This EPUB is provided without Digital Rights Management (DRM), allowing you to read it on your EPUB reader of choice. We trust that you use this EPUB file for your personal use only. Buying the book at gobooks.com ensures that authors and publishers get paid, and makes it possible for us to convert more books to digital format.

This EPUB contains static go diagrams only. This makes it compatible with more EPUB readers, but does not show the full potential of interactive Go Books. Get a download link for the interactive version at gobooks.com/support.html.

Mastering the Basics, Volume 9

An Encyclopedia of Go Principles

Richard Bozulich

Copyright © 2015 by Richard Bozulich

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Preface

Go is played on a very large board, consisting of 361 playing points. During the opening phase, there will be perhaps 50 to 100 candidates for a plausible move, and, for each of these candidates the opponent’s many possible responses must also be considered as well as your responses to each of these responses, and so on. An exhaustive brute-force search for finding the best move is clearly impractical. Clearly, a go player needs some principles to guide him.

After the opening phase ends, difficult decisions must still be made in the middle game — which groups should be attacked and which of your own groups need to be defended; in which direction should you attack; should you invade or simply reduce your opponent’s potential territory? The expert go player definitely needs some principles to guide him in finding the best move. Even in positions where brute-force analysis is required in determining whether a group lives or dies or trying to increase your liberties in a capturing race, certain principles can provide valuable hints to finding the key moves.

Go is a difficult game to master. Many players fail to attain the rank of 1-dan, the lowest level of expert strength, even after years of study and playing a countless number of games. I believe that the reason for this failure is due to an incomplete mastery of the fundamentals of go, which are:

1. Knowledge of the basic strategic and tactical principles that govern good play.

2. Working knowledge of the approximately 45 basic tesujis.

3. The ability to read out or analyze a local position.

The purpose of this book is to bring together all the strategic and tactical principles of go. All of these principles can certainly be found scattered in the thousands of go books that have been published, but nowhere are they found collected in one place. Books on the go proverbs, which are supposed to incorporate most of the principles of go, contain only about 50 proverbs, many of which are unhelpful, such as ‘If you don’t know ladders, don’t play go’. On the other hand, many important strategic ideas aren’t included in the go proverbs, such as ‘Be willing to transfer a moyo from one part of the board to another’.

I have supplemented each principle with as many examples as the principle warrants. All of the go proverbs that have some concrete relevance to strategy or to tactics are included. With these principles contained under one cover, a go player can embark on a systematic study of them. Once all 100 principles have been firmly implanted in your mind, you will instinctively and intuitively recall the relevant principle through pattern recognition when they arise in your games.

Along with these principles you must also become intimately familiar with the 45 basic tesujis. I have written two books which present all the main tesujis: A Survey of the Basic Tesujis and 501 Tesuji Problems. The first of these two books will introduce the novice player to all of the 45 tesujis that could arise in their games. The second book is much like a practice book in which all these tesujis are presented in random order, just as they might unpredictably appear in a game, so that the player must intuit which tesuji might be applicable by pattern recognition.

The third ability that every go player must develop is that of analysis. It is closely related to finding the key tactical move — the tesuji — in a position. Once a tesuji is found, it must be verified that the tesuji does indeed work. This can only be done by brute-force analysis. I wrote an essay on this topic titled The Interplay of Intuition and Brute-Force Analysis in Go; it is posted online here.

The fastest way to develop your analytical abilities is to solve life-and-death problems. This involves more than just going through one or two books. It involves constant practice — solving simple to difficult problems — then going back to the same problems after a few months and solving them again.

There is a lot one must know to become a dan-level go player — knowledge of the basic joseki and fuseki patterns as well as an understanding of the endgame and the ability to determine the value of endgame moves. You should also play a lot games and experiment with various fuseki and joseki patterns. If you embark on your study of go in this way, I believe that becoming a dan-level player will be attainable, even for players who have been stuck for years in the mid-kyu range.

Richard Bozulich
September 2015

Copyright Page

Mastering the Basics, Volume 9
An Encyclopedia of Go Principles

Richard Bozulich

Copyright © 2015 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 from Kiseido Publishing Company.

Published by
Kiseido Publishing Company
Kagawa 4–48–32, Chigasaki-shi
Kanagawa-ken, Japan 253–0082

ISBN of the printed version: 978–4–906574–79–7

Converted for SmartGo Books by John Mifsud.

Contents

An Encyclopedia of Go Principles
Mastering the Basics, Volume 9

Preface

Copyright Page

Chapter One. Five Opening Principles

Principle 1. First occupy the empty corners; second, enclose a corner or make an approach move; third, extend along the sides.

Principle 2. Don’t make too many moves in one part of the board. Establish outposts throughout the board.

Principle 3. Play where the fewest stones have been played.

