(February 5, 2010 at 3:55 am by Mile Gu in Other)
This week, we consider an unconventional defence against an enemy approach to a common pattern that arises from the Chinese fuseki.
Diagram 1.
When white makes the corner approach to reduce Black’s potential, the orthodox reply is at Black 2. What follows is a standard pattern that many of you would have mostly likely encountered, especially if you’re a fan of the Chinese fuseki.
At any rate, Black is usually satisfied with this result, white 7 looks reasonably cramped, and black has increased the potential territory on both the left side and the top right by playing either a or b. In either case, white generally needs to respond at c. Meanwhile, white cannot complain too much, since he must of had three free moves elsewhere on the board.
Diagram 2.
There are times, however, when Black might feel his behind in territory. Or perhaps, the moyos are just not that important. In these situations, Black can choose the unconventional move at 2.
Diagram 3.
White might first look at black in puzzlement. Surely he has made a mistake? White’s most obvious response is at 1, and if things proceed as in diagram 3, black cannot possibly be satisfied. The circled stone looks flat on the third line ineffective. Meanwhile, white’s shape is solid, and it looks like white has successfully neutralised black’s moyo. What could black be thinking with 2?
Diagram 4.
Diagram 3, in fact, is just wishful thinking on white’s part. Black 1 starts the small avalanche Joseki, making maximum use of his extra circled stone. After white 6, Black 7 is essential. Playing this move at a is also joseki, but a total mistake in this context.
Diagram 5.
When white continues the joseki with the cut at 2, black’s circled stone looks perfectly positioned. If it were not there, black would be forced to play 5 at 7, and thus allow white to seal off the top in sente. With the stone, however, is it white 2 and 4 that is under pressure. By Black 7, white has two unsettled groups against black’s one. What’s more, black has taken a solid corner. The ensuring fight will be in black’s favour, and white has been completely tricked. Note that if white a, black can counter with b. Black 7 can also be played at c, but white d is sente.
Diagram 6.
So what is white’s best response? To answer that, we’ll need to rewind to the beginning. Despite first intuition, white’s only choice is to hane at 3, and play lightly at 5. With Black 6, black has completed his goal of securing a significantly larger corner than diagram 1. The result, however, is not one-sided. White’s light group is difficult to attack. Later, white can protect his cur with the 7/8 exchange, and then press down with 9.
If the top right is unimportant, black 2 is well worth a shot. In all likelihood, the enemy will walk right into a small avalanche, and end up fighting for his life.
On the twelfth of December, Mile Gu from Auckland and Matthew Crossman from Brisbane played a game on IGS to determine who goes to the eighth World Students Go Oza Championship this year. The game was even, with Mile taking black and Matthew taking white:
.
White resigned at that point. Mile Gu will represent Australia and New Zealand in the championships on the second and third of March in Japan.
(January 29, 2010 at 3:19 am by Mile Gu in Analysis)
This week, we’ll spotlight a violent variation of the standard 1 space pincer that happens so often in games involving the san-ren-sei.
Diagram 1.
When white makes the standard corner approach against san-rei-sei, the one-space pincer at black 3 is a very common response. Black aims to maximise the effectiveness of black 1, and create an impressive moyo on the top. White 8 is more commonly played at a, followed by black b, this seems to submit to black’s plan of sealing white inside. Mind you, this doesn’t mean whites at a is disadvantageous, the result is considered even. In this diagram, white 8 suggests that she actively wishes to spite black’s game plan from the very start.
Diagram 2.
The standard continuation (Diagram 2) of the joseki, however, still results in white sealed within the corner. After white 10, black either protects his cut directly at a, or first ataries at b. White has gained a few extra points compared to Diagram 1, but black’s influence seems even more impressive. For this reason, most players would prefer the more standard variation where the marked white stone was is played at 5.
Diagram 3.
Recently, however, pros have experimented with a highly aggressive variation. After Black hane’s, white plays an empty triangle at 2. Is this an overplay? It certainly looks like it! Black 3 is clearly a must, playing at a and allowing white b is clearly unbearable. White looks to be in a difficult position… if not for the severe clamp at 4. The fight is on.
Diagram 4.
