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.

To make sure the solution diagram of a problem is hidden, switch to a view that shows one page at a time (e.g. portrait layout).

Get Strong at Go Series, Volume 10

Get Strong at Attacking

Richard Bozulich

Kiseido Publishing Company
Chigasaki, Japan

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Preface

The techniques of attacking, along with tesuji and life-and-death, are part of the middle game, but, whereas you will find an abundance of literature on the latter two subjects, books that focus solely on creating or spotting vulnerable stones, then illustrating how to correctly attack them, are hard to find. This book is aimed at helping to alleviate this lack.

Accurate analysis — spotting tesujis and killing or rescuing stones — is certainly the backbone of middle-game strength, but creating or finding vulnerable stones, then attacking them correctly is an equally important technique and one that many amateurs are deficient in. The 136 problems in this book illustrate:

the importance of securing your stones before attacking;

in which direction to attack, taking into account the strength and weakness of your own stones and those of your opponent’s;

when it is advantageous to confine your opponent’s stones or when it is better to gouge out their eye space;

how to execute leaning attacks, that is, attacking stones in one part of the board in order to build strength to capture or threaten stones somewhere else;

splitting attacks, where stones are separated into two groups and both are put under siege;

that the ultimate purpose of attacking is not to kill your opponent’s stones, but to threaten them so as to secure territory or to build influence.

The answers to the problems in this book are not definitive. Go is not an exact science and many professional players differ on what moves are best. The reasons for this are mainly a matter of style. However, the moves I label correct are good moves that any professional would consider playing.

The problems in this book were taken from many sources: from my own games, games that I have observed, professional games, as well as positions presented in other books. I must thank Rob van Zeijst who has provided me with analyses for a large number of the problems here. I must also thank Fukui Susumu 9-dan and Nobuta Shigehito 6-dan for their comments on many of the problems and their instruction games, from which I extracted many of the problems here.

Richard Bozulich
November 2000

Copyright Page

Get Strong at Go Series, Volume 10
Get Strong at Attacking

Richard Bozulich

Copyright © 2000 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: 4–906574–60–2

Cover: Go-Board Tadanobu. Oban print by Sadafusa, published by Kikuya Ichibei in 1840. From the collection of Mizuguchi Fujio. For the background and story of this and other Japanese prints (‘ukiyo-e’) see Japanese Prints and the World of Go on the kiseido website at www.kiseidopublishing.com/.

Converted for SmartGo Books by John Mifsud.

Contents

Get Strong at Attacking
Get Strong at Go Series, Volume 10

Preface

Copyright Page

Some Important Terms and Concepts

Introduction: How to Attack

136 Problems

Problems 1 to 10

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

Problems 11 to 20

Problems 21 to 30

Problems 31 to 40

Problems 41 to 50

Problems 51 to 60

Problems 61 to 70

Problems 71 to 80

Problems 81 to 90

Problems 91 to 100

Problems 101 to 110

Problems 111 to 120

Problems 121 to 130

Problems 131 to 136

Go Books from Kiseido

Buy This Book

About SmartGo Books

Some Important Terms and Concepts

There are a number of Japanese and English terms that are used throughout this book. Each of these terms has a specific meaning in go, and the reader should review them before starting the problem sections. As the reader progresses with the problems, these terms and the concepts they represent will become clearer.

aji

Aji refers to the latent possibilities that exist in a position. Although these possibilities may never be realized, their existence dictates the course of the game and enables certain moves to be made.

Dia. 1a

In Dia. 1a, the marked white stone in the corner is dead, but it still has aji. Because of this stone’s aji, White need not fear Black’s pushing through at ‘a’, so he can jump to 1, rescuing his three stones at the top.

Dia. 1b

If Black does push through and cut with 1 and 3 in Dia. 1b, White ataris with 4. After Black defends with 5, the aji of the marked stone comes to life and White captures Black’s stones on the right with 6 and 8.

atari

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

Dia. 2a

Dia. 2b

Dia. 2c

The white stone in Dia. 2a is in atari. If White doesn’t defend by extending to A, Black may capture it with 1 in Dia. 2b. The result is shown in Dia. 2c.

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.

ko

Ko is a situation of repetitive capture.

Dia. 4a

Dia. 4b

Dia. 4c

In Dia. 4a, Black can capture a white stone, which he does with 1 in Dia. 4b. At this point you might think White could immediately recapture at A in Dia. 4c, but this would lead to an endless cycle of capture and recapture. To avoid this, there is a rule which stipulates that the player whose stone is captured must make a move elsewhere before he can come back and recapture.