Principle 4. Establish a position inside your opponent’s sphere of influence.

Principle 5. Don’t let your opponent make two corner enclosures.

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

Chapter Two. Extensions

Principle 6A. From a single stone, extend two spaces.

Principle 6B. Extend three spaces from a two-stone wall.

Principle 6C. Extend four spaces from a three-stone wall.

Principle 7. When opposing enclosures face each other, play on the central point between them.

Principle 8. Extend up to five spaces from a corner enclosure.

Principle 9. Extend at least five spaces from a large-scale wall.

Principle 10. When reinforcing widely spaced extensions, maintain a balance between the third and fourth lines.

Principle 11. The butterfly extension is bad shape.

Chapter Three. Moyos: Territorial Frameworks

Principle 12. When mapping out a moyo, play on the fourth line.

Principle 13A. Play at the junction of two opposing moyos.

Principle 13B. Expand your moyo while reducing your opponent’s.

Principle 14. Erase your opponent’s moyo with a shoulder hit.

Principle 15. Erase your opponent’s moyo with a knight’s move.

Principle 16A. Erase your opponent’s moyo with a capping move.

Principle 16B. Answer a capping move with a knight’s move.

Principle 17. Erase a double-wing formation with a capping move.

Principle 18. Build a moyo with a shoulder hit.

Principle 19. Reduce a large-scale moyo by playing into it no farther than its outer rim.

Principle 20. Don’t let your opponent make a moyo while he is reducing yours.

Principle 21. Be willing to transfer a moyo from one part of the board to another.

Principle 22. Against a double-wing extension from a stone on the 4–4 point, invade at the 3–3 point.

Principle 23. Against a 3–3 point invasion, block on the side that makes the biggest moyo or territory.

Chapter Four. Thickness

Principle 24A. Don’t approach thickness.

Principle 24B. Use your thickness to attack.

Principle 24C. Don’t use thickness to make territory.

Principle 25. Ponnuki is worth 30 points.

Principle 26. The tortoise shell is worth 60 points.

Chapter Five. Defending and Attacking Weak Groups

Principle 27. Play urgent moves before big opening moves.

Principle 27A. Defending a weak group takes priority over big opening moves.

Principle 27B. Attack your opponent’s weak stones.

Principle 28A. Confine your opponent’s stones.

Principle 28B. Don’t allow your stones to be confined.

Principle 28C. Separate your opponent’s stones into weak groups, then attack.

Chapter Six. Good and Bad Shape

Principle 29. Don’t make empty triangles.

Principle 30. Don’t make the pyramid shape.

Principle 31. The plum-bowl shape is as solid as a rock.

Principle 32. Don’t make dumpling shapes.

Chapter Seven. Creating and Exploiting a Shortage of Liberties

Principle 33. Play a hane at the head of two stones.

Principle 34. Play a hane at the head of three stones.

Principle 35. Play at the center of three stones.

Chapter Eight. Pressing, Pushing, and Crawling

Principle 36. Don’t crawl along the second line.

Principle 37. Avoid crawling along the third line.

Principle 38. Don’t push along the fifth line.

Principle 39. Don’t push from behind.

Chapter Nine. Attacking

Principle 40. Attack from your weak stones.

Principle 41. When stones are split into two weak groups, one will die.

Principle 42. Attack a weak group by leaning against a stronger one.

Principle 43. Attack with a capping move.

Principle 44. Attack with a knight’s move.

Principle 45. A cap, followed by a knight’s move, are an effective attacking combination.

Principle 46. Map out territory or a moyo while attacking.

Principle 47. Rob your opponent’s stones of their base, then attack.

Chapter Ten. Light and Heavy Stones and Making Sabaki

Principle 48. Attach to make sabaki.

Principle 49. Prevent your opponent from making sabaki with the diagonal attachment and an iron pillar.

Principle 50. Play light moves to avoid making a heavy group.

Principle 51. The one-space jump is rarely a bad move.

Principle 52. Abandon junk stones.

Principle 53. Don’t make territory in a area where one of your flanks is open.

Chapter Eleven. Fighting a Ko

Principle 54. There’s no ko in the opening.

Principle 55. Be the first to capture the ko.

Principle 56. Don’t play ko threats that lose points.

Chapter Twelve. Ladders

Principle 57. Capture the stone caught in a ladder as soon as possible.

Chapter Thirteen. Tactical Principles

Principle 58. Capture the cutting stone.

Principle 59. When caught in a crosscut, extend.

Principle 60. Increase the sacrifice to two stones.

Principle 61. Don’t eliminate a cut with a peep.

Principle 62. Attach across the waist of the knight’s move.

Principle 63. When your opponent attaches across the waist of the knight’s move, don’t cut off the attaching stone.

Principle 64. Don’t push in to a knight’s move.

