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3 <!-- Mirrored from users.eniinternet.com/bradleym/PlayGo.html by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Sun, 06 Nov 2022 06:48:48 GMT -->
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4 <head>
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5 <title></title>
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6 </head>
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7 <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0">
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8
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9 <p><hr>
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10
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11 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2"><a name="HOW TO PLAY Go">
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12 <p><strong>how to play Go</strong>
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13
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14 <p>© 2007 Milton N. Bradley
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15
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16 <p> If you've gotten this far in my web page it's reasonable to assume that your interest in Go has
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17 been kindled, but perhaps not yet to the point of making Go a permanent part of your future life -
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18 something that probably will only occur after you've actually begun to play and have
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19 experienced its exquisite pleasures and fascination first hand. Until that desirable moment
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20 arrives, you will be able to obtain at least a preliminary idea of what delights await you from
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21 reviewing the illustrative game presented below.
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22
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23 <p> Go is most often compared with chess in our society because that has been long considered the
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24 western world's standard of strategic depth and complexity, and I, too, follow that model in this
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25 web page. But Go is startlingly different from chess because it is a game of accretion rather than
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26 of depletion - beginning with the board empty and then filling up rather than the converse. And
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27 in Go the playing implements (called stones) are placed on the board intersections instead of the
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28 squares and never move thereafter, although they may be captured and removed from the board.
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29 Part of the mystery of Go is that it would seem that this lack of physical movement should
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30 produce a slow, static game, but in reality the exact converse is true, and a well played Go game
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31 has a powerful feeling of cut-and-thrust!
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32
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33 <p> Another major difference between Go and such games as chess and checkers is that the latter
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34 produce a "winner take all" result, whereas Go is really a game of "market share" in which it is
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35 only necessary to outscore the opponent by a single point in order to win!
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36
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37 <p> To ease your understanding, I now provide a brief introduction to some of the fundamental ideas of Go. Please understand that this exposition is not intended to be either complete or definitive, so that it may therefore leave some unanswered questions in the minds of some readers. A much more complete exposition is provided by my primer GO FOR KIDS, while the on line presentations of other authors are spelled out in some detail in the web pages referenced at the end of this section.
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38
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39 <p> We begin with a few key definitions:
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40
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41 <p><strong> Unit = Any number of adjoining stones of the same color which are solidly connected by board lines.</strong>
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42 <p> Diagonally adjacent units are <u>not</u> connected!
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43 <p> All The Stones In a Unit Live Or Die Together Indivisibly.
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44
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45 <p><strong> Group = Any number of spatially related, cooperating units of a single color.</strong></p>
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46 <br>
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47
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48 <p><strong>Units & Groups</strong></p>
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49 <p><font color="#0000ff"><img src="Playimg10.gif" align="left"></font></p>
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50
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51
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52 <p> The separate units in a group may later become connected to form a single unit, or permanently disconnected by the opponent to live or die independently.
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53
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54 <p> The White group consists of units marked "a" containing 4 stones, and "b" containing 2 stones. The Black group consists of units marked "c" and "d" of one stone each, "e" 2 stones, and "f" 3 stones.</p>
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55 <p>Under normal circumstances neither of these groups is ever likely to be separated in subsequent play, although that's not impossible.</p>
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56 <br>
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57 <p><strong> Liberty = An immediately adjacent unoccupied intersection to which a unit is <u>connected by a board line</u>.</strong>
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58 <br>
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59 <p><img src="Playimg11.gif" align="left"> <strong>Liberties</strong></p>
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60 <p>A single stone in the corner has only 2 liberties ("a"), one on the edge has 3 ("b"), and one in the center
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61 has 4 liberties ("c").</p>
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62 <p>The White two stone unit has 6 liberties (marked "d"), and the 3 stone Black unit
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63 has 8 liberties (marked "e"), but </p>
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64 <p>Although the White 3 stone unit also consists of 3 stones it only has 7 liberties (marked "f')! The difference between it and the Black "e" unit is its shape!</p>
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65 <p>And that's a vitally important characteristic that strongly influences viability.</p>
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66 <br>
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67 <br>
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68 <br>
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69 <br>
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70
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71 <p><img src="Playimg13.gif" align="left"><strong>Shared Liberties</strong></p>
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72
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73 <p>Liberties may be shared by stones of one color or by both, but each liberty only counts once for each unit that shares it.</p>
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74
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75 <p> - Liberties solely possessed/shared by White stones are marked "w".</p>
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76 <p> - Liberties solely possessed/shared by Black stones are marked "b".</p>
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77 <p> - Liberties shared by both Black and White stones are marked "s".</p>
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78
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79 <br>
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80 <br>
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81 <br>
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82 <p><strong> Eye = One or (sometimes) more unoccupied intersections entirely surrounded by stones of a single color.</strong></p>
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83 <p><img src="Playimg12.gif" align="left"><strong>Eyes</strong></p>
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84 <p>Eyes may contain one or more points. "a" and "b" are typical one point eyes, while "c" is a two-point eye.</p>
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85 <br>
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86 <br>
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87 <p><strong>Eyes may be real or false.</strong></p>
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88 <p><img src="Playimg14.gif" align="left"><strong>False Eyes</strong></p>
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89 <p> </p>
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90 <p> </p>
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91 <p> </p>
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92 <p>"a" is a real eye, but "b" is false because when "c" is filled by White it will be the last liberty for three Blacks!
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93
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94 <br>
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95 <br>
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96 <br>
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97 <p><strong> Territory = The unoccupied intersections contained withn a safe group.</strong>
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98
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99 <p><strong> Safe Group = A group containing at least 2 separate and distinct real eyes.<p></strong>
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100 <p> Control of a given territory is achieved when the defender either already has or cannot be prevented from making 2 eyes, and any of the opponent's stones already inside that space or that may later be entered therein cannot either make their own 2 eyes or achieve Seki (a local stalemate).
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101
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102 <p><strong>Only safe groups take any territory.</strong></p>
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103
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104 <br>
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105 <p><img src="Playimg15.gif" align="left"><strong>Minimal Safe Groups</strong></p>
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106
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107 <p> This shows two cases of the minimum possible territory within any group - the 2 eyes that make it safe ("a" and "b" on the left and "c" and "d" on the right.) There is no maximum except that imposed by the physical limitations of the board.