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. 5

The poins A and B in Dia. 5 are miai, so White is alive. If Black plays A, White makes two eyes by playing at B. Conversely, if Black B, White makes his second eye at A.

moyo

A moyo is a framework of territory, involving stones extending from the corners to the sides of the board. Some moyos are huge, while others are modest in size.

Dia. 6

In Dia. 6, the four white stones in the upper left form a moyo. The four black stones in the upper right form an even larger moyo, where black has mapped out territory along both sides from his corner enclosure. 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.

sabaki

When your stones are outnumbered in one part of the board, your aim will not be to make territory; rather, you want to make good shape, rich in eye potential, so that your stones, if attacked, can easily make eyes in the area where they are attacked or can easily escape into the center. This is called sabaki. When making sabaki, it is not unusual to sacrifice some of the stones which are under attack. Here are two related concepts.

light

Stones are referred to as ‘light’ if they can be sacrificed to help other stones make good shape. A move played in the vicinity of stones that are to be sacrificed is called a ‘light move’. Moves that make sabaki are called ‘light’.

heavy

Stones which are heavy can’t easily make eye shape and are vulnerable. If a group of stones ends up as heavy, then these stones have failed to make sabaki. Here are some diagrams which illustrate these concepts.

Dia. 7

In Dia. 7 Black has mapped out a moyo at the top. If White wants to reduce the size of this moyo, he can begin with a probe at 1. If Black blocks at 2 –

Dia. 8

White will cut with 3 in Dia. 8 and play forcing moves with 5 and 7. Next –

Dia. 9

White 1 in Dia. 9 looks like an efficient move because it defends the two cutting points at A and B. In spite of this, it is bad.

Dia. 10

Black will peep with 1 and 3 in Dia. 10 and, White is left with a clump of stones lacking eye-making potential after Black 5. These stones have now become ‘heavy’.

Dia. 11

Since White 1 in Dia. 9 results in a heavy shape, it has failed to make sabaki. The correct way for White to play after Black 6 in Dia. 8 is with 1 in Dia. 11. White 1 is ‘light’ because it doesn’t defend against the cutting points at A and B and treats the marked stones lightly — that is, White is willing to sacrifice them for the greater good.

Dia. 12

For example, if Black does cut with 1 in Dia. 12, White can make shape with eye-making potential with the sequence to 8. White has made sabaki.

Dia. 13

Black could also cut at 1 in Dia. 13. White would then defend at 2. Black must extend to 3 and White jumps to 4 — a wedge has been driven between the two black positions at the top. He also has at least one eye at the top and is out into the center. White has succeeded in making sabaki.

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.

thick

A thick position has few or no defects, i.e., cutting points. 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 which are weak or widely separated are called thin. Unlike thick groups, stones which are thin are easily attacked.

Introduction: How to Attack

Attacking usually occurs in the middle game, but there are many occasions where attacking opportunities arise in the opening, especially in handicap games. This is because a player who has a handicap starts with an advantage so that he can quickly establish strong and secure positions. And strong positions are the key to successful attacks. Here is the fundamental principle of attacking:

• Attack from a position of strength

If the stones that are used in your attack are weak, they could end up being the ones attacked. Consider Dia. 1.

Dia. 1

Black caps with 1 and it seems as if he is building influence in the center while forcing White to run away with 2 and 4. Black keeps up the pressure with 5, but suddenly White plays a forcing move with 6 and jumps to 8, splitting the marked stones from their allies on the left. Black now has two weak groups and it is hard to tell who is the attacker and who is the one being attacked. Both sides are in for a hard fight and the outcome is far from clear. (Taken from Problems 50 and 135.) If Black already had a stone at 8, Black 3 and 5 would be a devastating attack and White would be crushed.

Another important attacking principle:

• The ultimate purpose of an attack is to threaten your opponent’s stones in such a way that you gain profit, either by securing territory or by building influence.

In other words, don’t try to kill the stones you are attacking. Chase them, harass them, tease them, torment them; but don’t make any great effort to kill them. If it turns out that you are able to kill them, all the better, but don’t make that your ultimate goal. Dia. 2 is an example.

Dia. 2

Black has strong positions at the top and on the right, which he uses to attack the four white stones at the top with 1. White runs away with 2, 4, and 8, hoping to link up with his secure position in the upper left corner, while Black presses with 3 and 7. Note that the value of each of White’s moves is zero. In contrast, Black is building influence that radiates throughout the board. Clearly, Black’s moves must be good! Black 5 and 9 exploit the aji of his four dead stones in the corner, and Black 11 forces White to defend at 12. Finally, Black plays 13 and his influence dominates the center and works beautifully with his wall below. This is a textbook example of an attack.