If black submits at 1, the remaining moves up to white 8 are almost forced. White settles his center group with 8, and black is left with nothing to attack. This thick white group in the middle will make it difficult for black to form any large scale moyo, and black feels like he has been tricked.
Diagram 5
Black can alternatively play the severe moves and 1 and 3. After a sequence of forced moves, white finished with the terrifying cut at 10. The fight becomes frantic, but black looks to have the harder end of the stick.
Diagram 6
So what is black’s best response? That’s still an open question. Diagram 5, for example, shows one possible variation that occurred between pros. One thing is for sure though, white should not try this move is she’s not willing to put up a huge fight.
So, if you don’t like facing giant moyos, and prefer a game filled with fighting, you can give this a go. Again, this tip was possible due to the extremely helpful advice of Kang ZhanBin 6p.
(January 22, 2010 at 3:49 am by Mile Gu in Analysis)
Today, we’ll look at another unconventional variation of a common joseki.
Diagram 1.
Black makes a low attachment to white’s star point, and white makes the conventional reply at 2. Instead of the usual response at a or b, black plays a space jump at 3. This move is highly unconventional, but not completely unplayable when supported with influence on the upper right. By playing here, Black aims at intimidation. Essentially his saying, “I’m going to form a large moyo on the top, what are you going to do about it?”.
If white is not careful, he risks giving black an early advantage. Before reading further, have a quick think on how you’d respond.
Diagram 2, Corner Attach Variation (1-10)
Diagram 3. Corner Attach Variation (11-13)
One obvious option that comes to mind is to attach Black’s corner. However, Black’s pincer at 3 (or a) works perfectly with 1. Once the standard variation is played out on the top right (Diagram 3), black’s original move (Black circle) is in an enviable position. White can’t help but feel like he just got tricked.
Diagram 4.
Perhaps, then, white can aim to be more aggressive? Here 2 and 4 aims to attack black. Black however, can employ reasonable countermeasures with 5, and 7 to remove white of his corner, and proceed to counterattack. The variations become complex, and it’s likely to end up in a rather messy fight.
Diagram 5.
The simplest refutation of Black 1 is, in fact, to calmly protect the corner at 2 (Diagram 4). While this move may seem slow, Black is left without brilliant follow-ups. If black continues at 3, white makes the splitting play at 4. After the exchange of 5 and 6, Black 3 begins to look rather odd. Alternatively if black a, and white b, white then threatens to link with c, and again black looks to have gained little.
Diagram 6.
Alternatively, Black may choose to protect the upper side with Black 3. But this essentially returns the game to transposition of the conventional variation, where black 3 and black 1 are reversed. Later, white can invade at 4, threatening to link up with a. This variation should be acceptable to both parties, though Black 1 does feel like black has prematurely limited his options. Without the 1, 2 exchange, Black could, for example, wish to invade the corner at 2, or b instead.
Diagram 7. A good time to consider the jump.
So when should Black consider the one space jump? The answer is when the top right is already strong. Though, playing it as in Diagram 1 isn’t necessarily bad. Feel free to try it out!
Sample Game:
Diagram 8: Zhang Wendong 9-p (black) versus Liao Xingwen 1p (white)
While the one space jump after approach is highly unusual, its not unseen in pro matches. Above is the opening of one such game, where Zhang (9p) decided to test a new shodan was a most unusual opening. The game ended in a win by resignation for Zhang. More information at Sensei’s Library.
Note: The technical content of this article came courtesy of advice from Kang Lao Shi (6p) at the Singapore Weiqi Association. So big thanks to him!
(January 18, 2010 at 10:52 pm by aguido in Events, On KGS)
Yesterday in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server a team from the All Keio Igo Association met a team led by the Brisbane Go Club in the second of what is becoming a series of annual friendly matches. Of the ten games played, Brisbane won eight, Keio won one, and one went to jigo. The games played were (with the Keio players listed first):
Etsuko Hoshino 15k did not get to play, unfortunately, as her opponent from the Brisbane team, Dr Peter Hexel, was a late scratching due to illness. The shortest game was Jason Mackay’s (15 minutes):
and the last to finish was Alex Hanysz in a thrilling arm wrestle in the endgame:
An afternoon of good clean fun, and hopefully a stepping stone on the way to many more such matches in the future. Kudos to John Hardy from Brisbane and Kiga-san from Keio for organising the event.
