There are many go proverbs. Studying by proverbs is an effective method of progressing go power.
Please question with mail without reservation when you need explanation of details.
I am waiting for your question in English.
There are many go proverbs. Studying by proverbs is an effective method of progressing go power.
Please question with mail without reservation when you need explanation of details.
I am waiting for your question in English.
| Whole |
*** Explanation of sign A:for beginner B:for middle C:for higher *** The link usually is connected Sensei's Library. Thank you for Mr. Arno Hollosi. | ||
| General move standard | |||
| Reading of 3 steps | A | When you make a next move, imagine your following moves to his next moves. | |
| His key play is your own key play. | A | The enemy's vital point is your own. | |
| A move at the other side against opponent's move | B | If you usually follow his move, your value of move is less than his. Therefore, you must select the following move or "a move at new land" (that is tenuki). | |
| Sente is a aphrodisiac | B | a sente move is comfortable. But it will often become a ajikeshi. | |
| You can win ko battle, when thick. | B | There are many ko threats against thin shape, and few ko threats against thick shape. | |
| Move order decision elements are strength of stones and size of territorys. | C | It 's easy that you take a move only thinking about size of territorys. But, it isn't easy that you take a move thinking about strength of stones, too. | |
| Efficiency of stones is judged by tewari. | C | Tewari is a technique that analyzes the efficiency of stones. | |
| There is a large difference between kikashi and ajikeshi | C | When you mistake a move or a timing of move, kikashi become a bad move. | |
| A probe (yosu-mi) is a high-level means. | C | It 's a move having many moves according to his receiving moves | |
| If you can't find a correct move, tenuki is the best. | C | When you can't find the best move, sometimes tenuki becomes the best one. After the situation changes, maybe you can find the best move. | |
| Others | |||
| Sometimes a spectator feels that he is stronger than the player. | A |
It 's said that a player can 't see the whole. But the player read moves that the spectator donn't read, and the spectator donn't notice it. | |
| Go power is made from a phase judgement and a reading. | B | Read, image the phase that some moves is played, evaluate the phase, and decide a next move. | |
| The ten golden rules of Go | C | It was written in classics of China about "attitude when go is played". | |
| Fuseki=Opening | |||
| General principle | |||
| Empty corner at first and shimari at second | B | A general principle of order in fuseki | |
| Corner, side, centre. | B | A general principle of order in fuseki | |
| A fuseki of hoshi aimes a thick phase. | B | When his move is 3-3, you 'll get a thickness. So, his 3-3 is welcome. | |
| Both wings of shimari is ideal. | B | A kogeimajimari (small knight's enclosure) or a ikkenjimari (one-space enclosure) having both sides hiraki (extention) is a ideal shape. | |
| Chuban=Middle fight | |||
| Strategic decision standard | |||
| A effective attack begins from a kiri. | A | A kiri (dividing into parts) brings profits of attack. | |
| Five groups might live but the sixth will die. | A | If there are six groups, one will be die. | |
| A fight between brothers brings a defeat. | B | A fight between brothers means that the profit of a group causes a disadvantage for the other group. | |
| Play at a critical point rather than make a large territorial move! | B | Even at fuseki (opening), a foundation point of each other is most important. | |
| It is necessary to refuse blockage. | B | When your group has be shutted in, you must make a move to alive. In a word, you must spend one move that is few of the effect for increasing territory. | |
| A blockage is important. | B | A blockage sometimes makes a influence. And, the situation will be improved. | |
| Don't make territory near thickness | B | It is very important to use thickness just to attack opponent. | |
| Keep away from thickness (or strong group) | B | It applies to both your group and his. Therefore, you should take a move from a thin (or weak) group. | |
| Invite his stones into your thickness. | B | His breaking the prohibition of "keep away from thickness" is your profit. | |
| Don't move from a group which is alive. | B | A group being alive is strong. And, you should not move from a strong group. | |
| It is small near a group being alive. | B | It applies to both your group and his. | |
| A territory biased to one place must be not enclosed. | C | When your territory biased to one place, your influence on the other side relatively becomes weak, and you will have painful fights. | |