Dia. 3

Some players might be tempted to try and kill the white stones with the atari of Black 1 followed by 3 in Dia. 3. But White would threaten the black stones on the left with 4 and 6, then make shape with 8 after Black defends with 7. The black stones in the center are now thin and it is White who has taken the initiative in the center. Black 1 and 3 are completely unreasonable.

The above two principles will go a long way in helping you become an effective attacking player. But it is necessary for you to learn some basic attacking techniques as well.

Attacking with Caps and Knight’s Moves

Two of the most common are capping moves and the knight’s moves. We’ve already seen examples of these in Dia. 1, namely, Black 1 and 3 (both are good moves, but Black 5 there is not). Look at Dia. 4 (taken from Problem 16).

Dia. 4

White has just jumped into hostile territory with his marked stone. Black can get a clear advantage if he attacks correctly. The two main candidate moves are A and B, but a lot of players would also consider jumping to C or extending diagonally with D.

The first thing you must do when faced with a situation such as this is to have a clear idea of your goal. It is unreasonable for Black to expect to kill this stone. A reasonable goal would be to let it live, but confine it to the top. With this goal in mind, Black C is rejected because White can jump to A and his stones are out in the open. Extending diagonally with Black D is also not consistent with Black’s goal because White again escapes into the center with E.

What about capping at Black A? This cap is the kind of severe attacking move that often succeeds, but here White will be able to break out by extending diagonally to D. Black’s stones on the left will become strong and he will secure the territory there. But White will escape into the center and Black’s wall on the right will not have been used effectively.

This leaves only the knight’s move of Black B. It will drive the white stone toward the black wall on the right, enabling Black to build a wall on the outside and force White to live in gote.

Leaning Attacks

Another attacking technique is the ‘leaning attack’, that is, attacking stones in one part of the board in order to build strength for capturing or threatening stones somewhere else. Here is an example.

Dia. 5

The three marked white stones in Dia. 5 are under siege, but Black’s stones are not strong enough to trap them. Therefore, he switches to the top and attaches with 1. If White defends with 2, Black hanes with 3. After White defends with 4, Black comes back to finish off the marked stones with 5. They can no longer escape and they don’t have enough room on the right to live.

Dia. 6

Of course, White might decide to extract his marked stones by turning at 2 and jumping to 4 in Dia. 6. In that case, Black will play 3 and 5, taking the territory at the top right. Black is satisfied with this result. (Taken from Problem 49.)

Gouging out Eyes

Depriving your opponent’s stones of their base is another effective technique for setting up an attack. Dia. 7 provides an example.

Dia. 7

The nine white stones on the right side are out in the center and they cannot be separated. But Black can peep at 1, and White is forced to connect at 2. Black links up to his stones below and the white stones are without eyes. They must now find security in the center, so White expands his presence in there with 4 and 6. But White 6 is not really sente, so Black can lean on the marked stone at bottom with the shoulder hit of 7. This move could also be called a splitting or a double attack. Fierce fighting will ensue in the center as White struggles to save his stones above. Black clearly has the initiative.

In the 136 problems that follow, consider these principles and techniques as you try to find the best moves.

136 Problems

Problem 1

Black to play

How should Black attack the marked white stone?

Answer 1

Correct Answer

The White stone is outnumbered three to one. In such cases, it is important for Black to press his advantage and immediately attack. In this position Black 1 is the correct direction; this move drives White toward Black’s strong position at the top. Next, Black caps with 3 and the sequence to White 6 follows naturally. Black has built a moyo on the lower right side in sente. He can next reinforce his position at the bottom with A or take up position at the top with B.

Failure

Black might make a checking extension from above with 1, but this stone is inefficient because it is too close to Black’s strong enclosure above. In other words, Black’s stones are overconcentrated.

Problem 2

Black to play

This time the marked white stone is under the star point. In which direction should Black attack?

Answer 2

Correct Answer

The checking extension of Black 1 is the correct direction. The distance from the small knight’s enclosure is perfect and Black 1 and 3 put severe pressure on White’s stones. Later, Black will aim to enclose the corner with A.

Failure

Black 1 is in the wrong direction. White extends to 2 and, since this stone is two spaces from Black’s corner enclosure, White’s stones are not under much pressure. Moreover, Black’s position below is thin.

Problem 3

Black to play

White’s marked stones in the lower right are vulnerable. How should Black attack them?

Answer 3

Correct Answer

Peeping with Black 1 is severe. Next —

Continuation

White must connect with 1. Black 2 is a vital point which prevents White from making shape in the center. After White jumps to 3, Black attacks the whole white group with 4.