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108 <br>
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109 <br>
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110 <br>
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111 <br>
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112 <p><img src="Playimg16.gif" align="left"><strong>A Safe Group</strong></p>
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113
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114 <p>In this well known Joseki (analyzed sequence) position, the Black corner stones are safe and take a territory of approximately 10 points. (The exact final dimensions will be determined by later play around the borders.)
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115 <p> Any open space bordered by safe stones of <u> both </u> colors is neutral, and doesn’t count as territory for either side.
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116 <br>
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117 <br>
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118 <br>
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119 <br>
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120 <br>
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121 <p><strong>Seki = A local stalemate in which opposing groups with less than 2 eyes are nevertheless mutually safe from capture.</strong></p>
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122 <br>
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123 <br>
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124 <p><img src="Playimg17.gif" align="left"><strong>Seki - Neither Side Has An Eye</strong></p>
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125 <p>The key to Seki is the 2 shared liberties, on which neither side can play without putting itself into atari.</p>
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126 <p>The reason that neither side in a Seki can afford to put itself in atari by approaching the other is that when the opponent captures those stones it would be provided with a live (two eyed) shape.</p>
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127 <p>But if the capture does not provide a live shape, it is feasible to sacrifice your own stones and then play back on the opponent's key eyemaking point(s) to kill his group!</p>
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128
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129 <p><img src="Playimg18.gif" align="left"><strong>Seki - Both Sides Have an Eye</strong></p>
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130 <br>
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131 <br>
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132 <p>In this position, Black may capture the marked White stone to gain one point, without affecting the Seki.</p>
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133 <br>
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134 <br>
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135 <br>
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136 <br>
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137
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138 <p><img src="Playimg19.gif" align="left"><strong>Seki - Only One Side Has An Eye</strong></p>
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139
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140 <br>
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141 <br>
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142 <br>
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143 <br>
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144 <br>
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145 <br>
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146 <br>
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147 <br>
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148 <p><strong> The Mechanics Of Play </strong>
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149
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150 <p><strong>- Go is a 2 player game, one side using the Black stones, the other the White.</strong>
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151 <p> Go stones are lenticular disks, about 5/8 inch in diameter and from about 6 to 10 mm. thick.
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152 <p> The stronger player traditionally plays White, and equal players alternate colors in successive games.
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153
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154 <p><strong>- Black plays first.</strong>
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155 <p> Since this confers a sufficient advantage to insure a Black victory against an equal opponent, to equalize each player's winning probability a number of points (called Komi) is added to White's final score. In our sample game, Komi was a higher than usual 8 points.
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156
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157 <p><strong>- The 19 x 19 line board starts empty</strong>
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158 <p> Exception: In handicap games, Black's handicap stones constitute his first move.
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159
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160 <p><strong>- A move consists of entering one stone from the player's supply upon any unoccupied board intersection in accord with the 2 rules of Go</strong> stated below. (Each player always has as many stones as needed to finish the game.)
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161
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162 <p><strong>- If a move fills the last liberty of any opposing stones, <u>all</u> of those stones are Captured and immediately removed from the board by the capturing player.</strong>
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163 <p>This means that a player may enter a stone on a point at which it <u> appears</u> to have no liberties IF that stone captures some opposing stones, because the removal of those captives from the board will produce the required liberties.
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164
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165 <p><strong>- The opponent may not respond until that removal is completed.</strong>
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166
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167 <p><img src="Playimg20.gif" align="left"><strong>Atari And Capture Of A Single Stone</strong></p>
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168 <p>A - Atari, B - Capture, C - Result.</p>
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169 <p>A player who has a unit "in atari" is not required to protect it, nor is the opponent ever required to capture.</p>
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170 <p> Stones may remain "in atari" indefinitely!</p>
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171 <br>
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172 <br>
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173
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174 <p><img src="Playimg21.gif" align="left"><strong>Multiple Stone Capture</strong></p>
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175
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176 <p>A - Atari, B - Capture, C - Result.</p>
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177
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178 <p><strong>- The captives are held as prisoners by the capturing player, and after the game's end are filled back into territories of the same color, thereby subtracting from the opponent's score.</strong></p>
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179
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180 <p>Each captive is worth 2 points - one point for the open intersection exposed when it is removed from the board, and a second point when it is filled into the opponent's territory to count the score after the game has ended.</strong></p>
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181 <p>The result is that a capture can sometimes be quite productive on a direct point basis, but that should <u>not</u> deceive you into making capture a major objective!</p>
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182 <p>If the opponent errs and an important capture can be made without significant offsetting detriment you should, of course, accept that gift, but in most cases capture is best only threatened, as the mechanism for achieving more important strategic objectives. Remember that, especially in the early stages of the game, there's usually far more territory available to be enclosed than stones to be captured!</p>
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183
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184
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185 <p><strong>- There are no mandatory moves in Go </strong>(unlike the response to check in chess), so the opponents are always free to play anywhere that they wish in accord with the rules.
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186
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187 <p><strong>- At each turn, a player may chose to enter a stone or pass.</strong> (In practice, no one ever passes unless they have decided that there is no way to improve their position.)
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188
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189 <p><strong>- When both players pass in succession, the game ends</strong>, prisoners are filled in, and the score is counted. (This process is performed automatically by the on-line Go servers.)
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190
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191 <p><strong>- There are no draws in Go.</strong> If the final score (including Komi) of both sides is the same, White wins!
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192
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193 <p><strong>- Tournament games are invariably played with clocks</strong> (essentially identical to chess clocks, although the time limits used are quite different.)
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194
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195 <UL>
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196 <LI><p><strong>Games may be won (and lost) in 3 ways:</strong></LI>
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197 <UL>
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198 <LI><p><strong>normally, by final count, or </strong></LI>
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199 <LI><p><strong>abnormally, either by </strong></LI>
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200 <UL>
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201 <LI><p><strong>resignation, or </strong></LI>
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202 <LI><p><strong>overstepping the time limits.</strong></LI>
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203 </UL>
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204 </UL>
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205 </UL>
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206
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207 <p><strong> The objective of a game of Go: To gain control of more territory than the opponent.</strong>
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208 <p> In keeping with Go's ancient heritage this objective is extremely simple, although achieving that goal can
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209 become staggeringly complex and difficult in the face of intelligent opposition. And that's why Go is so intriguing!