Principle 65. Attach against the stronger stone.

Principle 66. The turn in the center is a big move.

Principle 67. Destroy an eye with a diagonal peep.

Chapter Fourteen. Miscellaneous Principles

Principle 68. In a symmetrical position, play on the central point.

Principle 69. There’s death in a hane.

Principle 70. To live with a group, expand its eye space.

Principle 71. To kill a group, reduce the size of its eye space.

Principle 72. In the corner, six live and four die.

Principle 73. On the side, eight live and six die.

Principle 74. The comb formation is alive.

Principle 75. Bent four in the corner is dead.

Principle 76. The carpenter’s square lives in a ko.

Principle 77. Without a liberty, the rectangular six in the corner can be killed.

Principle 78. The rectangular six on the side is unconditionally alive.

Principle 79. The flower-six eye space can be killed.

Principle 80. There’s a brilliant move on the 2–1 point.

Principle 81. If your group is dead, don’t try to save it.

Principle 82. If you don’t have a good move, play elsewhere.

Principle 83. Fill the outside liberties first.

Principle 84. A group with one eye beats a group with no eyes.

Principle 85A. A three-space eye has three liberties.

Principle 85B. A four-space eye has five liberties.

Principle 85C. A five-space eye has eight liberties.

Principle 85D. A six-space eye has 12 liberties.

Principle 86. In a capturing race, two successive hanes can increase the liberties of a group.

Principle 87. If you lose four corners, resign.

Principle 88. Don’t try to win by making one big territory.

Principle 89. Don’t leave behind an unfinished joseki.

Principle 90. Don’t attach when your opponent’s stones and yours are on the same line. Attach if they are on different lines.

Principle 91. Don’t bump against a stone if it results in a shortage of liberties.

Principle 92. My opponent’s key point is also my key point.

Principle 93. Before fighting a ko, count the number of ko threats.

Principle 94. When fighting a ko, start with adjacent ko threats.

Principle 95. A double ko provides an endless number of ko threats.

Principle 96. Abandon a three-step approach-move ko.

Principle 97. Abandon a three-stage ko.

Principle 98. Play a double-sente endgame move as soon as possible.

Principle 99. The monkey jump is worth eight points.

Principle 100. Linking up groups on the first line is worth nine points.

A Brief Glossary of Go Terms and Concepts

Go Books from Kiseido

Buy This Book

About SmartGo Books

Chapter One
Five Opening Principles

Principle 1. First occupy the empty corners;
second, enclose a corner or make an approach move;
third, extend along the sides or play a pincer.

Dia. 1–1. Occupying the corners

Occupying the corners with your first moves as in Dia. 1–1 is considered to be the best way to start a game, as the corners are the easiest place to make territory. In the center, your territory can be attacked from four directions. On the sides, it can be attacked from three directions, but in the corners it can be attacked from only two directions. In this diagram, Black and White occupy two corners each.

Dia. 1–2. Enclosing and approaching

Black continues by enclosing a corner with 5 in Dia. 1–2 while White approaches the black stone in the corner with 6. After Black defends with 7, White extends along the side with 8. Next —

Dia. 1–3. Extending

Black approaches with 9 in Dia. 1–3 and White defends with 10. Black 11 is an ideal extension because it accomplishes two things: it extends from both the stone at 9 and the corner enclosure on the right.

Dia. 1–4. Playing a pincer

Instead of enclosing a corner as in Dia. 1–2, Black approaches the stone in the lower left corner with 5 in Dia. 1–4. White makes an approach move of his own with 6. Instead of extending to ‘a’, a more positive way of responding to an approach move is to attack with a pincer. This is what Black does with 7. Next —

Dia. 1–5. Another pincer

White ignores Black’s pincer and makes another approach with 8 in Dia. 1–5. Black plays another pincer with 9.

Dia. 1–6. Moving into the center

White must answer Black 9 in Dia. 1–5 by jumping out into the center with 10 in Dia. 1–6. If White neglects to play this move, Black would attach at ‘a’ and build a wall facing up the right side. The marked stone would then work well with that wall.

The big opening moves

Occupying an empty corner, enclosing a corner, approaching a stone in the corner, playing a pincer, and extending along the sides are the big opening moves — oba in Japanese. In whatever order you play these moves, a game of go usually starts in the corners, continues along the sides, then progresses into the center.

Principle 2. Don’t make too many moves in one part of the board. Establish outposts throughout the board.

Dia. 2–1. A bad strategy for Black

With the moves from 1 to 17 in Dia. 2–1, Black makes impregnable territory on the top right. On the other hand, White establishes a presence and influence everywhere else.

Black has made 30 points of iron-clad territory, but White will have no trouble turning his influence into territory worth much more than what Black has secured. Black can invade and neutralize some of this influence, but White will attack the invaders and make his own iron-clad territory in the process.

