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Copyright © 2007 by Richard Bozulich

Mastering the Basics, Volume 5

The Basics of Go Strategy

by Richard Bozulich

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Preface

Aji, kikashi (forcing moves), and sabaki are the most important concepts of go. They imbue the game with strategic subtleties unmatched in any other game. Without an understanding of these concepts, no go player can hope to attain a high level of skill. Besides these concepts, it is also necessary to understand the shape and distribution of stones and how they influence other parts of the board, determining which stones are important and which stones can be sacrificed, and which stones must be strengthened before playing large-scale strategic moves.

The aim of this book is to bring together these ideas and to show the reader how they interact. Many of the examples and problems are taken from professional games so that the reader can see how the top pros deal with and utilize these concepts.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is expository, and the second part consists of 101 problems. These problems are for the most part a bit difficult, and the weaker players who will be reading this book are advised to treat them as examples that will expose the reader to various techniques and ways to think about certain kinds of positions. The reader is urged to approach them as positions that might occur in their own games, decide how they would play, and then look at the answers to compare their own thinking to that of a professional.

Richard Bozulich
January 2007

Copyright Page

Mastering the Basics, Volume 5
The Basics of Go Strategy

by Richard Bozulich

Copyright © 2007 by Richard Bozulich

All rights reserved according to international law. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by
Kiseido Publishing Company
CPO Box 1140
Tokyo, Japan

ISBN of the printed version: 4–906574–75–0

Converted for SmartGo Books by John Mifsud.

Contents

The Basics of Go Strategy
Mastering the Basics, Volume 5

Preface

Copyright Page

Author’s Note

Some Important Terms and Concepts

Chapter One: Aji

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

Chapter Two: Forcing Moves

Chapter Three: Probing Moves

Chapter Four: Attacking Heavy Stones

Chapter Five: Light Stones and Sabaki

Chapter Six: Junk Stones

Chapter Seven: Key Stones

Chapter Eight: Thickness

101 Problems

Problems 1–10

Problems 11–20

Problems 21–30

Problems 31–40

Problems 41–50

Problems 51–60

Problems 61–70

Problems 71–80

Problems 81–90

Problems 91–101

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About SmartGo Books

Author’s Note

The first three chapters of this book borrow heavily from Strategic Concepts of Go, which I wrote together with Nagahara Yoshiaki in 1971. At that time I was receiving lessons from him on an almost daily basis. The commentaries on the games and examples in that book were based on his lessons. For these commentaries, Nagahara must be given credit. However, I have expanded on the original, using examples from recent professional games, especially in Chapter Two. I have also added new topics on light stones, heavy stones, key stones, and junk stones, because I felt their relation to aji, forcing moves, and thickness needed to be addressed. These topics are all important elements of the basic strategy of go. The problem section has also been expanded with many new problems added and the best from Strategic Concepts of Go retained.

In Strategic Concepts of Go, I used so many Japanese terms within the text that it made that book a difficult read, even for myself when I looked at it again after so many years. In this book I have used as few Japanese terms as possible, and those that I have used are explained in the next section. I hope that the present book’s prose is more comprehensible.

Finally, I must thank Rob van Zeijst, who went through earlier drafts of this book. He made many corrections and suggested variations to many of the examples and problems.

Richard Bozulich
January 2007

Some Important Terms and Concepts

Here we introduce some go terms used in this book. For a comprehensive glossary of Japanese and English go terms, refer to The Go Player’s Almanac 2001 from page 331 to 374.

atari

Atari is a threat to capture a stone or a group of stones on the next move.

Dia. 1a

The white stone in Dia. 1a is in atari. If White doesn’t defend by extending to A, Black may capture it with 1 in Dia. 1b.

Dia. 1b

Dia. 1c

The result is shown in Dia. 1c.

dameba

Points of no value.

Dia. 2a

In Dia. 2a, Black is threatening to confine the white stones to the top by playing at A and forming a wall facing down the right side.

Dia. 2b

However, if White breaks out into the center with 1 and 3 in Dia. 2b, his moves make no profit. The influence these two stones project towards the left are neutralized by the two marked stones. White 1 and 3 also provoke Black 2 and 4, which make profit for Black on the right side.

gote

Gote is a move which does not require an answer; a defensive move. Compare sente.

hane

Hane is a diagonal move played from a friendly stone in contact with an enemy stone.

Dia. 3

White 1 in Dia. 3 is an example of a hane.

miai

Miai refers to two points of approximately equal value. If your opponent takes one of them, you can (and usually must) take the other.

Dia. 4

The points A and B in Dia. 4 are miai, so White is alive. If Black plays one of them, White will play the other.

moyo

Moyo is a framework which maps out a large area of potential territory. Some moyos are huge, while others are modest in size.