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210 <p>Although at least some direct acquisition of territory will always occur, for the most part in high level games such efforts usually serve only as the substrate upon which the major battles which actually decide the outcome are fought!
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211 So the key to making the appropriate strategic decisions in Go lies in understanding that its fundamental nature is conflict!
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212 <p>One of the more common major strategems is for one player to threaten to enclose a sufficiently large territory that, if it can be consolidated, will give that player an insurmountable lead! That, in turn, leaves the opponent with no viable alternative but to immediately act to try to prevent that consolidation
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213 before it can be completed, by either invading deeply and trying to make his own live group in its midst, or by "nibbling at the margins" to reduce the territory sufficiently that his own acquisitions can match or exceed it. The resulting battles frequently spill over into adoining board areas, and almost invariably
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214 decide the game's outcome.
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215
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216 <p><strong> There are only two simple rules that govern all play in the game of Go:</strong>
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217
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218 <p><strong> Rule 1. To remain on the board, every unit must possess at least one liberty.</strong>
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219
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220 <p> Each Unit Shares The Sum Of The Liberties Possessed By Its Individual Members, But Each Liberty Counts Only Once For The Unit, No Matter How Many Stones Share It.
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221 <p> (This means that stones inside a large unit need not be themselves directly connected to a liberty if <u>any</u> of their friends on the outside edge have a liberty!)
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222 <p> A non-obvious but absolutely critical implication of this simple basic rule actually dominates much of actual Go play: In order to be certain that they always have at least the one liberty necessary for them to remain on the board, each discrete group of stones must completely enclose <u> two separate
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223 liberties</u> on which the opponent can never play!! (And that's why 2 separate and distinct eyes are necessary for safety!)
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224
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225 <p><strong> Rule 2. No full-board position may be repeated.</strong>
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226
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227 <p> Local positions not only can but often do repeat, in the pattern called Ko (="eternity").
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228 <p><img src="Playimg22.gif" align="left"><strong>Ko</strong></p>
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229
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230 <p>This diagram shows the 3 conceptually identical forms that Ko can take.
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231
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232 <p> - A is the basic form of Ko.</p>
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233 <p> - B shows the Ko cut off by the edge of the board.</p>
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234 <p> - C results when the Ko is moved into the corner.</p>
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235 <br>
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236 <p>When White captures the marked Black stone, White's capturing stone will itself be in atari! But the "No Repetition Rule"
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237 requires that Black must first make a move elsewhere before a legal recapture is allowed! If that recapture is important, it
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238 means that Black must find a threat elsewhere (a "Ko threat") important enough to White to compel his reply there. Then Black
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239 is permitted to recapture the Ko, and now it will be White who must find a Ko threat to compel Black's response so that he can
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240 recapture the Ko. And this series of threat, response, capture, and threat will often continue for many moves and frequently
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241 becomes decisive in determining the game's outcome - either as a direct result of which side "wins the Ko", or not infrequently
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242 as a result of what happens elsewhere as a result of the Ko threats and the way that they were answered.</p>
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243
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244 <p>Because a Ko involves the capture and recapture of only a single stone, taken out of context it appears trivial, but in actual play it's anything but!
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245 A Ko will be created and fought only when its result will determine the fate of one or more significant groups of stones, because of
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246 the confirmation (or killing) of a needed eye, or the establishment or severing of an important connection. It is therefore unquestionably the
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247 single most important tactic in Go!</p>
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248
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249 <p>Ko typically occurs at least once in almost every game and several times in most, but the fighting of a Ko may not even begin until many, many moves after it's established,
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250 and its resolution is frequently not defined until after a long series of Ko threats, responses and counter threats has been fought.</p>
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251
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252 <p>Ko is the primary situation in which "The No Repetition Rule" is expressed, but far from the only one.
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253 Even when considering only Ko itself there are strange and interesting variants like double and triple Ko
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254 with and without outside dame. And there are also even more unusual non-Ko repetitive positions like Chosei and "Eternal Life". But because most of these other repetitive
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255 patterns occur only infrequently, it's possible to play Go on a quite sophisticated level with little more than a
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256 realization that such things exist. For that reason you can make their acquaintance whenever you feel ready and inclined
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257 to do so.</p>
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258
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259 <p> Everything else about how to play Go (except for the mechanics of play, ending the game and counting the score) can be deduced from just these two simple rules .
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260
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261 <p><strong>Caution!</strong> The deceptively simply stated objective of Go conceals one of the most devilishly complex intellectual activities in all of human history! To understand how this can possibly be true, consider some other well known games with similarly simple appearing objectives:
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262
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263 <p>- Golf: Just hit the ball into the cup in as few strokes as possible. (But how many can achieve par
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264 or less?)
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265
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266 <p>- Tennis: Just be the last one to hit the ball over the net and into the opponent's court. (But how
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267 difficult this is to do successfully against a fast, hard hitting, fit opponent over 3 or 5 sets!)
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268
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269 <p>- Chess: Just catch the opponent's King! (Difficulty/complexity too well established to require
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270 further comment or explanation.)
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271
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272 <p>- Football (American): Just move the ball downfield and over the opponent's goal line. [But doing
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273 that successfully requires a good strategy (maximize your team's assets, minimize its defects,
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274 and exploit the opponent's), the right tactics (call the right plays), and execution (block, tackle,
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275 pass, etc.) . Spectacularly difficult to do against strong opposition.]
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276
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277 <p><strong>What's Involved In Playing Go</strong>
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278
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279 <p>Playing Go requires the integration of these same three vital elements of strategy, tactics, and
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280 execution, and failure in any of them will make a favorable outcome impossible to achieve
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281 against competent opposition. But the level of complexity involved in Go is many orders of
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282 magnitude greater than in football, so playing Go well remains a challenge to the best and
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283 brightest even after a lifetime of play and study!