(January 17, 2010 at 9:03 pm by Mile Gu in Analysis)
First of all introductions. My name is ‘Mile Gu’, a go player from Auckland, New Zealand who studied at the University of Queensland. Given that I’ll be representing Oceania in the coming Student OZA competition, I volunteered with the encouragement of the Brisbane go club to contribute some humble tips to the Australian Go Journal, and give an insider account on the future competition. My accounts on KGS are Syptryn and Zyptryn (The latter when I’m too sleepy to play well). If you have a question that a 4 Dan could potentially answer (or at least make an educated guess), feel free to drop me a message if you spot me online!
To begin with, I’ll be presenting a semi-regular ‘Strategy Spotlight’. The goal of these columns will be to highly some unconventional or trick plays, so you you can either employ them, or at least know how to handle it if someone tries to pull it on you. They’ll be tailored for a range of skill levels, but probably most useful for low dan and high kyu players.
The Large Knight Reponse to 4-4 Attach:
Diagram 1. The Large Knight Move.
When white attaches with 1, black plays 2 instead of the more usual a or b. This isn’t trick play, but is a somewhat special strategy.
Diagram 2.
If black continues using the standard sequence of Diagram 2, she can’t help but feel unsatisfied. White circle is in a better position than a. If this was blacks’s guaranteed response, than there will be no reason for white to ever play a. So how should black punish white? The trick is observe that black circle leaves the corner far more open. black should usually jump in the corner as in Diagram 3. Diagram 3 and 4 shows one standard continuation.
Diagram 3.
Diagram 4.
The result is considered fairly even, so the Large Knight move is fully playable in certain situations. For example, when white has a strong position at the top, so that the two isolated black stones can be severely attacked. Feel free to try it in your next game!
| January 17, 2010 |
| 3:00 pm | to | 6:00 pm |
It’s back. The All Keio Igo Association will meet the Brisbane Go Club (and connections) in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server for the annual friendly team vs team match on the afternoon of Sunday the seventeenth of January. Come and watch. If you’re a Brisbane player, or know someone who once played go against someone who once had a beer in Brisbane, contact John Hardy and see if there’s still a place or two open on the team.
Kickoff is at 3pm Brisbane time, 2pm Tokyo time. Games will be played in tournament time and at tournament strength.
Joseki of the week 12 looks at the 5-5 point, attach and draw-back/connect joseki.
White plays a 3-4 inside approach, black attaches outside, white hanes underneath
The result appears similar to joseki of the week 11.
Diagram 1.
After white 4, black can also play at a instead of at 5 in diagram 1.
White 6 is preferred instead of a, since when black cuts, the black corner territory is larger than the similar result in joseki of the week 11.
Diagram 1.
After black 3, white can take sente, having a successfully undermined blacks corner territory, but leaving black with a wall facing down the left side.
White cannot cut at a, and black can later jump at b, so the wall is fairly thick.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic/under-examined/complex, let us know in the comments!
(December 20, 2009 at 10:50 pm by aguido in Tournaments)
The 2009 Brisbane rengo champions are Larry Wen 3d and Andrew Gray 9k. The three rounds of pair-ish go on Saturday started a little late, and finished a lot late, but that was alright, because it doubled as the Brisbane Go Club’s Christmas party, and there was plenty of BBQ and salad and delicious desserts to keep the membership occupied. We had eleven teams:
- Tim Oh 2d and Rene Hexel 1d (A)
- Joshua Wan 1d and Jeremy Wen 1d (C)
- Markus Pache 4d and Yanis Pache 5k (D)
- Andrew Lewis 2d and Horatio Davis (E)
- Sam Nakagawa 2d and Kei Nakagawa 7k (F)
- Walter Chang 1d and Rodney Topor 6k (G)
- John Hardy 3d and Fumiko Hulme 10k (H)
- Larry Wen 3d and Andrew Gray 9k (I)
- Mark Bell 3d and Bill Wen 12k (J)
- Mr. Chou 4d and Peter Hexel 16k (K)
- Andrew Cao 1d and Matthew Crossman 2d (L)
up from eight competing last year. Second place went to team A (Tim and Rene) with three wins and 2 points SOS, and third place (with a box of Christmas crackers as the prize) went to team L (Andrew and Matthew) with 2 wins and a bye. As always the draw was a mutant Swiss with initial slide pairing, ably executed by Amelia Gray with a bare spreadsheet and mysterious incantations, then funneled through whichever BGC committee member was handiest as a front man:
The consensus is that Yanis is indeed not a fifth kyu, Fumiko Hulme is indeed not a tenth kyu, and that go on a thirteen by thirteen board is much deeper than it looks. Many thanks to club president Mark Bell for his house as the venue and the barbeque (and the beer), John Hardy for donating the first prize, and the players for turning up and joining in in such good spirits.
