How can an amateur quickly strengthen his game?

By Rob Van Zeijst

How can an amateur quickly strengthen his game? That is the question I asked some pros. Their answers were helpful, but the best advice came from an outsider--a business consultant. He said, "Get rid of the weakest link." In go, strategy is important at the beginning of a game, followed by the complex intertwining of strategy and tactics in the middle game and with an emphasis on tactics in the endgame. Throughout, reading complicated sequences, comparing a multitude of outcomes, and technique play important roles. So your weakest link might be any of these elements. Finding and correcting it will often prove to be the fastest road to improving your game.

More hit-under tesuji

As many endgames between pros are close, a matter of plus or minus five points, studying the endgame may give you an edge. The hit-under tesuji could help in this area.

Diagram 1: White's and Black's territories are open around the marked area. What are the best moves for both sides in this area? Note that the edge is the first line. So, the marked black and white stone are on the third line.

Diagram 2: If it is White's turn, he should play at 1. Black has no choice but to defend with 2, followed by the sequence to 8.

Diagram 3: On the other hand, if it is Black's turn, usually attaching at 1 is the best move. This is called the hit-under tesuji. In general, White will block at 2, and the exchange 3 for 4 follows. Of course, Black can defend his stone at 1 by playing A or B. But even if he does not, he has already profited.

Diagram 4: If Black doesn't defend, White can capture the marked stone by cutting with 1. Black doesn't need to protect this stone because White cannot advance any farther than 3 or 2. But for the sake of argument, say Black tries to do this with 2, aiming at freeing his marked stone by playing at 5 himself. White can prevent that by playing at 3 before capturing with 5. Later on, the exchange white A, black B will be made.

Conclusion: What is the difference between Diagram 1 and 4? Black's territory is the same, but White's is smaller by one point. However, the biggest difference is that in Diagram 1, White ends in sente, while in Diagram 4 Black gets sente, so he has the initiative.

Solutions to last week's problems

Solution 1: White should use the hit-under tesuji at 1. Black must defend with 2, but after white 3, Black still has a problem. He needs to defend at A or B, otherwise White can cut at C or attack at D and destroy most of Black's territory.

Reference 1: After white 1, couldn't Black resist with 2? Logically, the moves through 4 follow, but now Black is in trouble after white 5 and 7. In the sequence through 19 Black loses the capturing race.

Solution 2: Although this move looks highly unlikely, black 1 is correct in most cases. If White is oblivious to any danger and plays at 2 and 4, black 5 will show how wrong White is. This sets up a ko for the entire corner, including White's marked stones. This is a serious situation for White.

Reference 2: To avoid the above situation, White could play 2 and 4. However, Black would gain two more points than in Reference 3.

Reference 3: If Black does nothing, White can initiate the sequence 1 through 4 and make two points more than in Reference 2. Note that in both diagrams, Black and White play two moves, so the difference is really two points without any loss of tempo for either side.

Reference 4: After black 1, if White doesn't want to end up in gote, he could play elsewhere, allowing Black to defend with 3, which threatens the three marked stones. To save his three stones, White must play at A next.

Reference 5: If Black is worried about the ko, because he does not have any ko threats, he might have to descend at 1. If White plays elsewhere, 3 is a good move. This time, if White plays at A, black B makes a ko again. So White should play elsewhere after black 3. This is reasonable for Black, but he cannot capture the three marked stones as in Reference 4.

Problems

Problem 1: How can Black reduce White's territory?

Problem 2: This situation is the result of a popular joseki. How can Black defend the corner?