Failure

Locally, Black 1 is a strong move, but it only focuses on reinforcing Black’s moyo at the bottom. White secures his stones by making shape with 2, and Black’s attacking chance vanishes.

Problem 4

White to play

Black has just extended with the marked stone. How can White take the initiative at the bottom?

Answer 4

Correct Answer

Attaching with White 1 robs the black stones of their base and gives White the territory in the lower right corner. Next —

Continuation

Black has to run away with 1 and 3, but White jumps to 2 and extends to 4, mapping out territory along the bottom and attacking the black stone in the lower left corner. In addition, the black stones at the bottom right are still without a base. With two vulnerable positions under attack, Black is at a serious disadvantage.

Failure

Confining the three black stones with White 1 is a dubious move. Black attaches with 2 and easily makes life in the corner after descending to 4. Even if White attacks the stone in the lower left corner at A, he can’t expect a big profit. The sequence in the previous diagram is superior to the one here.

Problem 5

Black to play

Instead of jumping to A as in the Correct Answer of Problem 1, White plays 1 on the left side. How should Black attack?

Answer 5

Correct Answer

Black attacks by capping with 1. White will run away with 2. Next, Black plays the knight’s move of 3, then jumps to 5. The white stones are in trouble. Next —

Continuation

White wedges in with 1, but, after the sequence to White 9, Black secures the lower left corner with 10. After White jumps to 11, Black builds a moyo at the bottom with 12.

Failure

After exchanging 1 for White 2, Black could gouge out White’s base and take some territory with 3 and 5. But Black loses the initiative in the center, and he is left with bad aji in the upper right corner.

Problem 6

Black to play

This is a continuation of the Correct Answer of Problem 2. How should Black attack the two white stones on the right side?

Answer 6

Correct Answer

Capping with Black 1 is the key point. If White runs away with 2, Black will gouge out White’s base with the sequence to 7. White’s stones are now floating in the center, providing an easy target to attack.

Variation 1

White could block at 1, but with the sequence to 8, Black has secured the territory in the lower right. White still has to play 9 to secure his stones, so Black ends in sente.

Variation 2

White could establish a position in the lower right by blocking at 3. With the sequence to 10, Black sacrifices two stones and builds a moyo in the upper right. To secure this moyo, he must capture the marked stone by playing at 12, but he might first want to rob the white stones of their second eye by playing at A.

Variation 3

Instead of 2 in Variations 1 and 2, Black could link up his stones to the bottom with the sequence to 4, but this strategy is a bit weak-spirited.

Variation 4

Instead of 2 in the Correct Answer, White might jump to 2 here. Black again gouges out White’s base by playing 3 and 5. White attaches with 6, but his stones are still eyeless, while the black stones at the edge can link up to their allies above or below with A or B.

Problem 7

Black to play

The marked white stone on the right is isolated within Black’s stronghold. How should Black attack?

Answer 7

Correct Answer

Capping with Black 1 is severe. What happens if White tries to escape?

Continuation

The diagonal move of 2 on the right is White’s best chance, since Black is weaker there. But Black continues to attack with the knight’s move of 3. White must now push with 4 and 6, inducing Black to strengthen his position at the top with 5 and 7. After the sequence to 15, White’s stones are still in trouble. For Black’s part, he has strengthened his stones in the upper right and built influence in the center. In contrast, White has gained nothing.

Wrong Answer 1

Capping with the marked stone is a good move, but to continue by pushing up with 2 and 4 is the wrong direction. White escapes into the center with 5. Black’s territory in the upper left is still not secure, since a 3–3 point invasion at A still remains.

Wrong Answer 2

The diagonal move of Black 1 is bad. The sequence continues to Black 7, but White’s stones have made it into the open when he plays the knight’s move of 8. Black has made little progress with his moves.

Problem 8

Black to play

White has invaded Black’s moyo with the marked stone. How should Black attack it?

Answer 8

Correct Answer

Since Black’s marked stone is in place, he should first exchange 1 for White 2 before jumping to 3. The two white stones are now heavy and vulnerable.

Continuation

White will try to secure his stones with moves such as 1 and 3, but Black can build up his moyo on the upper right side by attacking with 2 and 4. White could have also played the marked stone at A to get a lighter shape, but his stones would still be vulnerable.

Failure 1

Neglecting to exchange 1 for 2 in the Correct Answer and immediately extending to 1 would permit White to secure his stone with 2. Not only has Black lost the territory he should have gotten in the corner, his marked stone has lost much of its value because it is no longer attacking effectively.

Failure 2

Black 1 is usually a severe pincer, but, since Black already has a pincer in place (the marked stone), it is redundant. The usual response to Black 1 is to jump to A, but in this case White secures his stones in the corner with the sequence to 6.