Being decisive is supposed to ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

Being decisive is supposed to be a good personality trait. Although much revered in Hollywood movies and books, making a fast decision based on a gut feeling is not usually the right thing to do. Any decision you make when you have a number of possibilities in a certain situation usually precludes other options. Therefore, if you are unsure your decision is the right one, it is a good idea to leave all other options open until you have gathered enough information and evidence to support that decision. Whenever you have time to make a decision, it is often a mistake to rush ahead. Gather all the relevant facts first, then make a choice. However, if the facts are not to your liking, you should avoid making a bad choice. Professional go players try to keep all their aji (options) open as long as possible so as not to burn their bridges, or eliminate their aji (aji-keshi).

Two weeks ago, we began looking at the second game in the best-of-five Women's Honinbo title between Kaori Chinen, current female Honinbo, and challenger Kumiko Yashiro (Black). Yashiro won the first game by 1! points. In the second game, Black committed aji-keshi and got into a tough fight.

Diagram 1 (1-41, represents moves 71-111): After White cuts at A, Black has the option to play at 7 to threaten White's stones marked B. However, playing here immediately would strengthen White and eliminate other possibilities. The combination 1 through 7 is clever, but White gets a superb center position when she captures two stones with 6 and 8. Black needs to do something to compensate for this, and starts out with 13 and 15. Indeed, White is in trouble after 29 and barely manages to survive up to 40. If Black plays at C, White can cut at D or at E, or play out the sequence white F, black G, white H, black I and white J. This means that if Black plays at K, White must answer at C. There is also aji at L, which Black uses later to destroy White's top left corner. After 41, Black has a good position and goes on to win the game.

Hints for improving your game

An easy mistake to make is playing an atari move, which threatens to capture a stone on the next move, the moment an opportunity arises.

Diagram 2: Until move 7, this is a joseki (standard corner exchange). However, white 8 is a useless aji-keshi. After the forced sequence through 15, Black has an impregnable wall, while White's corner is small.

Diagram 3: Rather than cut at 9, White plays at 8. Black's best response is connecting at 9, followed by white 10. Black can force the sequence 11 through 14 (a sequence that applies to Diagram 2), but he is left with a cutting point at A, while White has more influence on the right.

Diagram 4: What is the worst that could happen? Maybe you believe it is Black's capture of a stone with 7 and 9. However, in the sequence through 12, White captures a stone because of a double atari at 10 and gets the better part of the deal.

Diagram 5: What if Black extends to 9? White then will play the sequence to 12, cut with 14 (not at 15), and extend to 16. Black is in for a tough time.

Solutions to last time's problems

Solution 1: As White cannot cut through at A and because of the presence of the marked Black stone, Black can afford to play aggressively and invade with 1. If White connects with 2, Black 3, 5 and 7 are a good combination. White might try to cut through with 8 and 10, but black 11 and 13 will put him on the spot. White has to find another way to save his stones, but it will not be easy.

Solution 2 (Black 2 not shown): If Black plays elsewhere after white 1, White's move at 3 is strong. As a White move at A is too much to take, Black must defend with 4 and 6. However, White's influence is overwhelming and his marked stone still has some aji.

Reference 1 (Black 2 not shown): White 3 is a blunder. After 5, Black makes a better shape by immediately moving to 6, while White loses the aji of his marked stone and many points in the endgame, through the sequence white A, black B, white C, black D, white E, and black F. However, after white A, Black could block at C and White connect at E.

New problems

Problem 1: Where should Black play to capture White's marked cutting stone?

Problem 2: Black 3 is a blunder. Where should he have played to kill the white stones?

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

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