Even more surprising was the final of the Fujitsu World Go Championship between 20-year-old Yi Se Tol and 16-year-old Song Tae Kon, both from South Korea. Yi Se Tol (formerly spelled Lee Se Dol) repeated his performance of last year to take the title. In the semifinals, Yi beat Norimoto Yoda, Japan's Meijin, by just half a point, while Song beat Lee Chang Ho from South Korea, who is considered the world's strongest player.
Let's have a look at the opening moves of the sixth and last game of the Honinbo match. Title defender Kato is White.
Diagram 1: As we can expect, the first four moves were in the empty corners. Black 5 is a shimari, or enclosure, to seal off one corner. In that respect, white 6 is also easy to understand--it foils a second black shimari. Black can defend at A or attack at B to develop the upper right corner. However, an extension from his shimari along the right side is Black's most important task next. Black 7 and C or D would make an ideal formation (see Reference 1). In that light, the white pincer at 8 becomes understandable, too. Instead of 9, Black has many alternatives (see Reference 2). White 10 steadies the lower right corner. Black 11 splits White's positions on the lower edge into two, threatening to extend either to E or F.
Reference 1: If White defends with 2 in response to black 1, Black will next extend to 3 or A. Black would then aim at pincering at 5 next as this builds up a huge moyo (framework) in the upper right. Instead of playing at 1, Black could also have extended to A, threatening to extend to 1 next. However, White could respond at 1, limiting the scope of Black's moyo.
Reference 2: Black could also approach the corner from the other side with 3 in response to 2, but White would give away the corner and build thickness to 10. A Black extension to A next is reckless as he is exposed to an invasion, e.g. at B. On the other hand, a White extension in the neighborhood of B is just fine.
Reference 3: Invading at 3, followed by the standard sequence to 11, is also possible. Again, White gets to extend along the right side with 12.
Diagram 2: The moves 12 through 16 are a standard pattern. Black's follow-up, invading the corner with 17, is clever. His aim is to get a result similar to Reference 3, i.e. Black takes the corner, but he has already made an extension along the right side, too. White wisely ignores Black's invasion and starts attacking up to 26. Black 27 aims at confining the White moyo that has started to develop along the left side. After this move, the middle game started.
Basic extensions
Diagram 3: Theory has it that your basic extension should be the two-space jump along the third line. Of course, you have to make sure it can't be cut.
Exercise 1: If you have a partner, try this. One person (White) tries to split and the other (Black) tries to stay connected.
Diagram 4: The same theory holds that for a stronger position a three-space jump is good.
Exercise 2: Do the same exercise as above for this extension.
Diagram 5: From the theory, it follows that a three-space extension like this one can be split. Or can it?
Exercise 3: Practice splitting and defending this position with a partner. This week's problems
Problem 1: Do you still remember about life and death? Where should Black move to kill the White group? If it is White's move, where should he move to keep the White group alive?
Problem 2: Now do the same for this shape.
Problem 3: How should White defend his territory after black 1?
Want to find out more? Come to Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba (03-3202-2445 or www.benscafe.com), where the English-speaking go community congregates every Sunday starting at 11 a.m. You can enjoy free lessons until 1 p.m.
Rob van Zeijst is a four-time European go champion and European representative at the Fujitsu World Championship.