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284
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285 <p>Much of the tension in playing Go results from the compromises and tradeoffs required in
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286 achieving the simply stated objective of enclosing and securing territory. Although some direct attempts to
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287 sketch out and secure territory are both natural and necessary, in high level play that's only a sub text. The major thrust
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288 of play usually devolves about the identification of potentially weak groups on both sides, followed by their subsequent
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289 attack and defense, during which the final shapes of each side's territories actually become defined. If a player tries to be overly conservative and either initially loosely encloses too small
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290 a territory or consolidates what he has sketched out too soon, the opponent will be presented with the opportunity to
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291 gain dominance over a larger area elsewhere. But if too large an area is loosely sketched out initially or if it is not
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292 consolidated in timely enough fashion, the opponent may either separate (and sometimes kill)
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293 some of its stones, reduce it substantially, or even play within its confines to make a small
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294 territory of his own there, effectively wiping it out almost completely. And, of course, if any mistakes in the fighting occur,
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295 that not infrequently leads to instant resignation when a key group dies. So what primarily
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296 distinguishes the best players from the merely mediocre is the quality and execution of the delicate
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297 and precise positional and tactical judgments and timing that motivate these moves.
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298
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299 <p> The initiative (Sente) is the "natural birthright" of Black at the outset by virtue of his moving
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300 first, and if this initiative could be maintained throughout the entire game White would have no
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301 chance at all to win. But it cannot! As a natural consequence of the normal interactions which
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302 inevitably occur in every Go game, each player will of necessity from time to time have to make
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303 moves which are primarily defensive (of stones and/or territory), so Sente naturally switches
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304 back and forth. And of course if either player makes even a small error which the opponent is
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305 alert enough to exploit, Sente can switch sides even in situations in which it normally would
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306 otherwise not. In the final analysis, other things being equal and major blunders excepted, the
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307 side which retains Sente for the greater proportion of the game will usually win! In the
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308 illustrative game presented below the key to Black's victory is his early seizure of Sente,
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309 followed by its relentless maintenance throughout a long series of subsequent moves.
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310
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311 <p> The opening of a game of Go is its most difficult phase because these early moves not only
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312 provide its unique structure but also influence the feasibility of everything that follows. For that
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313 reason the most detailed explanations will be provided for these early moves, and then we will
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314 sketch more and more broadly as the game develops and becomes intensely tactical. Especially
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315 during the Fuseki (full board opening) but throughout the game as well, the immensity of the
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316 decision making problem confronting the players arises from the need to trade off conflicting
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317 objectives (e.g. territory vs. "influence", attack vs. defense, etc.) coupled with the need for
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318 efficiency (getting "the maximum bang per buck" for each stone played). And of course, each
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319 player is not only trying to achieve his own objectives but is also trying to frustrate his opponent!
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320 So the decisions on how to best proceed at each turn are surpassingly difficult! And even the
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321 "detailed" explanations provided herein are therefore necessarily much simplified.
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322
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323 <p> It is easy to see that making eyes and sealing off territory are easiest to accomplish in the corners
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324 because there the board edges form natural barriers to enemy incursion in two directions. So the
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325 corners are the "theoretically correct" places to begin the game - and in fact that's what occurs in
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326 this and most other Go games. But the reader should be aware that it is feasible to utilize a more
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327 subtle, indirect approach, starting instead with center moves which have no immediate territorial
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328 implications, but which offer fighting "potential" instead whose later proper exploitation is
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329 expected to produce at least an equivalent amount of territory. The problem with such an indirect
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330 strategy is that it places an increased premium on proper followup else the final return from these
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331 initial moves may be insufficient, because in the final analysis only the balance of territory at
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332 game's end counts! So such an initial center strategy has historically quite rarely been used,
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333 although more experimentation with it is being seen recently.
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334
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335 <p> Over the many millennia that Go has been played, the best locations for initial corner moves
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336 have been fully developed, resulting in simple patterns for uncontested corner enclosures (=
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337 Shimari) and far more complex ones when the corner is contested (= Joseki, each of which is
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338 fully comparable to a complete chess opening). Integral to this, the optimal distance from the
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339 board edges for these early moves has also been established, so if you check what follows you
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340 will see that none of the early moves in this game is any closer to the edge than the third line!
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341
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342 <p> The Go board diagrams presented below utilize algebraic notation similar to that used in chess,
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343 since that makes it easier to refer to alternative moves without the necessity for creating a
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344 variation diagram. As in chess, these numbers and letters do not appear on the actual boards the
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345 players use, but can be (and usually are) displayed by the "clients" (software programs) used to
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346 play by computer on the internet, and of course appear in books and presentations like this one.
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347
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348 <p><strong> Illustrative Game</strong>
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349
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350 <p> Because the protagonists in this game were top flight professionals, a complete understanding of
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351 the strategy and tactics displayed is far beyond the unaided ability of even the strongest amateur
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352 player - and I'm not even in that modestly exalted category. So even if it was my objective to do
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353 so, providing a detailed explanation of their subtle maneuvering would be infeasible. But that's
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354 not the objective here. Our much more basic intention is merely to sketch out the game's main
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355 strategic and tactical themes in broad terms that can be readily comprehended even by a rank
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356 beginner.
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357
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358 <p> This game was contested between two professional Go players, Michael Redmond, 8 Dan
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359 (Black) and Yilun Yang ("rabcat"), 7 Dan (White), April 10, 1999 on the Internet Go server
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360 (IGS), in the second qualifying round of the 1999 North American Masters Championship
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361 Tournament (NAMT). These professionals are both the approximate Go equivalent of
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362 Grandmasters in chess so their level of play is exceptionally high, although neither is quite of
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363 world championship caliber (although there is not at present any such recognized title or
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364 individual in Go).
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365
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366 <p>The explanations of the game moves provided are intended to illustrate the almost unbelievable
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367 beauty, strategic depth and mind-bogglingly complex tactics of Go in a manner comprehensible
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368 to persons who don't know more than its few simple rules of play. Although this would seem an
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369 impossible task, it is feasible because the unique qualities of Go are so self evident that even the
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370 complete neophyte will not only be able to follow the game's flow but appreciate it, albeit only
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371 on a very general level in which all of the more intricate strategic and tactical nuances are
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372 necessarily glossed over or omitted.
