© 2007 by Yilun Yang

Workshop Lectures, Volume 4

Yilun Yang

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Yilun Yang 7P is one of the most popular go teachers in the US. He has many Internet students, holds frequent workshops around the country, and has published many books about the game and his special approach to playing it, emphasizing following precepts rather than memorizing patterns and sequences.

Yang was born in China in 1951 and had an active career as a professional go player and teacher before coming to the US in 1986. He lives near Los Angeles, California. You can contact him at yly_go@yahoo.com.

Yang’s workshops typically involve several lectures and thorough analyses of the games participants play each day. In the lectures he guides players through the special approach to thinking about and playing the game that he has worked out during many years of teaching. He believes that play should be guided by applying easily understood principles rather than by memorizing common patterns and special sequences.

Yang argues that there are too many variables in go to make memorizing set patterns very efficient, but there are a relatively small number of easy to understand precepts that can effectively guide players' reading and play in every situation that arises. The four lectures give the reader a small taste of the exciting approach to the game that Yang has developed and that he spells out in detail in the lectures and game analyses at his workshops.

William Cobb, November 2007

Copyright Page

© Yilun Yang

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 Matthew Bengtson, William Gundberg, and Evans Palmour for help with proof reading.

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–37–9

Table of Contents

Workshop Lectures, Volume 4

Introduction

Copyright Page

Good and Bad Shape

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

When to Play Fast or Slow

Playing a Fighting Opening

Destroying Large or Nearly Completed Positions

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About SmartGo Books

Good and Bad Shape

This lecture is about the difference between good shape and bad shape. Generally, when stones have good shape all the stones are useful and there is no weakness, while when stones have bad shape some stones are not that useful and there is a weakness.

Example 1

In this case, for example, you can see that White’s stones have two cutting points. This is bad.

Example 2

How about White’s stones in this case? Do they have good shape or bad?

Example 2A

＞＜

White’s shape is better in this case, but it is still not good. The problem is that after Black 1 and White 2, forms an empty triangle, which is not that useful because it is inefficient.

Example 2B

Is White’s shape now good or bad?

It is good. All the stones are useful and there is no serious weakness. This shape is much better than the previous cases.

Example 3

If is at A, this would obviously be bad shape because of the severe cutting points and liberties problems, but what about this arrangement of White’s stones? Good or bad shape?

Example 3A

＞＜

This shape is still not good. Black 1 forces White to defend at White 2, and after Black 3, White must defend again at White 4. This is slow and some of White’s stones are not very useful; they don’t accomplish much for White.

Example 4

What about in this case?

Example 4A

＞＜

This is still not good because after Black 1, White must defend with an empty triangle. White cannot allow Black to play at 2 after Black 1.

Example 4B

This is the correct shape for White in this case. Now White will not end up with a bad shape when Black attacks.

Example 5

How about this white shape?

Example 5A

＞＜

This shape is not good. Giving Black the peep at Black 1 is a serious weakness. Responding will create an empty triangle.

Example 5B

Is this white shape better?

No, it has the same problem. Black can peep and White ends up with an empty triangle. How can White protect this weak connection with good shape?

Example 5C

This is the way to protect the connection with good shape.

Example 5D

＞＜

Now, if Black 1, White responds without making an empty triangle. All White’s stones are useful.

Example 6

If White plays to defend in this common situation, is this good shape?

The play of may seem good, but it leaves two serious peeps, so this is not good shape. How should White play so as to have good shape in this case?

Example 6A

＞＜

This is a different position for comparison. Here, Black’s corner is alive, so White should play lightly and be willing to give up the white stones in contact with the strong black stones. White 1 is good shape because the three white stones have little value.

In Example 6, on the other hand, Black’s corner is not completely settled. This means that the white stones against it may be important. Therefore, White should not play so lightly as to just give them up.

Example 6B

In this position, is good shape. Note that the location of affects White’s choice of connection. If were at A, White could consider attacking it. With this in mind, at B would make sense. This “soft” pincer of , however, is good for defense rather than offense, so White is better off playing and making strength on the top side.

The full book continues this chapter with additional examples, followed by chapters on When to Play Fast or Slow, Playing a Fighting Opening, and Destroying Large or Nearly Completed Positions.

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© 2007 by Yilun Yang

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