In their book "Slowing Down to the Speed of Life," ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

In their book "Slowing Down to the Speed of Life," authors Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey argue that stress starts with a single thought. Stress, and your ability to deal with it, can have a great impact on your progress in go. There are players who have a sharp analytical skill and great strategic insight, as they often demonstrate during the analysis after a game. However, during the game, they do not seem to reach the same level of analytical skill. The reason is stress. However, as the book states, stress is nothing more than a thought. Maintaining your train of thought is the first step in conquering stress.

Diagram 1 (1-40): At this point, the situation is already bad for Black. If the upper left becomes white territory, the game is over. However, Black's marked stone still has aji (potential). How does Black exploit this? Making attachments is usually a good idea. Therefore, Black starts out well with 1, but the combination 3 and 5 is not a good follow-up (see References 1 and 2). In response to 7 and 9, white 8 and 10 are strong moves. Black suddenly decides to play 21 in sente. White defends with 26, but before doing so, he plays at 22, exposing Black's cutting point at A. The exchange 22 for 25 proves fatal and in the end, Black's group in the upper left is doomed when White plays 40.

Reference 1: Black 1 is a good invasion point. White must defend his corner with 2 and 4. Aiming to mobilize his marked stone, black 5 is a good move. White 6 is honte (a move that eliminates all aji). After black 7, White does not have any good moves. If White plays at A, the sequence black B, white C and black D would follow. Later, Black can aim at attaching at E. If White descends to F, this would be followed by black G, white H and black I, which would destabilize White's corner group.

Reference 2: In the game, Black attached at 1. Instead of immediately playing at 5, Black should first exchange 3 for 4. After 6, Black has time to save his marked stone. The sequence through 13 is natural and with 15, Black stays alive. Using his marked stone in this way is great for Black.

Hints for improving your game

Weak players often follow inconsistent strategies. This is manifested both in the way they attack and defend.

Diagram 2: The question is how Black should respond to white 1. Should he go for the corner or should he concentrate on the outside?

Diagram 3: If Black wants to take the corner, he should play at 2. The moves through 10 can be visualized next. Is this strategy doing justice to the thickness formed by Black's marked stones?

Diagram 4: What happens if Black plays on the outside with 2 through 6? The moves through 9 form a joseki. Even if Black merely exchanges 10 for 11 (a bad exchange) and defends at 12, the marked black stones now play a major role in Black's center strategy. Black is using all of his stones to their fullest potential.

Solutions to last week's problems

Solution 1: Black should either jump to 3 immediately or push with 1 and expand his center with the sequence through 7. If White plays at A (instead of 2), Black should plays at 5 next. Under no circumstances should Black play at B at any point here to negate the strength of White's marked stones. This would just give White a perfect opportunity to break into the center, e.g. at 1 or 3.

Solution 2: Black 1 is the only move even if it allows White to extend to 2. Black 3 builds thickness and prompts White to stay alive in the corner with 4 through 8. This sequence has been seen in pro games. Later on, Black can capture at B and threaten to play at C. Black should not play at A and allow White to play at 1. As you can see in this sequence, black 9 weakens White's marked stone, anyway.

New Problems

Problem 1: How should White respond to black 1?

Problem 2: When White invades with the marked stone, where should Black play--A or B?

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.