How do you react when you are ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

How do you react when you are in trouble? Do you panic or do you stay cool? Top athletes and other star performers can deal with a lot of stress and react instantaneously to changing circumstances. True, these performers cope with sudden changes because they anticipate a number of different scenarios before they come up. Even if unexpected situations arise, they still keep their cool by sticking to the basics and keeping good form.

In this following game, we will see how a top pro deals with a sudden attack. This is the two-stone handicap game we started last week between Shunpei Uchida, a 15-year old 1-dan, and current Tengen title holder Keigo Yamashita. Uchida is black.

Diagram 1: With black 1 Uchida has just started a strong attack. When stones are split in such a way, the immediate response may be to play elsewhere or--a better way--to attack, or perhaps combine the two. However, rarely does such an approach succeed. In general, the rule is to take care of one group and let the other group take care of itself. That is precisely what Yamashita does. He strengthens his group on the right with 2 and 4. This automatically weakens black 1. Black then does something incredible. He exchanges 5 for 6, before defending at 7. This allows White to launch a strong attack on Black with 8, 10 and 12. Still, Black is not intimidated and keeps up the pressure, which leads to a prolonged battle. White first ensures that his stones will live with 16 through 28. This is aimed at making Black move away with 29 and 31. Note that Black is connected as he can exchange A for B and C for E, while connecting with D and aiming to cut at E. White forces Black into a low position with 32 through 38. Black 39 looks like another strong attack, but, in fact, White can easily escape. How does he do that? We'll find out next week.

Hints for improving your game

Do not play moves just because the opponent has to answer them. Often such moves create damezumari (shortage of liberties).

Diagram 2: This is a quintessential problem in which two Black stones are dead but still have some aji (potential). Many novices play 1 automatically, because White has to answer with 2. Note that after white 2, Black's liberties are still limited to three. In other words, the exchange 1 for 2 is meaningless. Black 3 and 5 are also a waste of time, as Black cannot play at A since this would put his own stones in atari.

Diagram 3: Playing at black 1 is a skillful move as it prompts White to capture it. Black 3 then starts a ko he will be able to capture.

Diagram 4: As he cannot play at 5, White's best option is 4. However, black 5 captures the marked stone (the ko). Now it is easy to see why 1 in Diagram 2 is a bad exchange as it is impossible for Black to start a ko.

Solutions to last week's problems

Solution 1A: This is a variation of a well-known snapback shape. White 1 exploits Black's damezumari on both sides by playing at 1, the vital spot. Black cannot play at A or at 4 because of his lack of liberties. His best bet is 2, but then White strikes with 3. Again, Black lacks liberties. If he captures with 4, what happens then?

Solution 1B: Black has just played the marked stone. White can now capture four stones with 5. This is called a "snapback" and is different from a ko, because the same board situation is not repeated. Note that a similar situation occurs in Solution 1A if Black connects at 3 and White plays at 2. We get a snapback on the other side.

Solution 2A: Black connected by playing the marked stone, a mistake that cost Black the game. White 1 is brilliant. The sequence through 7 is what happened in a game played in 1872 between Shuho Murase, who later became Honinbo, and Honinbo Shuwa.

Solution 2B: After white 1, Black 2 and 4 do not work, because White will cut at 5. After Black captures two stones with 6, White exchanges 7 for 8, then puts Black in atari with 9. At that point, Black has little choice but to play at 10.

Solution 2C: White then captures two stones with 11 and Black cannot connect his remaining five stones. Even if Black captures a stone with 12 in an effort to do so, White captures another five stones with 13.

New Problems

Problem 1: Where should Black play to make a ko?

Problem 2: In this kind of situation, many players exchange A for B in the mistaken belief that this will increase the liberties of White's marked stones. Without this exchange, White's marked stones can still cause huge problems for Black. Where should White play?

Want to find out more? Come to Ben's Cafe (03-3202-2445, www.benscafe.com) in Takadanobaba, Tokyo, where the English-speaking go community congregates every Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Van Zeijst is a four-time European go champion and European representative at the Fujitsu World Championship.