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(c) 2014 by Yuan Zhou

The Chinese Opening

Yuan Zhou

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

The Chinese Opening is popular among both amateurs and pros today, but many amateurs do not have a good understanding of the meaning of this opening. In this book Yuan Zhou provides a full explanation of the best ways to use and to respond to it. He discusses the origins of the opening and the evolution of players’ understanding of it using famous games as illustrations, from a game played by Honinbo Dosaku in 1683 to one between Cho Chikun and Chen Yaoye in last year’s international Chunlan Cup. Most amateurs have only a few out of date ideas about this opening; this book will correct that problem.

About the Author

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 Go 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 Prodigy Cup.

In 1989 Zhou immigrated to the USA, becoming a US citizen and joining the American Go Association (AGA). Zhou was the president of the University of Maryland Go Club, 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 30 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, one of the biggest US tournaments, four times. Twice he has won the Maryland Open, another major tournament that attracts strong players. Zhou has placed in the top ten in the US Open many times, as well as in the North American Ing 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 Ing Masters, and Feng Yun 9p in the 2011 SAMG World Team Go US Team Qualifier. Zhou also won the US Pair Go Championship four times. Zhou represented the USA in international tournaments many times (WAGC, Korea Prime Minister Cup, World Pair Go Championship, etc).

In 2009, Zhou represented 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 with Slate & Shell (www.slateandshell.com) and SmartGo Books (www.smartgo.com). Zhou resides in Germantown, Maryland, USA. His website is at www.zhouyuan.com.

Copyright Page

(c) 2013 Yuan Zhou

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

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

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–67–0

Table of Contents

The Chinese Opening

About the Author

Copyright Page

Beginnings

Early Developments

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

The High Chinese Opening

The Primary Direction of the Chinese Opening

The Ideal Development of the Chinese Opening

Recent Developments

A Very Recent Development

Go Seigen on the Chinese Opening

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About SmartGo Books

Beginnings

Basic Pattern

The pattern of stones along one side of the board shown in the diagram, normally but not always played as Black’s first three moves in a game, make up the well-known Chinese Opening. This opening is not a new idea. It can be found in game records long before the modern era, but it has become very popular among both pros and amateurs in recent times. It is usually played by Black, but White can play it also. However, since many amateurs don’t seem to understand the meaning of this opening pattern, this book offers a full explanation of just what this opening is all about, both what Black should be trying to do with it and how White should counter it.

The ultimate origins of the Chinese Opening are unclear, but its modern popularity is particularly associated with the Chinese pro Chen Zude. He apparently was the first to play this opening in an official tournament game, on November 4, 1963, against the Japanese 8 dan pro Miyamoto Naoki (this game is discussed later in the book). Insofar as the opening had a name then, it was called the “bridge opening”. Chen was a major figure in the blossoming of modern professional go in China, becoming the first 9 dan under their pro system and serving as the president of the National Chinese Go Association for several years before his death.

The name “Chinese Opening” first appears in 1965 in the reports of a Chinese-Japanese Friendship Exchange Tournament in Japan. All the Chinese players had agreed beforehand to play this opening in each game. The opening didn’t have a recognized name at that time and it seems likely that a newspaper reporter invented the name “Chinese Opening” for stories about the match. Using a common name “Chinese” instead of an individual’s name, as in “Kobayashi Opening” or “Shusaku Opening”, fit the general cultural norms of China at that time as the communist government emphasized the importance of the community as opposed to particular individuals. So the name was a happy choice for the Chinese players.

To appreciate the Chinese Opening, it’s useful to remember that in traditional go theory, you first play in the empty corners, and then you either defend a corner or approach a corner. Only after that do you play extensions on the sides and finally play in the center. In the Chinese Opening, a side extension is played where traditional theory would call for a corner play. Moreover, in ancient times in China, the initial stones in a game were placed on the 4–4 points. Playing on the 3–4 point was invented by the Japanese when they opened up the game to greater freedom by allowing players to choose the placement of the initial moves. The Japanese had studied 3–4 josekis very thoroughly since that time, and the Chinese felt intimidated by the Japanese expertise in complicated 3–4 point josekis as they tried to develop the Chinese pro community. Since there was naturally a strong interest in defeating the Japanese pros, universally recognized as the strongest players in the world at that time, there was an interest in finding a way to overcome the advantage the Japanese had in knowledge of josekis. Playing the Chinese Opening was Chen Zude’s clever solution to this problem.

Chen noted that the Chinese Opening simplifies the opening situation in a game and makes it possible to avoid complicated josekis. This leads to reaching the middle game faster, where reading and fighting ability become the dominant factors, rather than knowledge of very complicated patterns.

Early Developments

Sanrensei

The first thing we can note about the Chinese Opening is that it emphasizes balance, specifically in the way it deals with the relationship between outside thickness and territory on an entire side of the board. We can say that the sanrensei or three star points opening (shown in the diagram) also involves a balance along an entire side, but it is biased toward thickness because all three stones are high, on the fourth line star points. Hence the sanrensei is seen as a moyo style opening. The Chinese Opening supports either a moyo or a territory style of play, providing more flexibility in the continuation of the game.

A Traditional Opening Pattern

The traditional opening pattern shown in this diagram in which Black closes the lower corner with a knight’s move is similar to the Chinese Opening in a way, but making a solid corner so early in the game can be seen as a little slow. The Chinese Opening provides faster development.

High Chinese Opening

I should note that we now also speak of the “high” Chinese Opening, in which the stone in the middle of the side () is on the fourth line. This was not part of the opening in the early years after it became popular. So the real reference of the name is to the “low” Chinese Opening. The “high” version originated in Japan and is generally credited to Fujisawa Shuko. It is not played very often nowadays—an explanation of why appears later in this book.

Let’s look at a series of games that show how the understanding of the Chinese Opening developed.

An Old Game

Moves 1–9

The first game to note is between Honinbo Dosaku, who is considered by many to be the pre-eminent genius of go, and the head of a rival go house, Inoue Dosa Inseki. The game was played in 1683, more than 300 years ago. Dosaku is White. The players begin with 3–4 point moves and continue in a way that reflects traditional go theory that is still played today. The key play we are interested in is Dosaku’s next move, White 10.

Move 10

In traditional theory, White 10 should be played at A, finishing the corner before extending on the side, but we can see that Honinbo Dosaku has some different ideas about how to play. Obviously, after White 10 the lower right side and corner is very open. White is not expecting to make territory in this easily invaded side area.

In traditional theory White 10 would be seen as a bad play—White is not directly gaining anything with it. However, although the upper right corner is not White’s, this move creates the pattern in the lower right that is an essential part of the Chinese Opening. It is interesting to see what follows in the game.

Move 11

Black’s response with Black 11 is a play that might be made today, and initiates a pattern that has often been seen in games with the Chinese Opening.

Moves 12–17

The continuation is a pattern that is familiar to any experienced player today. Many modern games involving the Chinese Opening contain precisely this variation in the lower right area.

So we see that the basic idea of the Chinese Opening is definitely not a recent invention. The next diagram shows the entire game.

Inoue Dosa Inseki 7P (Black) vs Honinbo Dosaku 9P (White)
180: connects; 231: connects; 235 at 89

White wins by 13 points. Played January 28, 1683.

Now let’s consider the aims of the Chinese Opening and look at some modern games.

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© 2014 by Yuan Zhou

This edition includes both the English and Spanish text.