The World Pair Go Association is holding a Pair Go World Cup to mark the twentieth anniversary of modern pair go. The tournament itself is in Hangzhou, China, from the 20th to the 23rd of March, 2010. Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) have been invited to send a pair, accommodation and travel paid. The Australian Go Association invites expressions of interest from pairs of players (male and female) to represent Oceania; please make these to your nearest club or national association. If more than one pair makes itself known to the AGA and NZGS, there will be playoffs held on the Pandanet Internet Go Server. We want as many as possible.
The WPGA would like us to select a representative by the end of January. We are looking to close expressions of interest by 8 January and hold playoffs circa 23 January. These dates will vary depending on what comes in. Tournament details and prize money are here.
Joseki of the week 11 looks at the 5-4 point, outside-attach and draw back joseki.
(takamoku-tsuke-hiki)
White plays a 3-4 inside approach, black plays the outside contact, white hanes under and black pulls back to 5 in Dia 1.
Diagram 1.
White 4 above is forced. White can play either a or b next.
Diagram 2. – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – Diagram 3.
White 1 in diagrams 2-3 allows black to cut on either side.
White gains extra thickness from the ponnuki in both cases.
In diagram 2, white continues with 7 at a or b.
In diagram 3, where black aims for outside influence, white can continue with a or tenuki.
diagram 4.
If white plays tenuki at the end of diagram 3, then black can play 1 and 3 in diagram 4.
However even if white plays tenuki a second time, the corner is still a ko at a.
Diagram 5.
white plays 1 above to ensure access to both corner and top side of the board.
Black no longer has the option to choose whether to take the corner, or influence on the top side.
However, white has a lower position than if white played as in diagram 2.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic/under-examined/complex, let us know in the comments!
| December 13, 2009 |
| 2:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
At the very last minute, we’ve arranged a teams match between Melbourne (MU-SPGO and the Victorian Go Club) and Brisbane (Brisbane Go Club and QUGS). It’s on at 2pm Brisbane time tomorrow (Sunday the thirteenth of December) in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server. More details at Sensei’s Library.
(December 12, 2009 at 11:10 am by aguido in Tournaments)
The third annual M&H Go Cup was held at Campsie RSL in Sydney on the twenty-ninth of November. Being a Sydney event, they had approximately fifty competitors and An Younggil 8p as referee. Guyu Liu 7d won Division A (6d and above) with K. Song 7d second and David He 7d third. Fenfeng An 5d won Division B (4d to 5d) with Huan Liu 5d second and Xuedon Lu 5d third. Harry Wi 1d won Division C, with Hao Shi 3d second and Xinyi Lu 3d third.
Many thanks to the generous sponsors of the Cup, Ming Cheng Xu from M & H Paints Pty Ltd, and to David He for sending in these photos and the tournament report.
This week is a continuation of joseki of the week 4.
It was a 4-4 point, low approach joseki where black plays a tsuke above white with 3.
White normally plays 4(d13) after black 3(d14), but c(d15), d(c17) or tenuki may be possible. These will not be looked at here however.
In joseki of the week 4, black a(e14) next was looked at. This week black 5 at b(c15) is considered.
Black can either tenuk or play around a(k17) now.
White can either play at a(c17), black b(d17) then white c(b16) to take some of the corner, or d(b15) to gain sente.
Black plays b in response to a, since white can live in the corner otherwise.
Black replies to d(b15) with ac17(), since playing at c(b16) will result in bad shape and bad aji in the corner.
Black can also play this way. Now black has a secure corner and sente, but the white group is solid and has greater influence.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic/under-examined/complex, let us know in the comments!
