I often tell my students that you can get stronger at Go just by thinking about it, for example while watching a boring TV program:). Go is as much a game as it is a Philosophy of life. Just like in real life, sometimes we need to take distance and look at things from an outside perspective. In the heat of playing we often forget or break basic principles, we get carried away and play the shape move or we fight blindly in small areas regardless of what is really needed from the overall perspective.
This part of my page is dedicated to players of all strengths and is a collection of ideas which once assimilated can improve your level considerably. And don't worry, you will constantly fail to remember those principles in real game situations :). But this is also normal, otherwise Go would be too easy a game.


The following concepts and ideas may become the base material for a first chapter of my Go book, which one day I hope to write...

 

Chapter 1: The basics

There are two essential concepts in Go: safety and efficiency. This comes naturally from the two basic rules: stones can be captured and the one who has more territory wins.

 
diag. 1
  
diag. 2
  
diag. 3

 

 

Extending from the marked stone towards the side, on the third line, is very important.
Keeping in mind the two basic principles, safety and efficiency, white has to choose from the A to F options.

The correct answer is D.

 
Another similar shape, white just extended from his triangled stone towards the lower side. This kind of two space extension on the third line is the perfect example of combined safety and efficiency. If white played A or B his shape would be inneficient, while C is dangerous because after black invades at B white cannot conect his two stones.
  
This is the proof that black cannot cut the white two space extension. If white answers correctly up to 10, white stays connected by capturing the cutting black stones.
One mention for beginners: it is easy to fall in the trap and play at 7 instead of 6 with white. Black will atari at 6, white must capture at A and then black gets the white stone with the ladder move at B.
 

An immediate consequence of this are the most common shapes we meet in real games.
diag. 4
      
diag. 5
 

Here we have the most usual shapes met in Go. The concept of safety is very important here, all of these shapes are more ore less connected. Also, we notice that the more loose the shapes are, the bigger the danger to get cut. In short, the more we try to be efficient we lose safety and the other way around. To keep the balance we have to always find the middle way.

 

 

  

Here are some examples of what happens when white tries to cut through black's shape. The upper left there is keima (knight's move). We notice that this shape is quite hard to cut, after move 4 white gets captured in a ladder. Next, there is O geima (big knight's move). From 5 to 8 white tries to cut, but then A and B ladders are miai. The variation in the upper right starts from the ikken tobi (one space jump) shape. The only way to cut is at 9, but in the ensuing fight the white stones get cut as well and black has the advantage of numbers. There is a saying: never try to cut the ikken tobi. The last shape is nikken tobi (two space extension). This is the thinest of all and is quite easy to cut, but even so, black has two more soldiers in the field than white so he should keep some advantage.
 

Good shape bad shape.

 
diag. 6
  
diag. 7
  
diag. 8
         
 
 

One example of bad shape, good shape.
To the left side we have the most famous bad shape, the empty triangle. It is an inneficient shape because B stone is too close to the others and also the shared liberty at C of the A and B stones makes this group short of liberties.
By comparison, the shape on the right is good, more efficient while still very safe. Please read for yourself that white cannot cut black.

 

  

This looks the same, but there is a big difference from the bad shape before.
The marked stone fills the previously empty space.
Because of this, black's shape is good now.
The reason is that the stones A and B work at maximum, filling two white liberties.

 

 


Some more advanced examples of good shape:
The shape on the left is a well known joseki.
Move 7 is the key, making a rich eye shape and keeping an eye on sharing the corner. If white later plays A, black can counter with B, thanks to the shape move at 7.
The shape on the upper left can appear often in real games.
Black's shape cannot be cut, but if white plays at C he forces black to make a painful move to connect and the whole black group will be under attack. This is why, if black has a chance to play, the vital point is also at C.
We notice that after white C, the only options for black to connect are the marked circles. They all lead to the empty
triangle bad shape.
 

Stay far from strong stones, play close to weak stones. This is concerning your own stones as well as your opponent's.

 
diag. 9
  
diag. 10
  
diag. 11
 
 

White to play.
Black threatens to make a double wing formation from the shimari on the upper right side, so it's tempting to play there. If white A, black will play B and suddenly the marked stone feels very weak.
The correct answer for white, after carefully considering strong and weak stones, is C.

 

  

A continuation to the previous diagram.Again white to play.
There are two large areas left on the board, so we need to carefully think which is the best move for white and for black on both sides. We have to take into account the stength of the stones. The choices are between the marked spots on the third line.
Please try to figure out the answer for yourself before watching the next diagram

  

The correct approach for white are the moves at A or B.
They make good balance of efficiency and safety and also take into account the strong white and black groups on the upper left corner.
Any move to the left of A lacks a bit in power and with each
space towards the left there is increased inneficiency. On the left side, a move lower than B is inneficient, while trying to get closer to black's very strong group is dangerous.
Also, from black's point of view, the correct choices are
C and D.
 

Reinforce your weak groups as soon as possible, even if a move in the area may look very slow. The real value of such a move shows not in your profit (even though moves like that usually give some nice territory later) but in the loss you inccur when the opponent attacks.

 
diag. 12
      
diag. 13
 

A possible variation of the chinese fuseki.
White invaded early and now has a group of three stones to look for. While if black attacks he cannot kill this group, it is unwise to leave it weak and rush for a large fuseki point.
The continuation points out why...


It becomes obvious that defending this group is a priority, even if investing a move here may seem small.
The follow up shows how after first defending, white can change the tables and counterattack.
 