| There is no territory in the center. | C | Enclosing a territory in the center is not efficient. | |
| Don't enclose with a group having a footsweep point. | B | A group having a footsweep point must be used on attacking. | |
| Aiming to center than making eye | B | It is necessary to give priority to a move aiming to the center more than a move making two eyes. Because a move making two eyes is few of the effect for increasing territories | |
| Welcome to the 3-3point | B | His 3-3 invasion brings you a influence. Especially, his too early 3-3 invasion profits you. Because, you can use the influence for more profit. | |
| Attack two weak groups simultaneously. | B | When your opponent has two (or more) weak groups, attack them both at once. It 's called "karami attack" in Japanese. Karami means entangling, or involving. | |
| Leaning attack | B | In your attacking his two weak groups, lean your stone to one weak group, and you 'll get the other weak group. | |
| Too strong desire of taking stones makes stones being taken. | B | If you attack his stones without caring weak point of your stones, your stones will be died. | |
| Don't move from dead stones. | B | When your group died, tenuki is often the best move. A move from dead groups makes often ajikeshi. | |
| Attack the entire. | C | When you attack the entire, the effect of attacking becomes the maximum. | |
| Sacrifice small to take large. | C | A judgment of "large or small" must be taken about the entire go board. | |
| Compromise at his strong area. | C | If you fight strongly at his strong area, you 'll lost large. | |
| Do not compromise where there are a lot of friend stones. | C | You should obtain the large profit where there are a lot of friend stones. | |
| Leave a point of kikashi to the last minute. | C | Too eary move of kikashi decreases the effect. You should take a move of kikashi corresponding to the phase, late as much as possible. | |
| Win the stones, lose the game. | C | you must examine the value of the stones to be captured. In the middle game, 20 points or more of territory per one move should be gained. | |
| Identify a difference of pivotal stone and not pivotal stone. | C | Pivotal stones, aka key stones or cutting stones. Not pivotal stone is not related to life and death of the group. | |
| Throw non pivotal stones away. | C | Throw non pivotal stones away, take a move to the other side, and lead in the phase. | |
| Big groups never die. | C | Big dragons never die. | |
| Think about a territory only at yose. | B | In middle game, don't select a move that only gains the territory. If he selected it, you can lead in the phase by attacking his groups. | |
| Sente of gote | C | Sente of gote (=Gote no Sente) is a move that appears to be gote, but is really sente. | |
| General move standard | |||
| The one-point jump is rarely bad. | A | The one-point jump means that is toward the center of the go board. | |
| Use the Knight's move to attack, the 1-point jump to defend. | A | Knight's move is used on attacing, because it is easy to be cut. And one-point jump is used on defence, because it is not easy to be cut. | |
| Attack with boshi and keima (=knight's move). | B | Boshi =cap and keima are moves that is necessary to use when you attack his group. | |
| If your stone is capped, play the knight's move. | B | Keima (=knight's move) is a move that is used on defence. | |
| Stop opponent's advancement by boushi(Capping play). | C | If you take the point of his one-point jump, you can often delay his speed of running away, and destroy his shape. | |
| When you attack his group, don't play contact to his stone. | A | Because your attachment makes his group to strong. | |
| If you peep, opponent will connect. | A | If you peep the cutting point on his groups, he will connect, and his group become strong. Is that ok? In a word, an excessive peeping loses aji. | |
| Don't peep at cutting points. | A | You can 't cut his groups now. But, you might be able to do at next time. | |
| If you don't understand the ladders, don't play go. | A | Sacrifice stones at a ladder is unuseful. If you take a move of running away when your stone is not possible to run away, you may lose 8 points per one move. | |
| A fourth line is the line of victory, and second is defeat. | A | Crawling on fourth line is a advantage move, second line a disadvantage one. | |
| From a two-stone wall, extend three. | B | Standard of hiraki(extension), two-space extension from one stone, three-space extension from two-stone wall, four-space extension from three-stone wall. | |
| Attach to the stronger stone in a pincer. | B | If you plan to escape, play contact against opponent's stronger stones. | |
