In his first inaugural address in 1933 ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

In his first inaugural address in 1933, then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Criminals and terrorists employ fear as a weapon, and so do warriors and generals.

Instilling fear into an enemy keeps him off balance and may make him act irrationally. A swift attack may be highly effective but beating war drums in advance has proved to be effective over the centuries. However, if you attack someone, he will probably fight back because he has no choice, and he even may come out on top.

Hints for improving your game

How can you instill fear on the go board? There are several ways, such as building up a huge moyo (territorial framework), attacking a large group, and cutting. However, cutting is a large investment as it does not make any points. It is actually better to threaten to cut. But before we go into different strategies on these threats, let's first have a look at a game between Cho U (Black) and Norimoto Yoda in the second round for the Oza title in 2003.

Diagram 1: Cho plays his usual style of capturing territory while Yoda, as expected, intimidates and attacks on a grand scale. White 8 is an interesting move as it makes a better shape than A. White 10 forces Black down and builds influence, preparing the way for a battle in the lower right. The battle starts when Black invades with 13 and White pincers with 16, then builds influence with 18 and 20. White 22 makes Black heavy while 24 attacks the eye-shape. Furthermore, it threatens to connect with E, which would be followed by black F and white D. On the other hand, Black has the opportunity to cut by playing at B, followed by white C, black D. Note White cannot cut with E, as the sequence black F and white G would lead to black H capturing White's cutting stones. Black could have jumped to I next, but Cho instead takes territory with 25, 27 and 29. In a way, he is challenging Yoda to do his worst. However, Yoda does not dabble in petty stuff--he likes to attack on a grand scale. We will see what happens next week.

Diagram 2: Now let us do a bit of research on the science of cutting. The moves through 7 are part of a joseki (standard corner exchange). There are two cutting points here. The big questions are should Black cut at A and should White cut through with B, which would be followed by black C and white D?

Diagram 3: If Black cuts with 1, White will restrain him with 2 and 4. As Black cannot escape, all he can do is sacrifice two stones and force the sequence 5 through 10. That provides a clue over whether White should cut Black in Diagram 2.

Diagram 4: If White cuts with 1 and 3, Black should descend with 4, forcing White to connect with 5. Black would then push White toward the edge with 6 and 8. White 9 is a good move but so is black 10. White 11 looks threatening, but...

Diagram 5: The sequence black 12, 14 and 16 would remove White's liberties. After 17, Black has to be careful. He now needs to throw in first at 18 before playing at 20. Even if White plays at 21, black 22 puts White in atari and White will lose the capturing race.

Solutions to last week's problems

Solution 1: The problem is, where should Black move to neutralize the marked white stone? Black 1 is the honte (proper) move. If White tries to crawl out with 2, Black 3 bottles him up. White can now try 4 and 6, but Black would play 7 and 9, sacrificing the stone at 1 while putting three white stones in atari. If White connects at 1, Black captures all intruders with A. In other words, after black 1, the marked white stone cannot escape.

Reference 1: Even when Black plays at 1, he can capture the marked white stone. As you can see, if White tries to escape with 2 and 4, Black bottles him up with 3 through 7. However, black 1 is not the honte move. One reason is that in Solution 1, Black can capture the marked stone outright, which is not true here. Another reason is that White has more efficient forcing moves in the neighborhood.

Reference 2: More specifically, after black 1, White can still exploit the potential of his marked stone with a move at 2, especially when reinforced around A. In the end, Black has to back off and defend with 5, but the marked stone is still on the board causing trouble.

New problem

Problem 1: After the joseki in Diagram 2, White needs to reinforce with A or B--these moves seem alike but A poses a big threat. In response, Black will usually defend at C or D. If White plays at A, how should Black respond? And if White extends to B, how should Black respond then? Hint: Look at the cuts at E and F.

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.