Dia. 2–2. Black is under attack

When Black tries to invade White’s sphere of influence with 19 in Dia. 2–2, White goes on the attack with 20 to 26. After the exchange of Black 27 for 28, White has almost secured the entire bottom left territory which is just as big as Black’s territory on the top right. After Black more or less secures eye shape with 29, White secures the territory in the upper left corner with 30. If Black invades again with 31, White goes on the attack again with 32 and 34. After 38, White has staked out more territory on the lower right side. In the meantime, Black’s stones on the bottom right still do not have eye shape.

Dia. 2–3. A well-played opening

Diagram 2–3 shows a well-played opening. Both sides have established positions throughout the board.

Principle 3. Play where the fewest stones have been played.

Example 1

Dia. 3–1. Establishing a secure position

In Dia. 3–1, all of Black’s groups are safe, so this is a good time to start operation in another part of the board. The best chance for making territory is to play in an area where few stones have been played. In this position, Black 1 is the obvious candidate. After the joseki to 5, Black has established a secure position on the left side. Instead of Black 1 —

Dia. 3–2. Black is under attack

Playing inside of White’s stronghold with Black 1 in Dia. 3–2 is not good. White plays the diagonal attachment of 2. The moves to White 4 can be expected and, because of the presence of the marked stone, Black’s two stones at 1 and 3 are heavy and under attack.

Dia. 3–3. Not a big move

Black 1 in Dia. 3–3 defends the corner against an invasion, but this is not really such a big move. Black’s position there is already quite strong. He is playing too many moves in the same area, so his stones are not working efficiently. White gains much more by building up his position on the left side with 2.

Example 2

Dia. 3–4. The best move

All of Black’s groups in Dia. 3–4 are secure, so Black plays 1 on the top left. This is the area where the fewest stones have been played. The joseki to Black 5 can be expected.

Dia. 3–5. A possible invasion

Black might also play 1 on the left side in Dia. 3–5. The moves to Black 5 can be expected, but White has a good invasion at ‘a’. Black might play 5 at ‘b’, but then his position on the left side would be too flat in relation to his marked stone.

Principle 4. Establish a position inside your opponent’s sphere of influence.

Example 1

Dia. 4–1. Diversify your positions

In Dia. 4–1, White has played all of his moves on the left side of the board. On the other hand, Black has strong positions in the lower half of the board and has a stone in the upper right corner, so his positions are diversified. Therefore, White should play 1 to establish a position on the right side and break up Black’s influence there. If Black answers with a checking extension at 2, White establishes a position on the right side by extending two spaces to 3.

Dia. 4–2. Variation

If Black answers White 1 from above with a checking extension at 2 in Dia. 4–2, White extends to 3, again establishing a position on the right side.

Dia. 4–3. A large-scale moyo

White 1 in Dia. 4–3 is an ideal extension from his stone in the upper left corner, but Black will answer with 2, mapping out a large area on the right side. Moreover, a large-scale moyo is starting to take shape in the lower part of the board.

Example 2

Dia. 4–4. Invading the left side

All of Black’s moves in Dia. 4–4 are played on the right side of the board. Black had better play in the middle of White’s sphere of influence with 1. If White plays a checking extension with 2, Black establishes a position on the left side by extending to 3.

Dia. 4–5. Variation

If White plays a checking extension from below with 2 in Dia. 4–5, Black can still establish a position on the left side with 3.

Dia. 4–6. Black is overconcentrated

Securing the upper right corner with 1 in Dia. 4–6 is a big move locally, but Black is not taking the whole board into account. He is failing to diversify his positions and is making too many moves on the right side. White will grab the key point of 2 and his sphere of influence extends throughout the board. If Black now invades the left side, he won’t be able to establish a secure position there and his stones will come under attack. If Black plays 1 at ‘a’ or ‘b’, White will still play at 2.

Principle 5. Don’t let your opponent make two corner enclosures.

Dia. 5–1. Two corner enclosures

In general, it is not a good idea to allow your opponent to make two corner enclosures. After Black makes a corner enclosure with 5 in Dia. 5–1, White makes an enclosure of his own with 6. This allows Black to make another enclosure in the lower left corner with 7. Although it can’t be calculated precisely, based on results from past games, the professional feeling is that Black has taken the lead. Even today, when games are played with a large 6½-point komi, Black has at least equalized. Instead of 6 —

Dia. 5–2. White should approach

This is a case in which an approach move takes priority over making an enclosure, so White approaches with 6 in Dia. 5–2. The chances are that a skirmish of some kind will break out around here and Black will strive to end in sente so that he can approach the stone in the upper left corner. In any case, the position is more fluid than the one in Dia. 5–1 and both sides will have to fight hard to get the advantage.