| Contact play makes sabaki (fancy footwork). | B | If you want to make sabaki, you can make a contact move. | |
| Don't play contact at same line. Play contact at different line. | B | On above fourth line, if you take a contact move on his stone at same line, your move probably become a bad move. | |
| Creep opposite to a direction that you want to make a knight's move. | B | It 's a move standard on 3-3 point shoulder hit. | |
| Make a osae(block) from a wide direction. | B | Block on the wider side, when he has just invaded at the 3-3 point below your 4-4 point. | |
| Find fault with tenuki (playing elsewhere) at joseki (established sequence). | C | Joseki is completing the partial stage. So when he makes a tenuki before joseki becomes completing, you can make a big move at the tenuki point. | |
| To reduce an opponent's large prospective territory, strike at the shoulder. | C | The striking at his shoulder can make a keshi (reduction) without his attacking. | |
| Move standard at hand-to-hand fight | |||
| Play hane to his contact play. | A | When he makes a contact move to your single stone, respond to his one with hane. | |
| Play nobi (stretch) to his contact play. | A | When he makes a contact move to your single stone, respond to his one with hane or nobi. Tenuki often is a bad move. | |
| At the head of two stones in a row, play hane with no time. | A | A hane to the head of two stones in a row is almost a good move. So, you can take the move without reading. | At the head of three stones in a row, play hane. | A | His hane at your head of three stones in a row makes a painful shape for you. |
| Extend one hand from the cross-cut. | A | Beginners often take a move of atari, even when the atari helps their opponent. That is, your move of atari often makes his strong shape with his nobi, and your weak stones having many cutting points. | |
| Atari, atari is vulgar play. | A | See "Atari Atari" | The vital point of three stones is the center. | A | Against three in a row, play right in the center. |
| Attatch to the strongest stone in a pinch. | B | In his strong influence, a sabaki by tuke (contact play) is a good move. | |
| Strike at the waist of the knight's move. (Tsuke-Koshi) | B | Your tsuke-koshi (waist cut) often is a good move for his knight move. | |
| Don't cut for his tsuke-koshi. | B | You should answer with hane, when his tsuke-koshi is a good move for your knight move. | |
| Capture a stone that he cut. | B |
In double cutting, a move capturing his cutting stone often is good. So, you should think as follows. He will take a move that the effect of your capturing move become small. | |
| In hand-to-hand fight, a good player takes a straight move, a unskilled player takes a kosumi move. | B | A kosumi sometimes become a bad shape. | |
| Judgment standard of shape | |||
| Move to a contact point of your and his Moyo | C | The largest point (=focal point) is at the boundary of your moyo and the opponent's. | |
| pon-nuki is worth thirty points. | B | The more a pon-nuki (diamond shape) is located at the center, the more the worth of it increases. | |
| Tortoise shell is worth 60 points. | B | It means the case where it is thicker from pon-nuki. | |
| Don't make a torn shape. | A | You must avoid to make a torn shape in a narrow point. | |
| A vital point of hazama (diagonal jump) | A | See "Cut the diagonal jump" | |
| Akisankaku(empty triangles) are bad. | A | Don't make empty triangles. The good move usually is in the next. | |
| Katatsugi (solid connection) is a basic connection. | A | There is no way to separate, and not easy to become bad shape. | |
| Beware of nozoki at using Kaketsugi (hanging connection). | A | A kake-tsugi is more effective than a kata-tsugi. But, a weak point of kake-tsugi is in a nozoki. | |
| Tsukidashi (thrusting out) to keima usually is a bad move. | A | When you take a move of tsukidashi (thrusting out) to keima, he usually takes a move of stopping. Then, you will lose a move of striking at the waist of the keima and attachment to keima. | |
| A guzumi is sometimes a good empty triangle. | B | A move to his vital point sometimes is good, even if you make a bad shape. | |
| A jingasa (farmer's hat) is a bad shape. | B | It 's a representative example of empty triangle, and a bad shape. | |
| There is damezumari at the bamboo joint. | B | The bamboo joint may be short of liberties. | |
| Beware of damezumari at using ryo-nozoki (twoer peep) | B | when you make a twoer peep, beware your own damezumari (shortage of liberties). | |
| A tetchu (Iron pillar) refuses his sabaki. | B | You make a iron pillar, so that you can seal his sabaki off in the point where your group is strong. | |
| Don't peep at bamboo joints. | B | A move peeping bamboo jump is a bad shape. Don't take a move if it is consequentially so. | |
