On the surface, we may believe ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

On the surface, we may believe that increased disorder is a natural state because even the neatest room will become messy without constant intervention. However, life is a success story of matter organizing and replicating itself. This in a sense applies to go in the form of shinogi, in which stones that individually do little and seem to have no point become synergistic and emerge as a group full of life.

Shinogi

This week, we will look at a game between shinogi master Cho Chikun and Norimoto Yoda (Black) in the semifinal of the NHK Cup.

Diagram 1 (1-30): As shown by black 1 through 13, Yoda, a former Meijin but currently without a title, plays his trademark aggressive, fast-paced style to grab a lot of points at the start. Cho, on the other hand, seems to take pleasure in being attacked--white 16 and 18 provide a good example. White 18 could have been at A, but 18 has its own charm. It aims at the sequence white B, black C, white D and black E, eliminating in sente the threat of Black invading at F. White 20 and 24 make Black difficult to maneuver, while 26 makes territory, at the cost of coming under attack later. Invading Black's stronghold, white 28 is an invitation for Black to attack with 29. However, White is probably alive after 30--continuing the attack could be counterproductive. So how should Black continue?

Diagram 2 (31-30): Black 31 deprives White of a base, so White plays the light move of 32, fully prepared to sacrifice his marked stone. However, the exchange through 39 is satisfactory for Black. Next, white 40 and 42 start a ferocious battle. To play forcing moves 50 through 54, White must be confident his stones on the right do not overly suffer. However, white 58 and 60 are too much--Cho is too fixated on territory. Following Reference 1 would have been better. Before taking flight, that is to say making sabaki, Black exchanges 61 through 80 to take away White's eyes, a premonition for what is to come.

Reference 1: After forcing 2 for 3, reinforcement at 4 makes definite eyes on the right. In the game, there are white stones at A and B instead of at 2. The stone at A is not significant and the difference between at A and B is not worth a full move that White can spend at 4.

Basic techniques of sabaki

Diagram 3: Attaching to the opponent's stones is a technique for making sabaki. For example, if it is necessary to invade on the right, attaching at 1 and 3 before extending to 5 is a good method to make sabaki. Black aims at settling with A or B, or alternatively move away with C.

Reference 2: Invading in the middle at 1 only provokes a heavy attack with 2 and so on. After 10, Black still has no base, no eyes and finds it difficult to maneuver.

Diagram 4: In the Cho-Yoda game at top right, Black attaches to make sure White has difficulty maneuvering, while White attempts to force 2 for 3 and 4 for 5, before extending to 6 and making sabaki.

Solution to last week's problem

Solution 1: Black 1 is a clever move as it takes away forcing moves White has against the corner. To win the capturing race, White needs an eye. White 2 and 4 make an eye, but now Black is free to play 5 through 11, and finally put White in atari with 13.

Reference 3 (black 11 connects at A, white 12 at B): If Black plays at 1, for example, White plays at 2 and 4. After white 10, Black connects at A (remember black 7 has captured four white stones), and White plays at B to prevent Black from making two eyes. Technically, it is a ko, but Black cannot win the capturing race anyway. For Black, at best it is seki (capturing race that ends in a draw).

New Problem

In response to black 1, how can White make sabaki using his lone stone?

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