instance, like in the word “sushi,” then to make the u sound you should make a noise like you are trying to think of what to say next, like “euh…” It’s very difficult to approximate in English because the sound does not really exist. Try grabbing a Japanese friend and see if you can master it.

Japanese also has what are called “long vowels.” This means that when you say these vowels, you hold the sound longer than you would normally. Long vowels are usually denoted by a line above them, adding a “u,” or sometimes by doubling up the letters. So for example “ii” is a long I sound, and “ou” is a long o sound. This is not a superficial distinction. Changing a vowel from a short vowel to a long vowel can alter the meaning of a word. Take for example the word “byoin” and its cousin “byouin.” The only thing that separates them is the long o sound, but the difference is as large as between “hairdresser” and “hospital.” That would be bad in an emergency, huh?

The only sound that might give you a problem is the “ts” sound which does exist in English but not at the beginning of a word. Words like “tsumego” or “tsuke” might be tricky. If you say the phrase “eight suits” and hold your mouth in position between the two words, you should have something close to the real McCoy.

Try these words on for size:

Shiro: White
Kuro: Black
Go wa sugoku tanoshii – Go is a heck of a lot of fun!

There’s not enough space for me to really delve into the Japanese language or pronunciation here, but it is sufficient for our uses. If you are interested in learning more about how to pronounce Japanese, I invite you to take a class or go online and find one of the many websites dedicated to this.

Crash Course Guide to Chinese Pronunciation

Chinese pronunciation is tough because a lot of sounds in the Chinese language do not exist in English, and it is hard to represent them using the alphabet. The system of writing Chinese words in the English alphabet is called “Pinyin.” It’s an approximation and a lot of times the letters do not refer to normal English sounds.

Here are all of the consonants in Pinyin:

B, P, M, F, D, T, N, L, G, K, NG, H, J, Q, X, Zh, Ch, Sh, R, Z, C, Y, W

Here are the ones that are going to give you a bit of trouble:

“C”: Again, say “eight suits” three times fast and hold your mouth in position between the two words. In order to know if you are making this sound correctly, open your palm and hold it at about your midsection. If you can feel a blast of air on your palm, you’re getting there.

“Q”: Sort of like a “ch” sound but the edges of your mouth should be stretched further than normal.

“X”: This one might take a while to do. It is similar to the “sh” sound in “sheep” or “shallow,” but again the edges of your mouth should be taut, as if you were smiling. The Chinese word for laugh is “Xiao,” if this helps as a mnemonic device.

“Zh”: Like “j” in “jump.”

Now for the vowels!

A as in “father.”
O as in “row.”
E as in “earn.”
I as in “sit,” “ee” as in “reed,” or “ea” as in “earn.”
U as in “look”.

What gives English speakers a hard time are the vowel combinations. Here is a chart to help you understand the pronunciation. If you have a Chinese friend have them help you!

“Ai” like in “eye.”
“An” like in “flan” the Spanish custard dessert.
“Ao” as in “now.”
“Ei” as in “hey.”
“En” as in “sun.”
“Eng” as in “hung.”
“Er” like the “ur” in “purse” (sort of).
“Ia” is in “ya.”
“Ie” as in “yeah.”
“Iu” as in “yo.”
“Ian” as in “yen.”
“Iao” as in “meow.”
“Iang” as in “yang.”
“Ou” as in “low.”
“Ua” as in “guava.”
“Uan” as in “when.”
“Uang” as in “oo” + “ang.”
“Ui” as in “way.”
“Uo” as in “woah!.”
“Uai” as in “why.”
“Ua” as in “wa.”

The most infamous mistake English speakers make when pronouncing Chinese is with the name “Chang.” Most people pronounce the “ang” as if in the word “hang,” but this is incorrect. “Ang” should be the “ah” sound as in “father” and then a “ng.” Try it. Another big one is the “eng” sound. Take the name “Feng.” Most people pronounce it as if it rhymed with the word “fang,” but instead, the e should be like the “ea” in “earn.” This one is a little tricky, but with enough practice it can be mastered. If you know someone who is Chinese, have them help you out because a lot of these sounds are impossible to convey in writing alone. Keep in mind, that a lot of Chinese people do not know pinyin so they might not be able to help you, it’s really for people learning Chinese. But, if you start saying “Bo po mo fo de te ne le” they will get the picture. Try it out!

How to gain the most from this book

The reason I decided to write this is because I wanted to explain my reasoning behind the way I demonstrate the concepts of Weiqi. This book is designed to be review for someone who is 1 kyu or 1 dan in strength, with perhaps a few tidbits of new information. My recommendation is that you review concepts you have trouble with or need explanation as you see fit and then jump around. I feel it’s a lot better to learn one or two new concepts, apply them in your games, have a trial and error period, and then learn new ideas once the old ones have set in rather than trying to devour everything in one go. If you find your attacking skill is a bit lacking then start there, but if you just would like to be introduced to new sabaki techniques then go ahead and skip the first few chapters.