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373
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374 <p>Hopefully, at least some of you readers to whom this represents a first look at Go will be kind
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375 enough to email me after you finish reviewing this game to let me know just how well or poorly
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376 I've succeeded in this daunting task! It would be most appreciated.
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377
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378 <p><img src="Playimg.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 1</strong>
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379
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380 <p><strong>B1-W4</strong> are each played in an open
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381 corner, and this is the most usual
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382 way to begin. The exact point in the
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383 respective corners occupied by each
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384 stone is the result of a very careful
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385 analysis of their subtle interactions.
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386
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387 <p>Once each corner has a stone in it,
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388 an important decision regarding the
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389 placement of <strong>B5</strong> must be made. W2
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390 is on the 4-4 point, so with it the
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391 Lower Left corner is temporarily
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392 "finished". But B5 could rationally
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393 be played at any of C15 or D15 in
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394 the Upper Left, Q5 or R5 in the
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395 Lower Right, or P16 or P17 in the Upper Right corner, each of which will produce a completely
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396 different game!
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397
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398
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399 <p>From a theoretical perspective, playing in the UR corner is slightly best for reasons we will
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400 discuss in a moment. But the decision between the chosen location at O17 and the alternatives of
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401 P17 and P16 is not so simple. As played, the Shimari formed by B1,5 exerts the strongest
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402 influence down the board toward B3 in the LR, and that is the reason it was chosen. But in return
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403 this positioning has the detriment that it encloses the UR corner more loosely than the more usual
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404 P17, leaving it more vulnerable to a possible later White invasion. On the other hand, it protects
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405 its left flank better than would P16. This kind of tradeoff is typical of Go and one of the things
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406 that makes playing it so very intriguing! Because, <u>unless the opponent has made an absolute
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407 blunder which you are exploiting, every move has both assets and detriments</u> - i.e. "There is no
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408 such thing as a free lunch". So the art of playing Go is to try to "Give a little, take a lot", and not
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409 be greedy.
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410
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411 <p><strong>W6</strong> prevents a second Black Shimari, as expected, but then (in accord with his plan in playing
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412 B5), <strong>B7</strong> combines an ideal extension from his Shimari in the UR corner with a Joseki squeeze
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413 play in the LR corner! And this is a considerable advantage for Black, as it should be if he has
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414 played correctly! Why?? Because at the moment Black has played one more stone than White
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415 and still retains Sente (the initiative) as his "birthright" from playing first - and that's the reason
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416 that White gets Komi (in this game, 8 points) added to his score at game's end!
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417
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418 <p>Next, <strong>W8</strong> and <strong>B9</strong> are both popular Joseki moves. This means that the resulting division of the
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419 available assets (e.g. territory, influence) in this corner is dynamically (not statically) equal. The
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420 degree to which the selection of this particular Joseki was appropriate in the global context is one
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421 of the many factors that not only determine the future course of the game but which also strongly
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422 influence the prospects for each side, and constitutes one of the more important and difficult
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423 decisions to be made.
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424
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425
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426 <p><img src="Playimg1.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 2</strong>
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427
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428 <p><strong>W10</strong> After B9, White is faced with
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429 a dilemma. If he plays at O5 Black
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430 will respond at N4, running along
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431 the 4 <sup>th</sup> line and getting too much
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432 potential territory along the LR
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433 edge as a result. But running out at
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434 P7 or O6 won't affect Black at all
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435 and will also leave White without
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436 sure eyes in this corner, so he
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437 decides to attach at the key 3-3
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438 point to secure eyespace.
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439
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440 <p><strong>B11</strong> reduces the liberty count of
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441 W10 and threatens to continue at
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442 S3, so <strong>W12</strong> on this same point is
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443 forced. But this makes Q4 an ideal
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444 "shape" point for White, so <strong>B13</strong> there is necessary. This in turn makes the threat of a Black play
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445 next at Q5 to split the white formation apart, so <strong>W14</strong> on this same point is also forced. The result
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446 is that this sequence has formed an unusual but feasible Joseki pattern, after which White is
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447 virtually assured of making 2 eyes in this corner because he has S2 and S8 (to enlarge his space)
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448 as alternatives (miai).
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449
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450
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451 <p><strong>Important:</strong> Contact via <strong>W10</strong> was made here, but not with the intent of capturing opposing
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452 stones! Rather, its intent is to produce a shape capable of making 2 eyes if and when needed!
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453 Note also that <strong>B11</strong> and <strong>W12</strong> are the first moves on the second line, but this is acceptable because
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454 both are essential in this position for producing a shape capable of generating 2 eyes if needed!
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455 Now that both sides have at least temporarily achieved a local formation capable of making eyes
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456 or running away into the safety of the open center, further contact and attempts to capture locally
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457 come to a halt - to be resumed later only if and when required to assure the safety of the opposing
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458 stones!!!
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459
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460 <p>So Black next played the totally unexpected and surprisingly strong <strong>B15</strong> - a move that none of
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461 the many observers anticipated, but which after-the-fact everyone agreed was magnificent!
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462 Although this stone is quite close to B7 its shape is ideal, it inhibits White's expansion in this
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463 direction, and begins the process of turning the space between these 2 stones and the Black UR
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464 corner Shimari into a large potential territory (Moyo).
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465
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466 <p>Since White's LR corner stones are quite safe for the moment, <strong>W16</strong> combines an extension from
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467 White's LL corner stone with a squeeze play which inhibits the expansion of Black's LR corner
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468 stones to their left. Because this threatens to follow next at N6 to close Black in, <strong>B17</strong> moves him
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469 smoothly out into the open center while slightly weakening W16.
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470
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471
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472 <p><strong>Note:</strong> Black does NOT make contact with W16 because that would induce White to strengthen
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473 that still weak and potentially exploitable stone! (This is the exact converse of the beginner's
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474 mistaken instinctual behavior.)
