You are probably familiar with the adage ...

By Rob Van Zeijst

You are probably familiar with the adage that you should not put all your eggs in one basket. Doing so makes the risks that much greater. This dictum has been adopted by the investing community to diversify, and thereby limit risks, by investing in a large number of stocks and industries. Warren Buffett, the second-richest person on Earth, and the investor to whom everybody else is compared, says the following: "Diversification is protection against ignorance." The implication being, of course, that you don't have to resort to this idea if you know what you are doing.

Therefore, all those ascribing to the concept of diversification as a proper means of investing, are to some extent making a self-incriminating statement.

Buffett offers his own alternative catchphrase philosophy: "Put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket very carefully."

The same goes for go--you usually do not want to create one huge territory because one good invasion will immediately finish the game. On the other hand, if you watch that territory very carefully, it might be a good strategy.

That is where Cho Chikun comes in--he likes to invade and destroy his opponent's most important territory, and he is very good at it.

Diagram 1 (1-50 represent 81-130)--(12 connects where 1 was taken): This is the continuation of the game we started last week between Norimoto Yoda (black) and Cho Chikun. At this point, Black's group with the marked stones seem in trouble. However, Yoda's combination 1 through 9 was a fantastic shinogi--a way to escape or make a living group. After black 15, Black's marked group is safe, while White's marked stones are in trouble. The more White struggles to save his group on the right with moves at 10, 16, 28 and so on, the more damage he inflicts on his marked stones.

By the end of the moves on this diagram, it seems unlikely White will be able to pull off a win, as Black's strength is overwhelming while he also has more territory.

However, as you can see, Black has most of his eggs in one basket--namely the marked white stones. Let us see what happens.

Diagram 2 (51-84 represent 131-164)--(61, 64 take ko): Black makes territory with 51 and 55, while White tries to sacrifice his marked stones on a small scale. Yoda then makes a blunder! He plays 57 to force white A and leave a cutting point at B before cutting with C. However, Cho resists with 58 and 60, setting up a huge ko, which he wins by capturing at 72. Instead of black 57, Yoda should follow Reference 1.

Still, the game is not over yet as Black tries to capture White's humongous group on the right with 67 and 73. But then Yoda makes the final mistake--black 75. Play as in Reference 2 would still have won him the game.

After 84, White is alive--he can play either at D or at E, black F and white G. Either way he has two eyes. The game goes on for another 60 moves or so, but then Black resigns. He lost because he was too greedy when he played 57 and made a reading mistake with 75. This way of losing is untypical of Yoda, but this way of winning is typical for Cho.

Reference 1: Trying to exchange A for B to leave a cutting point at C before defending at 1 would be nice, but it is wishful thinking. Black should play 1 immediately.

Note that White will play at D and Black must answer at E. Now Black has a safe lead while White's center group is still in danger.

Reference 2: Black should make a hard connection at 1. White can only survive by playing at 2. Next Black cuts off half of White's group with 3 to secure victory. Incidentally, note the three marked black and white stones. Those are the moves played during the ko. White made at least 15-20 points in territory, while Black's stones do very little except cutting.

Solution to last week's problem

Solution 1A: In response to black 1, White should attack at 2 and retreat with 4. Should Black try to capture with 5, White can cut with 6. The presence of 6 and 8 makes it impossible for Black to cut at A because then White will

answer at B, which will be followed by black

C, white D, black E and White will grab two stones with F.

Solution 1B: As an alternative, Black can play at 5 to prevent White from cutting. After White 6, Black can connect underneath with A in an emergency.

New Problem

Later in the game, a problem occurs in the lower right corner. I have changed it a little to make it simpler to understand. How should White respond to black 1? White's mission is to keep his group alive.

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