| Tesuji | |||
| A diagonal peep is a vital point. | A | White1 is a diagonal peep, and a vital point. | A vital point of knight's move | A | It is easy for keima to be cut. When you prevented his cutting, your group sometimes becomes a bad shape. |
| If a formation is symmetrical, play at the center. | A | Play in the center of a symmetrical formation. | |
| Crane's Nest Tesuji | A | There is a symmetrical formation in Crane's Nest. | |
| Double Hane Tesuji | B | Be cut your meat but cut his bone. | |
| If you have one stone on the third line in atari, add a second stone and sacrifice both. | B | The number of kikashi (forcing move) increases by sacrifice stones. | |
| Two-stone edge squeeze Tesuji | B | Stone monument tesuji, stone tower tesuji, or stone pagoda squeeze | |
| Attach at the belly of the weasel. | B | Attachment at 2-2 | |
| Nose of tengu (long-nosed goblin) Tesuji | B | It's also known as nose attachment. | |
| 2-1 is a vital point in the corner. | B | 2-1 is a vital point on semeai (capturing race) and shikatsu (life and death) | |
| 2-2 is a vital point in the corner. | B | 2-2 is a vital point on semeai (capturing race) and shikatsu (life and death) | |
| Shikatsu (Life and Death) | |||
| There is death in the hane. | A | Your hane often narrows his eye space of group. | |
| At shikatsu, first is a expanding of area, second is a vital point. | A | It's a basis to live stones. | |
| Attacking from outside is a basic policy at shikatsu. | A | On killing stones, first is a narrowing his area, second is a vital point of his group. | |
| Kind of nakade is only six. | A | The straight three, the bent three, the pyramid four, the bulky five, the crossed five, and the flower six. | |
| Six die, eight live. | A | On the second line, 8 live, 6 die, and 7 sente. | |
| Four die, six live. | A |
On the second line in corner, 6 live, 4 die, and 5 sente. On the third line in side, 6 live, 4 die, and 5 sente. | |
| A shortage of Dame (liberties) brings a shortage of your life. | A | Damezumari (shortage of liberties) often influences the life and death of group. | |
| The comb formation is alive. | A | One of fundamental form of living | |
| Bend 4 in corner is dead. | B | Special rule in a uniqueness of the corner | |
| Hane is sometimes useful to expanding to live. | B | A eye space sometimes become wide by hane. | |
| Judgment standard of semeai | |||
| Eyes win semeais. | A | Eye versus no eye capturing race. | |
| Having Eye is occasionally defeated at semeai. | B | Eyes are sometimes defeated at semeai (capturing race) according to the number of dame. | |
| Multiplication table of nakade | B | The numbers of dame at semeai (capturing race) having nakade are as follows. 33 45 58 612 | |
| Move standard of semeai | |||
| Fill in a semiai from the outside. | A | On semeai (capturing race), a inner dame is usualy mutual. So, you must take a move at outer dame. | |
| ryobane gain a liberty. | B | Two hanes gain a liberty | |
| A semeai having nakade is a inside-outside semeai | C | Big eye wins semeai. | |
| Yose = End fight | |||
| Make a sagari at yose after thinking about sente-gote. | A | Sagari at yose usualy become gote. Even if a move become gote, the move having large yose is worth. | |
| The start order in yose is ryo-sente(=double sente), kata-sente(=gyaku-yose), and gote-yose. | B | It is called gyaku-yose to take a move on his sente-yose. (gyaku means "reverse".) Value of gyaku-yose is twice gote-yose. | |
| kosu-kosu | B | See Example 2 of Double sente is relative. | |
| A watari connection is worth 8 points. | B | In second line watari(=connection) often has about 8 point. | |
| The monkey jump is worth 8 points. | B | Monkey jump has sometimes 8 points yose. | |
| Ko | |||
| Basis principle | |||
| Win the early ko to win the game. | B | On just a opening there isn't a ko threat. | |
| Aim to capture a stone at the end on making a ko. | B | When there are several means to ko, you should select a move capturing a stone at the end on making a ko. | |
| Save the ko till last. | B | If there is a ko inside a semeai, capture it on the final play. | |
| Don't select a loss-making ko threat. | B | See loss-making threats. | |
| On ko battle, count the number of ko threats. | C | When you have fewer ko threat, you must evade a ko battle. | |
| Use ko threat from the small one. | C | Ko threats as large as possible are not used for the future. | |
| Kind of ko | |||
| You will suffer a double ko three years. | B | A double ko isn't solved easily. And it can serve as an infinite supply of ko-threats | |
| 3-approach ko isn't ko. | B | Judgment of value of ko | |
| A game record known by proverb | |||
| Ear Reddening Game | C | Gennan's ears flushed red is a sign that he had been upset. | |