The representative from Australian and New Zealand to the 2010 World Students Go Oza championship in Japan will be determined by a playoff between Mile Gu and Matthew Crossman on December the twelfth, on IGS. More details as they come to hand.
On November 15, Neville Smythe attended the closing ceremony of the 20th World Pair Go Championship in Tokyo. IGF vice-president Thomas Hsiang presented Mr Taki Hisao (inventor of pair go) and Mrs Taki Hiroko (major force behind the Japanese Pair Go Association), with a plaque “with appreciation from the World Pair Go community” but specifically signed by the American Go Association, the European Go Federation, the Ibero-American Go Federation, the Canadian Go Association and the Australian Go Association.
The Australian Go Association by prior invitation contributed substantially to the cost of the plaque, in “deep appreciation of (their) pioneering effort and leadership in the development of pair go”. Mrs Taki was reported to be very happy indeed.
This week a 4-3 joseki is looked at where white plays a
high close approach, and black attaches underneath.
After the exchange of 4(c14) for 5(c16), white can choose between
a sold connection at a and the hanging connection at b.
After white plays a or b, black usually plays c but d is possible.
When using the sold connection, the joseki continues with
both players making extensions, ending in blacks sente.
White 3 can also be at a(d10).
When using the hanging connection, white can extend one extra space down the side.
However, white needs to be carefull of the weakness at a(c8).
b(b13) is the usual responce to an immediate invasion at a(c8) by black.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic, let us know in the comments!
The joseki of this week looks at a high pincer to the standard low approach to a 4-4 stone.
White has several options after black 3(d12), but only the direct 3-3 invasion choice will be looked at here.
The joseki of this week looks at a high pincer to the standard low approach to a 4-4 stone.
White has several options after black 3(d12), but only the direct 3-3 invasion choice will be looked at here.
Black blocks on the outside since playing 5(d17) at c16 would leave 3(d12) too high to restrain white 2(c14).
White can now play one of a, b or c in the above diagram.
In each case, black will end up with a formidable wall facing the top side.
Black can also play 8(e14) at b13. This leads to white fighting outside.
4 at b14
After this joseki, white can play around a to keep access to the left side, or can take sente.
The black wall is now thick.
If white plays at b in the 1st diagram, this is the simple continuation.
White can jump to a, or take sente.
This is the continuation if white plays at c in the 1st diagram.
White can come under blacks wall with b, but white cannot jump to a now.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic, let us know in the comments!
| February 6, 2010 | to | February 7, 2010 |
The thirtieth Queensland Championships will occur over Saturday 6 February and Sunday 7 February, 2010, in the Holt Room at the Student Union on the University of Queensland campus at St Lucia in Brisbane. There will be an open division for dan players (attracting AGA representative points) and a handicap division for kyu players. First round of six starts at nine o’clock, and there is a published schedule running until five o’clock both days.
Please RSVP to your nearest Brisbane Go Club officer – use the registration form or write an email. If you’re interstate, that’s horatio@go.org.au. Because this is an AGA-sanctioned championship, competitors will need to either have current Australian Go Association membership or be prepared to acquire some during registration (club membership will do nicely), and will accrue AGA credit points from their placings. Entry is five dollars for students and juniors (thank QUGS for this one) and thirty-five dollars for everyone else. Anyone and everyone who plays any sort of go in the greater Brisbane area is welcome and strongly encouraged to turn out and play.
The 2010 annual general meeting of the Brisbane Go Club, including elections, will take place on the Sunday of the tournament, during lunch.
(November 13, 2009 at 3:19 pm by John Hardy in Other)
During my recent Sydney holiday, I visited the Sydney Weichi Club (SWC), which meets Sundays from about 2pm (although there were people there well before that). The venue is the Campsie RSL Club in Anglo Road. Obviously there are many benefits of this meeting place – parking, full bar facilities, and a quiet place to play as it is upstairs away from the main public areas.
I was accompanied by Hong Zheng 9P, a professional player from Beijing who has been visiting Sydney for a few months. In the group photo you can see him to my right (can you guess which one is me?). The attendance is pretty high, as you can see, although players come and go throughout the afternoon. There were three former Australian champions there at one time or another, and plenty of other strong players as well, so it is the place to go for a tough game.