You will also notice that there are a lot of diagrams in this book. I try my best to explain things in terms of concepts but I see absolutely no point in doing so if you are not shown a game position at the same time. When you sit down and play you cannot simply tell your opponent “I should attack your group so that I can construct a moyo on the right side” and then not play a stone. He or she will probably just sit there confused and wonder why you look so resolute when the time on your game clock keeps winding down without you having done anything. Any concept, theory, or idea is only as good as the move you put down. I will show you some of the reading behind the moves but I do leave a lot of it up to you to determine sequences. This may be tiring for those who are not so studious, but if you exercise some perseverance you will prevail, of that I am certain. If I teach you absolutely nothing else, I want you to come away with the mindset that there is more than one move, more than one way to accomplish your goal, and that in this game there are seldom cases where a sequence is “absolutely correct.” What may be the “only move” one day may be obsolete by next year. Everyone has their own style and their own means of tackling the strategy of this game, and that’s what makes it endlessly interesting. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Stone Development

Yi Chang Ho 9p

Here we are again, sitting in front of the empty 19x19 Weiqi board, gazing off into the depths of the many possibilities. As you probably already know, Weiqi is about putting our stones in efficient spots. We want each stone to do its job, or multiple jobs, and do them to their absolute fullest. We covered the basics of efficiency in level 2, when we discussed the function of high and low stones, double wings, starting in the corners then branching our way out to the rest of the board, picking which side is bigger by counting the spaces in between stones, special openings, and pincers. Now that you are a single digit kyu we can get into the nitty gritty of what to be thinking about when you are actually playing.

You might be wondering why I named this chapter “stone development” rather than the possibly more logical name of “the Opening”. I think subdividing the game into neat little sections like “the Opening” or “the Middle Game” is a bit artificial and not a helpful distinction. Granted, in the previous levels I did do that but let’s change our game plan. Weiqi is about finding the pivotal spots on the board and taking them. If there are two big spots on the board then we get one and our opponent gets one. If there is just one, and it is our turn, we take it. Weiqi is about knowing how to handle our groups and to know what plays on the board are more efficient or more urgent. When we partition a section of the game and just call it “the Opening”, it feels to me like we’re saying that somehow the rest of the game is intrinsically different. “The Opening” just becomes the part of the game where we only think about extending and making groups, when it is also about balancing your groups in light of your opponent’s strength and vice versa, as well as keeping our groups safe from attack, which are topics that are usually covered in the “Middle Game”. This is why I prefer to name this chapter “Stone Development” because I think it encapsulates better the types of decisions we have to make.

Stone development means that your stones want to grow and they become quite discontent when their aspirations are not met. We need to identify which parts of the board our stones want to extend to and take them before our opponent does. We also need to identify what parts of the board are disinteresting and not worth our attention. You need to also think of stone development not just in terms of developing large swathes of the board, but also in terms of the life and death of each individual group. It all boils down to being able to apply the right strategy. If you weren’t around for level 1 or level 2 of this series, then you may not know that over the years I have divided the many Weiqi players I have met into different categories and I have given them all names. Some players I refer to as “Barbarian” types, i.e. people who like to invade everywhere, and some others “Joseki scholars” for people who like to do nothing but study joseki. To talk about stone development, I think it’d be good to talk about the following two types of Weiqi player: the “Architect” and the “Fighter”.

I have a friend who perfectly fits the description of the first type of player which I have named the “Architect”. I call them this because they are always coming up with some grand design for the entire board. Their strength? Exactly what I just said. Architects have a keen eye for identifying which parts of the board are large, and which are not so important. They recognize large scale vital points with ease, and oftentimes they simply make too many points for their opponent to have any hope of catching up. They do have an Achilles heel. A lot of times they mess up in local fighting and incur losses which damage their global planning. Architect types tend to have a hard time dealing effectively with weak groups and miss local vital spots when fighting breaks out. If the local losses begin to pile up, then the 10–20 point lead they usually enjoy goes up in smoke.

On the other side of the coin are players like myself, “Fighter” types. Fighter types usually know just enough about global planning to keep from totally getting destroyed in the first thirty or so moves. This type of player spends most of their playing time reading out sequences and identifying the relative strength and weakness of each group. Therein lies their strength. Fighters tend to be calm and collected when their opponent starts pushing and cutting, and are usually quite strong in their knowledge of life and death. A Fighter rarely if ever misses an opportunity to capitalize on their opponent’s weaknesses. Fighters also tend to kill larger groups more often and are reticent of weaknesses and aji in shapes. There is a big downside to this. Fighters are oftentimes not strong in fundamentals and miss the larger areas of the board quite often. What happens if a fighter does not read a certain part of the board correctly? Well they could make an irreparable mistake and lose control of the game.