Play only neccesary moves. To better understand this, you have to think from the opponent's point of view. If he will not play there, then there is no reason for you to do it. Often moves played just because they are sente can become slightly bad moves, as they fill your own liberties, erase ko threats and worse, erase different other possibilities. These moves are usually known as ajikeshi (erasing the aji).

 
diag. 14
  
diag. 15
  
diag. 16
 
 

This is a common joseki. Often beginners feel compelled to play next at A. White will naturally defend with B, but this exchange was not neccesary and it becomes a bad move. Black fills a liberty of his own group, loses a ko threat of big value and also erases the future posibilities of playing at C and aim at the severe placement at B.
The way to avoid this kind of common mistake is by putting yourself in white's place. White doesn't want to play A because this is a move worth only two points and is very small. Therefore, there is no rush for black to play at A either.
  

Going back a little bit, we notice how the exchange of 8 to 11 is a neccesary preparation before jumping to 12.
If white omits it and jumps directly at 20 in the next variation, then black's cut with 21 -23 is too severe.

 

 

  


An example of how the image of the previous joseki can make us believe it is natural to play the exchanges from 20 to 23.
This time the moves from 20 on are not neccesary and are bad exchanges. They only make the white stone at 4 much weaker.
White is already alive in the corner, thus a move by black at 20 can be easily ignored. Black will not play there anytime soon, so there is no reason for white to do so.

 
 

The '1-2-3 principle': half joking I use this term a lot in my teaching. It is a simple way to point out a fundamental way of thinking in Go.
The idea is that if you read ahead three moves, you should often consider skipping the first two and play directly the third. This is also the way to discover good moves (tesuji).

 
diag. 17
  
diag. 18
  
diag. 19
 
 

Sometimes black goes for outside influence and pushes at C.
I've seen many people exchanging A-B first, to make sure that C is sente. But this exchange fills one of blacks liberties and erases a ko threat, therefore is slightly bad. If black plays simply at C white will answer at D anyway. Keeping in mind the 1-2-3 principle can help you a lot in making a habit of avoiding such bad moves.
 

This is another good example of the 1-2-3 principle.
White 16 is a tesuji.
The follow up is a well knowkn joseki

 

  

This is the variation that shows how ignoring the 1-2-3 principle can lead to a much worse result. White plays all the sente moves he sees, but we notice how in the end white 16 becomes a very bad move.
Also, the atari at 18 ignores again the principle and gives black even stronger shape.
 

Play flexible: many people seem to think that if the opponent invades their moyo (potential territory ) they need to attack hard and punish the cheeky invader :). This is often mistaken and leads to disaster. Invasions are normal, you just have to adapt to the situation and seek to profit elsewhere from the attack. Like in aikido, you can easily turn your opponent's violence against him by letting him go his way and not opposing with brute force. The metaphor I like to use in this situation is: 'if there is a stone in the river, the water doesn't try to go through it, but easily flows around it and continues on its way ' :).

 
diag. 20
  
diag. 21
  
diag. 22
 
 

This is a possible continuation from the fuseki I showed in some diagrams above.
The white invasion at 1 is unreasonable, but in this diagram black tries very hard to capture it and the result is not so great.
White gets strong on the outside and black is very overconcentrated.
This is a much more flexible and positive approach to the invasion.
Black lets white escape, but the thickness in sente is more than enough compensation for losing the territory on the left side.

In this fuseki white's invasion at 1 is often seen. The counter at black 2 is another example of flexible thinking. The result to 16 is interesting for black.

 
 

Light play, heavy play: a difficult concept to understand, even more difficult to master. For this you need to understand the value of stones. Throughout a game, stones that used to be very important in the beginning may lose some of their value later and thus can be easily sacrificed. Understanding the value of stones and how this changes during the game often makes the difference between a strong strong player and a weak strong player...

Strive to keep the balance. Go is a game that brings all kind of aspects of the human nature to the surface. The worst and most commonly met aspect of it is GREED!! Beware of it and learn to control it. It will make you a better human being and a much better Go player. Most Go players experienced at least once losing a very good game because of trying to get a lot when little was enough. It is very painful to lose a good game because of your own greed. Far worse, though, is to win a game through unreasonable and greedy play. Your opponent will be very frustrated and unhappy and thus you may lose a potential friend. I believe that unless we try to make a living out of playing Go, the main purpose of playing is to have fun, to meet people and enjoy together a beautiful experience. I believe that there is a nobility to Go that each player felt as soon as they put their first stones on a board. Unfortunately, the competitive trend of this modern age is spoiling a lot of the beauty and the serenity of this game, something we should strive constantly to avoid. One of the most important selfimprovments one can do in life, as well as on the Go board, is to learn how to give. There are great and unexpected rewards in this. While trying to take all makes for an angry and very dangerous opponent, often giving him what he wants leads to better results for yourself as well. A happy opponent is much easier to play with and also easier to defeat.

There are exceptions to all the concepts above. Like life, Go is vast and unpredictable. Sometimes the bad shape move may be the only good move, the unneccesary move can prove a hundred moves later a brilliant tesuji and so on. What I gave here is just some insight to the tools you need in order to play a better quality game. Finally, with the Go board and a real opponent in front of you, the decisions are yours alone and the freedom of choice is absolute.
Enjoy the magic of Go !

 
 

© Catalin Taranu 2006. All rights reserved.