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475
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476 <p>After B17, White can still flee into the open center with O6 or P7, but, perhaps influenced by the
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477 slightly higher than usual 8 point Komi in this game, he opts instead to secure eyespace in the
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478 corner via <strong>W18</strong>, which threatens to make one eye immediately via playing at Q2 to catch B11.
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479
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480 <p>Since saving B11 now would be both small and too localized, Black instead opts for <strong>B19</strong>, which
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481 squeezes W16. But instead of defending W16 directly, <strong>W20</strong> strengthens it indirectly by counter-squeezing B19 with good coordination with White's LL corner stone, in the typical thrust-and-counter thrust of high level Go play!
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482
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483 <p><img src="Playimg2.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 3</strong>
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484
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485 <p><strong>B21</strong> A simple, but surprisingly
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486 effective move! Not only makes
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487 perfect use of the subtle B15 to
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488 create a vast Black moyo on the
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489 Right side, but also locks-in the
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490 White LR corner stones and forces
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491 them to make eyes immediately.
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492
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493
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494 <p><strong>W22-24</strong> With the capture (and
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495 removal) of B11 White makes one
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496 eye immediately and with the easy
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497 prospect of making a second eye if
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498 and when needed becomes
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499 absolutely safe here, but because
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500 these moves have no other effect on
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501 the global position Black retains
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502 Sente with which to play elsewhere. (This is a key difference between high level and weak Go!
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503 Strong players make the globally largest move, often switching to a completely different board
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504 area, as here. Beginners tend to fixate upon a local situation and continue to play there long after
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505 the incremental value of the added moves has fallen far below that of potential alternative plays
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506 elsewhere.)
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507
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508 <p><strong>B25-31</strong> With this Joseki sequence, both sides become locally stable, with White having virtually
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509 assured eyes and Black with good shape enclosing enough space and with center access to be not
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510 only also safe for the moment, but in better position to wage any future center fighting. At the
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511 same time, Black's position here is a lot less secure than White's, so the result is dynamically
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512 "equal" (as it must be in order for the sequence to be Joseki).
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513
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514 <p><strong>W32</strong> For the first time in this game White finally has Sente, but in a position in which it is
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515 surpassingly difficult to see how best to proceed. White thought for a long time before making
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516 this play and it evidently was a compromise, but the result is that it is "neither fish nor fowl". He
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517 clearly couldn't decide upon the best place to invade Black's right side moyo, but this move
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518 seems too unfocussed to be truly effective even as a preparatory play for a following invasion.
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519 The result is that this was almost certainly the losing move, although proving that required all of
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520 the skills of a top professional on Black's part!
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521
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522 <p><img src="Playimg3.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 4</strong>
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523
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524 <p><strong>B33</strong> The natural way to expand/
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525 virtually secure this corner, and the
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526 point at which one would logically
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527 have expected W32 to have been
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528 played if he wasn't confident of the
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529 result of a deeper invasion.
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530
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531 <p><strong>W34</strong> Regrettably, something like
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532 this deep invasion is now necessary,
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533 because Black simply can't be
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534 allowed to consolidate all of his
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535 vast moyo here if White is to have
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536 any chance to win this game.
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537
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538
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539 <p><strong>B35</strong> Well played! If White was
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540 allowed to play here next the
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541 strange W32 would suddenly become a fine play, assuring that the White invaders can safely
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542 escape. So B35 quashes this possibility, and now White must "live small" on the edge.
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543
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544 <p><strong>W36-44</strong> White struggles for eyespace, while Black builds outside strength while threatening to
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545 kill the invaders (recognizing that it's not really possible).
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546
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547 <p><strong>B45</strong> Threatening to follow at S12 to isolate and catch W34. But if White plays there himself
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548 now, Black will play at S7, severely damaging the LR White corner territory as well as making
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549 it extremely difficult for the 7 White stones here to live, so <strong>W46</strong> is forced!
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550
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551 <p><strong>B47</strong> Another fine move by Michael Redmond! The logical followup in the UR would be to play
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552 this stone at S12 to create a
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553 substantial Black UR corner
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554 territory, but Black correctly sees
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555 that White can't afford to play there
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556 now to save W34 because he has no
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557 effective followup that's large
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558 enough to play at this still early
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559 stage of the game. So Black takes
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560 Sente again! It is non-obvious,
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561 subtle judgments like this that
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562 distinguish top players from
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563 ordinary ones, and which win
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564 games against really strong
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565 opponents.
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566
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567 <p><img src="Playimg4.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 5</strong>
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568
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569 <p><strong>W48 - B63</strong> This is the sequence that sets the stage for all of the remainder of this game! White
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570 makes the logical decision to respond to the squeeze play of <strong>B47</strong> by trying to connect his stones
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571 to make a live group locally, so (in accord with the Go principle "to defend, play close") with
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572 <strong>W48</strong> he attaches to the Black K4 stone (B19).
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573
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574 <p>But Black's clever response not only prevents White from becoming settled (assuring 2 eyes),
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575 but also makes a small Black territory in the LR. This forces White to flee for safety into the
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576 center with <strong>W58</strong>. But this makes a subtle threat of its own to continue at F7 to enclose the weak
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577 Black 3 stone group, so ...
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578
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579 <p>With <strong>B59</strong>, not only have Black's own weak stones been led out into the center but White's LL
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580 corner has become vulnerable to invasion, so <strong>W60</strong> is necessary to protect against this. Then B61
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581 again threatens to invade, forcing <strong>W62</strong>. But this leaves black with Sente, so ....
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582
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583
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584 <p>The "capping" play of <strong>B63</strong> once again threatens the life of the White stones below by blocking
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585 their easy center egress, maintaining Sente for Black. But because the 4 Black stones squeezed
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586 between the White groups here are also still unsettled this is a fair fight, in which victory will
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587 only be gained (if at all) by a continuing series of good moves and not by any one or two
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588 especially incisive plays!
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589
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590 <p>From this point on, the game becomes intensely tactical, within the context of the major strategic
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591 motif of Black's attack on the unsettled white group and White's attempts to settle it or escape
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592 encirclement. Of course, within this broad framework other subsidiary strategic motifs are also
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593 invoked and played out, as each side attempts to enclose and secure territory in the attack/defense
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594 process. And other local battles are also initiated and carried on within this broad context as well,
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595 and this is typical of the complex interactions that make Go so intriguing.