I don’t know much about the management of the SWC, but I did meet Ming Xu (to my left in group photo) who is one of the leading lights. Thanks to him they organise a very popular weekend tournament from time to time.
The members enjoy the game play, but they have also taken the art of the post mortem to a new level. Sometimes the discussions get VERY animated, and attract crowds as in the second photo. This also leads to stones from different sets often being mixed together – Chinese flat bottomed ones, Japanese style, little ones – there is no discrimination in the go bowls.
I have been assured that all players are welcome to attend, and to find out more about it I’d suggest just to go along one Sunday and introduce yourself. Alternatively you can check the details on the AGA website.
John Hardy with members of the SWC
An exciting game draws a crowd
| November 21, 2009 | to | November 22, 2009 |
The Wellington Go Club is holding the 2009 Wellington Open on Saturday the twenty-first and Sunday the twenty-second of November in New Zealand. Contact Teruhisa Yanagihashi for more information.
As always, photos and kifu and amusing anecdotes and results can be sent here to the Journal, and we will even publish them. :)
This week, we look at a 4-3 joseki.
White makes a high distant approach and black responds with a low pincer.
White directly contacts with 4(d16) to which black plays an outside hane at 5(e16)
When black plays 1 at c18, white often settles the position with the above sequence.
White can now choose between securing the corner at a(b18), or playing a pincer at b(d9).
Black may play 1 at e18, Giving white the the corner, while black takes sente.
(November 11, 2009 at 11:13 pm by Amelia in Other)
It’s that time again; we have just published our third issue. Feel free to head over to our Print Edition page and download away.
If you’d like to start recieving these quarterly journals in the mail, and hold nice shiny paper in your hand, please email me (Amelia) with your postal address and other relevant details (like, perhaps, your name) and subscribe. $25 a year, including postage anywhere in Australia. Unfortunately, at the moment we are not mailing these printed versions outside of Australia. I apologise for any inconvenience.
Still, the digital copy here on our website is completely free and available to anyone anywhere in the world! Enjoy.
(November 7, 2009 at 12:14 pm by John Hardy in Visiting)
At the end of October I visited a few Sydney go clubs, including the Sydney Baduk Club (SBC), located at 19 Railway Pde. Eastwood. It is extremely easy to find and to visit, being situated directly across from the Eastwood railway station.
The SBC is in the heart of the Korean community, and is surrounded by many Korean restaurants. On the other side of the rail line is a Chinese community, with a great choice of chinese restaurants. In other words, the SBC would be a magnet for go lovers and foodies alike.
By now, many of Australia’s go players have at least heard of Younggil An 8P, the friendly Korean professional player who is trying to make a life for himself in Australia. Younggil is the “master” of the SBC, where he also offers go lessons to young and old. There’s a $10 attendance fee, but there are special arrangements for regular players.
The main meeting is on Saturday from about 2.00pm until late, but when keen players like the well – known amateur Hae Taek Choi come to town, it might be open all night. Players can get tea, coffee, or soft drinks to keep up the fluid intake.
If you are in Sydney, head over to Eastwood sometime for a game or three. To find out more about the SBC, contact is through the AGA website.
This week looks at a 3-3 invasion joseki.
After white approaches the 4-4 stone, black plays a high one space extension.
If white can’t make a profitable position on the left,
then preventing black from gaining the corner territory is a possible strategy.
This may occur when stones on the left side are low and black already has, or can easilly reduce any framework white builds.
Black 7(f18) is essential to solidify his influence when there are black stones nearby on the top side.
White is still not completely alive in the corner.
White can play a(d17) directly, poke at b(e16) first and then live with a(d17) to leave a cutting point at c(f15).
If black plans to focus on the top side, then the above can be played.
Black is left with a thick wall and sente, while white retains access to the left side.
The results of the fourth Korean Prime Ministers Cup this week are in. Xuqi Wi 3d of New Zealand took twelfth place with five victories in seven rounds. Yiming Guo 7d of Australia came nineteenth with four victories, out of a field of sixty-six countries.