Why do I mention this? Well I wanted to point out the fact that this game is multifaceted and to become stronger it will require you to become proficient in all of the fundamentals. I also wanted to point out that both styles are actually fine, just know their weaknesses. If you are an architect type, work on your fighting fundamentals and improve your judgment of strong and weak groups. Does this mean you have to become a “push and cut” junkie? No. But, it does mean that your large scale plans will not be ruined by some 15 move sequence you otherwise would not have been able to read out. Same goes for the Fighter type. Do not get discouraged if someone says “You fight too much”, “You do not grasp the larger board”, or “You need to be less aggressive”. Look at professionals like Rui Naiwei, Gu Li, and Lee Sedol. Their games, especially their early games, are spine tingling. While their opponents may oftentimes appear to have the larger board under wraps, having a sequence or set of sequences which undoes their large scale planning demonstrates that in the end it’s what you put on the board, and not what you theorize, that counts. Learn when it is good to fight and learn when you should pull back.

To be honest I agonized over this chapter for a long time (I know, it’s the first chapter. Give me a break). Talking about how to develop our stone formations is so open ended I didn’t know where to start. I thought maybe we could find some ironclad principles written on the 10 commandments of Weiqi that would give us the answer. Then it hit me. Weiqi is so dynamic, so organic that trying to condense all of the different techniques and viewpoints down into one sentence proverbs won’t help you. What will help you is looking at principles and ideas you can readily implement into your own play style. Instead of instructing you on “right” and “wrong” I’d rather give you tools that you can use when you play. I can give you a hammer, nails, a saw, and maybe a TX-2000 Power drill with the hair dryer attachment, but you have to build the house. I can’t appear out of thin air next to you when you’re playing a game, so instead of making you memorize a lot of vague principles, I’ll show you some strategies and you can decide for yourself when they apply and when they don’t. Sure, when you first try them out you’ll make mistakes, misread, or experience some other mishap. That’s fine, just keep at it and eventually you’ll develop an instinct for how to play. I’d rather you have that.

We’re going to tackle this subject by looking at the openings of several professional games I think give good examples that we can learn from when we have to decide where to play. From each game we’ll take a look at the important lessons, and at the end of the chapter I’ll go over some techniques you can use to improve, as well as some pitfalls to watch out for. I figure if I can develop your instinct for good plays then you’ll improve faster. All right, first game on the chopping block is…

Wang Xi vs An Joyeoung (White)

＞＜

We’ll start off light since this is the first game. Black picked an approach move at 5 which is a perfectly fine move because it’s valuable; it stops White from taking the corner with a second move. White pincers Black low with 6. Because it is three spaces away it is not quite a severe pincer, as White is trying to balance attacking Black 5 with extending from his star point stone at the top. Black does not play directly from his stone at 5, despite the fact it is outnumbered. Instead he nimbly plays 7. Why is he doing this? Before we answer that let’s look at Black’s options for helping out 5.

＞＜

When our stone gets outnumbered and we do not necessarily have a satisfactory extension to make our stone strong, it makes logical sense to jump out. How we jump out depends on our overall goal. We could jump out fast like on the left with Black 4. Fast shapes are weaker but they also move quickly and give us a lot of options so we are prepared when our opponent attacks. From White’s perspective, when Black jumps out, his stone at 1 is stuck in the inside and in danger of being sealed in, so he has got to make breathing room for the stone and hopefully some territory at the same time.

“Can we just jump out any ol’ we feel like?”

For the love of Shusaku, no. While there are plenty of different ways to jump out, some are definitely better than others. When you are outnumbered you have to make sure that you are not simply cut to pieces when you jump away. You also have to consider why you’re jumping out and your overall strategy. The first thing we have to do is evaluate how severe the situation is, meaning determining how aggressive our opponent is playing.

＞＜

We covered this concept in level 2 so I’ll only review it quickly. When your opponent attacks you have to consider what his follow up move is. The closer he attacks the more severe the follow up. For instance here, Black’s next move should White play elsewhere will be at A.

＞＜

Here, possible follow ups for Black range from A-C, and most likely a whole lot more. A will forcibly block White from the center, C will attack the stone and force it to run out, and B will control the center. Notice how in comparison to the severe pincer in the previous example, White has a lot more options on how to move his stone away.

＞＜

In this case, one strategy White could employ is to make his group as settled as quickly as possible by playing slower, stronger moves. White comes out with 4 which makes it impossible for Black to seal him from the center. Black will reinforce his stone on the left with 5. Again, we covered this in level 2 but just in case, remember “Come out first then live”. White 6 makes a base for the group, and Black 7 is a big extension and provides ample, much needed eye space and territory for the side group.

In the full book, this first chapter continues with how to jump out with weak stones, analyzes the fuseki of a pro game, and discusses moyo strategies.

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© 2009 by Jonathan Hop

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