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596
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597 <p>The details of these many complex tactical threats, counter threats, and secondary strategic
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598 motifs are well beyond our present interest, so they will not be explored in any depth. But be
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599 advised that they are not only present but must be fully accounted for by the players if their
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600 moves are to be successful in the overall game context.
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601
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602 <p><img src="Playimg5.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 6</strong>
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603
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604 <p><strong>W64-70</strong> In a carefully calculated
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605 interplay of threat and counter
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606 threat, first White and then Black
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607 threaten to escape into the center
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608 and prevent the opponent from
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609 doing so.
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610
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611 <p><strong>B71</strong> Safely completes Black's
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612 escape process, at least for the
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613 moment.
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614
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615 <p><strong>W72</strong> White tries to duplicate
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616 Black's safe egress, but once again
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617
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618
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619 <p><strong>B73</strong> throws a roadblock in his path.
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620
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621 <p><strong>W74</strong> Threatens to capture 2 Black
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622 stones, forcing the bad shape <strong>B75</strong> to preserve them.
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623
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624 <p><strong>W76-88</strong> In the subsequent play, the 2 White stones on L4, M4 are trapped and at least
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625 temporarily left behind in Black's grasp, while after more complex tactical cut-and-thrust with
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626 <strong>W88</strong> the still eyeless White stones finally emerge into relatively open board area and temporary
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627 safety.
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628
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629 <p>Overall, the current situation at this moment is as follows:
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630
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631 <p>- White has about 15 points of solid territory in the LR, about the same in the LL, and perhaps 10
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632 more in the UL.
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633
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634
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635 <p>- Black has about 15 points in the UR (and perhaps 25 if he can play at S12 before white does),
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636 perhaps 10 to 15 more in the UL (20-25 if he can play at B17 before White invades), and perhaps
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637 10 in the Right Center.
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638
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639 <p>So with Komi White is comfortably ahead in relatively secure territory at the moment. BUT, and
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640 this is the key theme of this game, White has a large weak group for Black to exploit, and it is in
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641 the process of cleverly harrying this group that Black intends to secure more territory and/or
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642 perhaps even score a coup if White falters in his defense!!
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643
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644 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2">
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645 <p><img src="Playimg6.gif" align="left" >
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646
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647 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2">
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648 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2">
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649 <p><strong>Game Record 7</strong>
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650
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651 <p>In the process of trying to entrap the
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652 fleeing White group, Black must
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653 also be mindful of the safety of his
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654 own still unsettled stones, lest
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655 White trap some of them and
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656 thereby save his own. That's the
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657 primary meaning of <strong>B89</strong>, which
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658 prevents the potentially dangerous
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659 cut at K9.
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660
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661 <p>As White struggles to escape and
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662 connect to some of his already stable stones (like his UL corner), he also collaterally increases
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663 his territory there via <strong>W96, 100, and 106</strong>. But the combination of <strong>B93, 99, 103, 107, and 115</strong>
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664
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665 keep White from making that highly desirable connection, and at the moment of the forced
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666 <strong>W120</strong> White is still confined and vulnerable. Finally, <strong>B121</strong> essentially destroys White's potential
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667 for making an eye in this area so he
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668 is left seeking both of the still
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669 elusive two eyes he needs to
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670 survive.
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671
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672 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2">
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673 <br wp="br1"><br wp="br2">
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674 <p><img src="Playimg7.gif" align="left" ><strong>Game Record 8</strong>
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675
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676 <p>Throughout the remainder of this
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677 game, White struggles to attain
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678 safety by making the needed 2 eyes
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679 for his ever larger center group of
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680 stones, while Black tries to frustrate
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681 him at every turn.
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682
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683 <p>The clever and incisive tactics involved must be meticulously calculated in advance by both
|
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684 players, because once embarked upon a particular line of play there is only rarely available a
|
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685 satisfactory fallback line if a miscalculation heads toward impending disaster!
|
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686
|
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687 <p>The key finishing sequence in Black's attack begins with the "push through" of <strong>B141</strong> followed
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688 by the cut of <strong>B143</strong>, but its success was only made possible by the non-obvious earlier response
|
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|
689 of the "solid connection" of <strong>B137</strong> to the attachment of <strong>W136</strong>. This move was especially brilliant
|
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|
690 because the resulting inefficient shape of the string of 4 Black stones that it created would
|
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691 ordinarily be something to avoid, but in this case was actually best because after <strong>B143</strong> it offered
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692 White no "wiggle room" here in which to create mischief. This is the kind of foresight and
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693 creative thinking that characterizes Go and distinguishes its better players.
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694
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695
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696 <p>After <strong>W156</strong> White has one secure eye, but is still desperately short of prospects for making the
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697 needed second. Note especially how the 2 "abandoned" White stones on L4,M4 are still useful
|
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|
698 because they necessitate <strong>B157</strong>, giving White Sente with which to play <strong>W158</strong>. Much as Black
|
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|
699 dislikes having to play <strong>B157</strong>, if this stone was mistakenly omitted then a White play at N3 would
|
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|
700 capture 5 Blacks and save the entire beleaguered White group!