Dia. 5

In Dia. 5, the four white stones in the upper left map out a moyo. The four black stones in the upper right map out an even larger moyo from his corner enclosure along the upper right side and the top right. If Black were to play at A with his next move, he would have mapped out a huge moyo in the upper right quadrant of the board.

points of no value

See dameba.

ponnuki

The shape left when a stone is captured by four opposing stones. The shape of the black stones in Dia. 1c is an example.

sente

A move that must be answered; an offensive move. Compare gote.

tesuji

A skillful move which accomplishes some clear tactical objective, such as capturing a group, rescuing one of your own groups, linking up your stones, separating your opponent’s stones, or making good shape.

tewari

Breaking down a position by eliminating equal number of black and white stones for the purpose of analyzing the relative efficiency of the moves. See Dias. 19 and 20 in Chapter Three for an example.

thick

A thick position has few or no defects, i.e., cutting points. Such positions are hard to attack. Thick positions are useful in that they can be used for attacking. Conversely, thick positions are hard to attack and it should be impossible for the opposing side to make sabaki against it.

thin

Stones that are weak or widely separated are called thin. Unlike thick stones, these stones are easily invaded or attacked.

Chapter One: Aji

Aji refers to latent possibilities that exist in a position. Although these possibilities may never be realized, their existence influences the course of the game and allows for a variety of scenarios. Here is an example.

Dia. 1

The marked white stone in the corner in Dia. 1 is dead, but it still has aji. Because of its aji, White’s stones can break out into the center by jumping to 1. Black cannot confine them by pushing in at A.

Dia. 2

If Black does try to confine White with 1 and blocking with 3 in Dia. 2, White cuts through with 2 and 4. After Black extends to 5, the aji of the marked stone comes to life when White captures with 6 and 8.

Dia. 3

The sequence in Dia. 3 is a popular joseki. After White 11, the joseki comes to a pause.

Dia. 4

Later, a black attack at 1 in Dia. 4 is severe because of White’s weakness at A. If White ignores 1 and plays elsewhere with 2, Black can make a placement at 3 in Dia. 5.

Dia. 5
2: elsewhere

The sequence to Black 7 follows naturally. White is now faced with a difficult choice. If he makes eye shape with A, Black will confine the white stones to the corner with B, building formidable thickness in the center. If White escapes into the center with B, Black can deprive the white stones of their eye shape with the sequence C–White A–Black D–White E–Black F–White G–Black H. White would then have to make a second eye in the center.

Dia. 6

Pushing in with Black 1 in Dia. 6 is a move that must be avoided. Once the Black 1–White 2 exchange is made, White’s position has been strengthened and the attack at Black A has lost its effectiveness. In other words, the aji of the position has been erased. (The Japanese expression for this is aji-keshi.)

The joseki in Dia. 3 is usually played early in a game. Since there will be bigger moves elsewhere, strong players are content to leave the position fluid and undefined, waiting to see how the game develops before committing themselves to a move in this area.

Dia. 7

However, after White 11 in Dia. 3, a player might sometimes attack immediately with Black 12 in Dia. 7. The usual response is White A, which results in fighting as the white stones move out into the center.

Dia. 8

The moves to Black 3 in Dia. 8 are the start of another joseki.

Dia. 9

After Black 4 in Dia. 9, White cuts with 5 and Black gets a thick position facing the left after the sequence to 16. White’s stones project influence down the right side, but it has some bad aji because Black has an annoying atari at A in Dia. 10.

Dia. 10

Black 1 in Dia. 10 is certainly a big endgame move. However, if Black plays this move too soon, the aji of Black A disappears when White captures with 2. There is no hurry for Black to play 1.

Dia. 11

White won’t play 1 in Dia. 11 because it is not a serious threat, so Black 1 in Dia. 10 is Black’s privilege.

Dia. 12

Dia. 12 shows what can happen if Black cuts with 1. White must respond with 2. After the sequence to 6, White builds solid territory along the right side while Black builds influence towards the left. Before playing 1, Black must be sure that the influence he is building is worth at least as much as the territory White is taking. For this reason, Black must not play 1 too early in the game; he should leave it as aji, waiting for the right conditions to appear on the board.

The following game is a beautiful illustration of the use of the aji of this joseki.

Figure 1 (1–55)

This is the first game of the fifth Meijin title match, played on August 5 and 6, 1966. Rin Kaiho (White) was the title holder and Sakata Eio the challenger.

In this game, the joseki in Dias. 8 and 9 was played in the upper right corner with the moves from 4 to 19. With the sequence to 33, Black has built a rather large territory at the top. After the skirmishes at the bottom, Black invades the right side with 55, aiming to play at either A or B.