Xuqi Wi lost to Zoran Mutabzija 5d of Croatia, defeated Sebastien Ott 1d of Switzerland, Charlie Akerblom 4d of Sweden, Sin-Voon Chin 2d of Brunei, Cesar Sanchez Munoz 4d of Spain and Dusan Mitic 5d of Serbia, and lost to Yuan Zhou 7d of the United States in his final round, to score 5 points, 27 points SOS, and 190 points SOSOS. Zhou subsequently placed fifth in the competition, so not a bad player to be defeated by.
Yiming Guo defeated Ott and Ruechagorn Trairatananusorn 5d of Thailand, lost to Chun-Yen Lin 6d of Taiwan, defeated Ralph Spiegl 5d of Australia, lost to Cristian Pop 7d of Romania, defeated Wan-Kao Lou 5d of Macau, and lost to Victor Chow 7d of South Africa to score 4 points, 28 points SOS, and 197 points SOSOS.
Congratulations to both representatives for a strong showing, and thanks to Sensei’s Library for a proper English translation of the official results, and Jayden Sia for the photos.
This week, a 5-4 point joseki is looked at.
Black plays the inside tsuke to the white 4-3 stone, and white replies with the hane under.
Black 5(c16) is the standard reply.
The shape is similar to when black approaches a white 4-3 corner, and white pincers at a(c13).
However in this case, without the white pincer black can happily extend down the left side.
This is the normal continuation.
It gives black a nice base, while white has a solid but low group.
If white plays tenuki instead of 3(f16), black can play a(g16) to press white low and build a wall facing the left side.
White 1 at b18 is a mistake since it becomes easy for black to attack and make
an excellent wall while white crawls.
Later it is sente for black to play a(g18), closing the top side.
The joseki for this week is the basic approach, tsuke nobi from the 4-4 point.
It is often played in amateur games with varying
success despite advice from stronger players against it’s usage.
Black usually plays this way to build influence towards a moyo on the top.
White has a cut at a which needs attention.
Playing at b above threatens to cut 1 and 3 apart and prevents black from
immediately cutting at a.
This is the most common continuation.
White usually makes an extension to about 3
to gain a good base for the group.
The exact extension depends on the surrounding and can be any of a.
If there is a strong black group nearby on the left, then a shorter extension may be used.
If it was omited, it becomes easy for black to poke around c and attack white.
If the moyo that black is building is further to the right, then black can instead extend to b to enlarge it.
Otherwise when there are already black stones around b, protecting from the cut at 4 is prefered.
After extending, white has a solid group and has gained sente.
Often this joseki is played in situations where white can reduce
blacks moyo easily or otherwise make good use of having sente,
so black has to be carefull that the situation is appropriate when playing this.
When there isn’t enough room for a proper extension, C12 can work well.
White is no longer forced to respond to E13 with D12.
Other variations after black plays D14 are planned to be covered in a later week.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic/under-examined/complex, let us know in the comments!
If you’re a strong go player and full-time university student under thirty years old, please have a go at the eighth World Students Go Oza happening in March 2010 in Japan. Unlike the previous seven, this one has a slot for a player from Oceania (i.e. Australia and New Zealand and the islands) and a qualifying tournament for same (played on IGS). Registrations for the tournament are reported as closing on Sunday the twenty-fifth of October (or not: updated below).
Word has already been sent to most Australian go clubs. But the qualifying round needs at least ten games played in it, with no doubling up, which means at least five players, and if there are a lot of players from one region, they will adjust the slots for competitors accordingly, possibly upward. If you know anyone who fits the bill, please make sure they know about this before Sunday.
Update: according to Keiko Sota from Pandanet, the deadline is now November 12th for the Oceania contestants to register for the preliminaries in December.
…and barbeque (alright, mostly a BBQ) at our president Mark Bell’s house (55 White Street, Wavell Heights), on the northside of Brisbane, on Saturday the nineteenth of December. We will be playing rengo (teams of two) on 13×13 boards, in order to fit sufficient rounds into one day. BYO pairs (also your own alcoholic drinks and desserts) and RSVP to your nearest Brisbane Go Club member, mentioning if you are a vegetarian or similar. Any go player within range is cordially invited to turn up and join in. Please pass the word to anyone unlikely to read it here.