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701
|
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702 <p>The clever <strong>W158</strong> seems finally to offer the chance of making his needed second eye, but after
|
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703 <strong>B159</strong> it is clear that Black will rescue his almost trapped 6 stones by capturing either the White
|
|
|
704 stone on R12 (W34) or by escaping via attaching to <strong>W136</strong> at P14, so this attempt fails. <strong>W160</strong> is
|
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705 his last desperate attempt to cause complications, hoping for a Black response at F1. But when
|
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706 Black simply connects with <strong>B161</strong> it is clear that White can neither capture the 4 Black stones nor
|
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|
707 connect out, so <strong>WHITE RESIGNS</strong> because with this failure to secure his needed second eye the
|
|
|
708 entire vast White center group is dead!
|
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|
709
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710
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711 <p>Brilliantly played throughout by Michael Redmond, and exemplifying all of the attributes that
|
|
|
712 make Go the greatest strategic board game in all of human history!
|
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713
|
|
|
714 <p><strong>Go Playing Tutorials</strong>
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715
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|
716 <p>If you're not "a games person" or if you're a teacher not interested in Go for its own sake but in
|
|
|
717 how it can be used in teaching vital REASONING SKILLS to children, you might want to stop
|
|
|
718 with just what you've learned so far and just enjoy the other material provided in the remainder
|
|
|
719 of this web page. But if what you've seen of the depth and beauty of Go in this game has
|
|
|
720 captured your imagination, thoroughly learning its rudiments is the next natural step.
|
|
|
721
|
|
|
722 <p>A number of other Go enthusiasts have already produced their own versions of its basic ideas in
|
|
|
723 pages on the web, so rather than "reinvent the wheel" here I shall merely reference the best of
|
|
|
724 those efforts below. Although I do not find any one of these presentations fully satisfactory, in
|
|
|
725 sum they do provide enough of the rudiments of Go to get a beginner started. Of course, much of
|
|
|
726 this material necessarily repeats what you've already seen in my brief introduction above, but
|
|
|
727 most go well beyond it so unless you are an especially "quick study" their perusal will prove well
|
|
|
728 worth your time.
|
|
|
729
|
|
|
730 <p>But be advised that even the best possible short introduction to a subject with the depth and
|
|
|
731 complexity of Go can reasonably do little more than present its fundamental notions. Of
|
|
|
732 necessity, any in-depth discussion of the three key elements of strategy, tactics, and execution
|
|
|
733 must be left for a much later time at which the beginner has acquired sufficient background to
|
|
|
734 begin to integrate and appreciate them. So please do not expect even the totality of these
|
|
|
735 introductions to do much more than provide a few key insights and a basis for further study.
|
|
|
736
|
|
|
737 <p>The few simple ideas presented in these introductions can be learned in a few minutes, even by
|
|
|
738 young children, and all of Go's spectacular tactical magic and profound strategy can be (and
|
|
|
739 actually were) derived from them and nothing more! It was just this modest amount of
|
|
|
740 information (sans "the Ladder" and "Geta") that then World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker
|
|
|
741 had in 1907 (see <a href="America.html">How Go Came To America</a>) when he played his first game of Go and
|
|
|
742 immediately grasped its immense potential. And it is theoretically possible for anyone to not
|
|
|
743 only begin to play Go but to become a strong player using no more formal instruction than this.
|
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|
744 But in practice, that would mean trying to learn from your own personal experience all of the
|
|
|
745 tricky tactical nuances and profound strategic ideas that have been developed by hosts of superb
|
|
|
746 players over the many centuries that Go has been played - clearly a daunting and ultimately
|
|
|
747 infeasible task. Far easier and better to avail yourself of all the accumulated wisdom codified in
|
|
|
748 the many excellent Go tutorial books now in print.
|
|
|
749
|
|
|
750 <p>Unfortunately, IMHO none of the extant beginner's books, in common with the web page
|
|
|
751 tutorials, is completely adequate, and my own complete and incisive introduction THE FIRST
|
|
|
752 BOOK OF GO is now out-of-print. However, I'm pleased to announce that its derivative and
|
|
|
753 successor, GO FOR KIDS, is scheduled for publication by <a href="http://www.yutopian.com/go/">Yutopian</a>, a major publisher of Go
|
|
|
754 books in English by summer 2000, as soon as its unique art work is completed. Although this
|
|
|
755 book has been specifically designed to be "child friendly", it is distinctly not simplistic and can
|
|
|
756 be profitably and pleasurably read by adults as well! Check with Yutopian for the latest
|
|
|
757 information by clicking on their highlighted name above.
|
|
|
758
|
|
|
759 <p>In reading the other author's web introductions to Go referenced below (which all basically cover
|
|
|
760 the same material in slightly different fashion), please remember that they present only a few
|
|
|
761 highlights of the most basic ideas, and that there not only is far, far more to Go but that most of
|
|
|
762 the things that place it on a plane far above all other strategic board games can only be, at best,
|
|
|
763 vaguely glimpsed from them. What they contain is perhaps analogous to learning simple
|
|
|
764 arithmetic, with all of the immense power and application of advanced mathematics still to be
|
|
|
765 discovered! But as Confucius said "The journey of 1000 miles begins with but a single step", so
|
|
|
766 don't be afraid to begin. You'll never be sorry that you did!
|
|
|
767
|
|
|
768 <p><strong><a href="http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~bate/MyGoPage.html"><font
|
|
|
769 Color="#0033FF">John Bate's Introduction</font></a></strong>
|
|
|
770
|
|
|
771 <p><strong><a href="http://www.cwi.nl/~jansteen/go/"><font Color="#0033FF">Jan van der Steen's
|
|
|
772 Introduction</font></a></strong>
|
|
|
773
|
|
|
774 <p><strong><a href="http://www.joy.or.jp/nihonkiin/howto/htm-e/howto1.htm"><font
|
|
|
775 Color="#0033FF">The Nihon Kiin Introduction</font></a></strong>
|
|
|
776
|
|
|
777 <p><strong>The next introduction is especially recommended for children!</strong>
|
|
|
778
|
|
|
779 <p><strong><a href="http://www.sainet.or.jp/~mori/howto/HowTo.html"><font
|
|
|
780 Color="#0033FF">Hiroki Mori's Introduction</font></a></strong>
|
|
|
781
|
|
|
782 <p><strong><a href="InternetGo.html"><font Color="#0033FF">Continue</font></a></strong>
|
|
|
783
|
|
|
784 <p><strong>Click Here To Return To</strong><a href="index.html"><font Color="#0033FF"><strong> Milt's Go
|
|
|
785 Page</strong></font></a>
|
|
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786
|
|
|
787 <p><hr>
|
|
|
788
|
|
|
789 </body>
|
|
|
790
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791 <!-- Mirrored from users.eniinternet.com/bradleym/PlayGo.html by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Sun, 06 Nov 2022 06:49:09 GMT -->
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792 </html |