Dia. 13

In response to Black 1 in Dia. 13, White might defend his stones in the lower right with 2. Black would then atari with 3 and extend to 5. The exchange of White 6–Black 7 follows. Black has built a wall that combines with the two marked stones to the left, creating a large territorial framework.

Next, White jumps to 8; Black can now take care of his stones by escaping into the center or starting a ko at A. Black can also aim at the point B to reduce White’s territory in the upper right.

Figure 2 (56–86)

White disliked his prospects in Dia. 13, so he defended his position in the upper right with the diagonal connection of 56. This move removed the bad aji caused by the marked stone, so Black attacked in the lower right by pushing up with 57. With the sequence to 83, Black has captured the white stones in the lower right. As compensation, White has secured territory in the upper right and on the left side. He has also limited the scale of Black’s territory at the top with 76. Finally, he secures the upper left corner with 84.

Since Black can no longer utilize the aji of the marked stone by cutting with A, Black 85 has become a big move. White must capture with 86.

The next game is another illustration of aji that was present throughout most of the game but could not be immediately utilized. It was the first game of the 1970 Honinbo title match and again featured Rin Kaiho (White), the title holder, and Sakata Eio.

Figure 3 (1–30)

With the sequence to Black 17, most of the big points in the opening have been played. White must now establish a position inside Black’s sphere of influence in the upper right sector of the board. He proceeds to do this with the approach of 18. The sequence to White 26 is a joseki. Next, Black continues to push up with 27, then hits the white stones at their vital point with 29, rendering them eyeless. White responds by cutting with 30. The aji created by this cut provides the theme for our analysis.

Dia. 14

Instead of 27 and 29 in Figure 3, Black 1 in Dia. 14 was another possible move. Its advantage is that it enables Black to secure the right side without any bad aji. Its downside is that it allows White to jump to 2 and make good shape for his stones; Black’s attack would come to an end.

Figure 4 (31–37)

Black settles the situation on the right side with the sequence to 35. After White connects with 36, his stones are out into the center, but they are still eyeless and under attack after Black 37. Fortunately, he has the marked stone and the one at 34 to help them in their quest for eyes. These two stones may look dead, but they still have aji.

Figure 5 (38–57)

White must feel confident that he can live with his eight stones on the right side because he invades the upper right corner with 38. With the sequence to 56, Black’s stones become thick on the outside, but this doesn’t faze White because this thickness is neutralized by White’s eight stones on the right — provided that they can survive Black’s attack at 57.

Figure 6 (58–69)

After Black caps with 57 in Figure 5, White turns with 58 forcing Black to defend with 59. White next attaches with 60, then turns with 62, giving his two stones on the right side an extra liberty. White returns to his stones on the outside and links them up to his stone at the bottom with the sequence to 68. Black now has sente, and he takes this opportunity to enclose the corner with 69.

With Black 69, it may seem that White’s chance of utilizing the aji of his three white stones on the right side has vanished, but this is not the case.

Exactly what is this aji?

Dia. 15
16: connects

White can play the sequence starting with 1 in Dia. 15. After Black 22, White plays 23 and 25 in order to set up a capturing race. However, White’s position is too thin, and Black can make an eye and increase his liberties by attaching at A. But, if White can later strengthen his stones in the bottom right, he might be able to win this capturing race.

Dia. 16

Note Black 6 in Dia. 15. Black must not block with 6 in Dia. 16. If he does, White can set up a ko with the sequence to 11.

Dia. 17

Black 22 in Dia. 15 is also necessary. If Black omits this move, White can live outright with the sequence to 7 in Dia. 17.

Figure 7 (70–100)

Cutting with White 70 is a strong move that breaks up Black’s potential framework in the upper left. The sequence continues to 100, when White encloses the lower left corner.

Figure 8 (101–115)

Black attacks White’s thin position with the shoulder hit of 1. Black has managed to get about 15 points of territory at the bottom, but White has made his stones thick in the bottom right. White can now utilize the aji he has on the right side.

Figure 9 (116–146)
ko: 128, 131, 134

White starts operations on the right side with 16 to 20. Next, a ko is started in the upper left. The moves switch between the upper left and the lower right. With 39, the situation in the upper left is settled and White makes a living group in the lower right with the sequence to 46.

Because of Black 33 in Figure 9, White’s stones in the lower right corner were able to live. However, Black had no choice.

Dia. 18
8: connects

If he had played to kill all of the white stones on the right with 2 in Dia. 18, the moves would continue to Black 14. The position in the corner is the same as in Dia. 15 except that White is now thick on the left, so Black has no countermeasures there. Thus, he loses the capturing race by one move. This would be catastrophic. In the game he was able to save his stones while capturing six of White’s.

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Copyright © 2007 by Richard Bozulich

This edition includes the English and Spanish text.