Play starts at nine o’clock. A BBQ lunch will happen around noon, and there will be tea and coffee and soft drinks laid on. We anticipate finishing around three o’clock, but our mileage will vary.
The draw will use the Gray & Mackay algorithm pioneered last year, and any leftover unpaired entrants will be paired quasi-randomly, or left free to play side games. The event does not attract AGA representative points, however if we get any traditional mixed pairs playing better than average, this will be noted for future use in selecting Australian pair go teams. :)
This week, shusaku’s kosumi is highlighted.
White plays a low approach to blacks 4-3 stone and black responds with the high diagonal.
Black can gain a nice shape by extending along the top. White might like to prevent this with a play around a or b, but without support in the upper right of the board, it is easy to end up in trouble.
White needs to look after his stone at c15 to prevent black either playing a pincer or pressing down at a.
If white plays the two space extension, black protects the corner then exends to 4. White 1 is closer than ideal, so black can afford to strenghen white this way.
Instead of playing 2, black can now make the good extension at b. if white doesn’t extend up around c, black can press down on the two space extension and gain a wall facing b.
If white plays the 3 space extension instead, black immediatelly invades rather than protecting the corner first.
After the exchange, both players have thick shapes and white has an open skirt on the corner, however black has gained sente.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic, let us know in the comments!
(October 14, 2009 at 8:10 pm by matjet in Other)
About 6 people turned up for the UQ meeting this week including two stalwart QUGS members.
James the younger vs Jonathan and Horatio vs Claire were the going matches when I arrived.
Horatio and James and I looked at the joseki of the week variations.
(October 14, 2009 at 12:01 am by matjet in Other)
Photos from the 2009 Nationals have been appearing online.
Here are the albums that i have found so far.
John Hardy
Matthew Crossman
Shamim Khan general
Shamim Khan – prize winners
Shamim Khan – general – players
spgo on facebook
If you have photos from the Nationals, please upload them and tell us about it!
The joseki for this week is encountered often.
After black plays a close pincer, White immediately plays the 3-3 invasion.
The Joseki this week is when black plays for influence along the left side.
Black 3 in the above diagram is necessary instead of a hane to the third line.
If black does hane, white descends to B17, then cuts at E16.
b is an important point for both sides to decide whether white gets sealed into the corner.
If black has a stone on the Top side around c, then he might play 9 in the above diagram at a instead, giving black a strong wall facing the left side.
If there are any questions about the joseki of the week,
or if they are too basic, let us know in the comments!
(October 6, 2009 at 10:16 am by aguido in Tournaments)
The 2009 Australian open champion is Zack Zhou 7d. Second place in the open division of the thirty-second Australian National Go Tournament on the weekend went to Kevin Chen 7d, and Raphael Shin 7d placed third. All three players won five of the six rounds, and were separated on the sum of their opponents’ scores.
All the competitors
The second division was handicapped, with eleven competitors between second dan and third kyu. Yong Heng Li 3k won with a clean sweep, Jeremy Wen 1d of Brisbane came second with five victories, and Tridat Tran 1k placed third with four wins.
Bill Wen winning third division in the 2009 Nationals
The third division (four kyu and under) was won by Bill Wen 15k of Brisbane, with Masahide Yanagi 5k and Warrakun Mangrai 8k placing second and third.
An Younggil 8p playing simultaneous games on the teaching day
In all, a good tournament, with a strong field (110 dan!) of forty competitors, and a good turnout for An Younggil 8p’s teaching afternoon on the preceding Friday. The BBQ didn’t hurt, either. Kudos to the host Melbourne University Students Playing Go collective, and the newly announced Victorian Go Club for helping out.
Shining Yin, tournament director for the 2009 Nationals
A full report with shiny photos will be in the summer edition of the Journal. If anybody has any interesting kifu from the tournament and wants to send them to us, we will be happy to turn them into SGF files for your use and and see about getting reviews of them from strong players for later publication.
This is the second in the series of joseki that may be posted occasionally weekly.
The diagram shows a 4-3 pincer joseki. Here black plays at 5 instead of the more common a or b.
White would like to connect 2 and 4 from the above diagram, but can’t immediately succeed.
The correct move is for white to play D18 first.
Now if black saves C15, white can trade and capture D16-17,
which is usually a happy result for white.
