Lesson 4h – Opening Fundamentals: Solution to Problems and Game Psychology

Hi Everyone! Good day to you. Before I write about today’s lesson, I must thank some of you for your e-mails and comments which has given me motivation and encouragement to work on this project. I truly appreciate them very much and it keeps me going. Please keep them coming

In today’s lesson, we are going to study the solution to the problems I posted in the last lesson. However, before that, I would like to talk a bit about some psychology that is important for you to have, not only in playing Go but also in all aspects of life, I believe.

One of my favorite writers is Haruki Murakami. He is a Japanese writer and I really like his work, both long form novels (THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE, SPUTNIK SWEETHEART) and short stories (TONY TAKITANI, THE YEAR OF SPAGHETTI). He has also written a book more recently called WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING. He is an avid runner and in this book, he wrote about what he learned about life and writing through running.

In one part of the book, he wrote about the importance of being Focused and the importance of Endurance. He said, “.. the ability to concentrate all your limited talents on whatever’s critical at the moment” is an extremely important quality. “Without that you can’t accomplish anything of value, while, if you can focus effectively, you’ll be able to compensate for an erratic talent or even a shortage of it.” The next important quality is Endurance. You must be able to endure the pressure and pain and not bend to it. Keep going and don’t give up so easily.

In one event, his leg muscles suddenly became stiff and didn’t want to run and was hurting tremendously but he applied his focus and endurance, the willpower, and kept going, and telling himself ” I’m not a human. I’m a piece of machinery. I don’t need to feel a thing. Just forge ahead.” He kept repeating it and out of a sudden, he said he felt like he “passed through something.” He just felt he “passed through” but he doesn’t know exactly what. But from then on, it is auto-pilot. He didn’t need to think about the leg anymore. It suddenly became natural and he finished the run.

What I am trying to say is this. I have myself experienced it many times, that I give up too easily on the Go board. I didn’t apply enough focus and endurance in the game, I give up on stones too easily, I admit defeat without even giving a good fight. Endurance is a very important aspect in Go especially when there is a complicated fight going on in the board or when the outlook of the game is not in your favor. You feel bad about your position just because you have messed up a sequence and you want to give up. Please don’t! Keep going, keep playing, keep pushing, keep trying! Have that fighting spirit in you! You have worked hard, you have studied well, you have been serious, so don’t give up so easily!

Okay, let’s move on to the solution to yesterday’s problems.

Diagram 1.

Black 1 in Diagram 1 above is the solution to problem 1. Black one is an ideal pincer-extension, extending from its corner enclosure and at the same time pincering White, denying White of its base. After talking about the importance of this so much, I hope you have this problem correctly solved. If not, please go back to the lessons and drill this into your mind as this is an extremely important fundamental to master.

Diagram 2.

Black 1 in Diagram 2 above takes the base of the White stones away and forces White to run out. Black can look forward to continue to attacking this White group and make some gains in the process.

Diagram 3.

Black 1 in Diagram 3 above gives the Black stones a base.

The above three examples are simple examples intended to show you the fundamentals at work. I hope it is clear to you now.

In the next lesson, I will show you some opening in Handicap games and how these fundamentals can be applied. As a beginner, it is very likely that you will play a lot of handicap games which is a good thing because it gives you a good opportunity to learn and apply the fundamentals. It also allow you to display some fighting spirit.

Until the next lesson, remember, don’t give up so easily! Put up a fight. Have endurance and focus on the game. Think like Murakami in the race and you will have a feeling that you have “passed through” something too. And believe me, you will know you have passed through when you have passed through.

See you next time.

Lesson 2b. Capturing Race – Solution (Part 2)

Yokoso! Mina-san, ohayo gozaimasu!

In this lesson, we continue with the solution to Questions 4 and 5 asked in Lesson 2. This is going to be the final lesson on capturing races and I hope that with these lessons, your understanding of capturing races has improved. In the next and subsequent lessons, we will discuss about the Opening and basic opening theories will be explored in a logical and systematic manner. The Opening lessons will also cover a bit on a few popular openings such as the Ni Ren Sei and San Ren Sei openings as well as a brief overview on the three types of opening, i.e. the territorial, moyo based and fighting openings.

Just to recap on the Capturing Race Lessons, these are the few things that you should know by now:

Lesson 2a. Capturing Race (2) – Solution (Part 1)

Mina-san, konnichiwa!

Have you all been practicing the capturing race questions? I believe you have because you are serious in improving your Go skills, right?

In this lesson, we shall have the solution to the first three questions in the study questions in Lesson 2. However, there shall be a slight change. Because we have gone through in a lot of detail in the presentation of the solution for the questions in Lesson 1 where the step-by-step technique is shown, in this lesson, we will just jump straight to the solution and we will only explore some answers that the student may commonly get wrong. I will therefore trust that you can by now identify which groups of stones that are participating in the capturing race and how to count liberties. If not, please review lesson 1.

Lesson 1e. Capturing Race – Solution (part 5)

Konnichiwa everyone! Ohayo gozaimasu.

This is the final sub-lesson for Lesson 1 where the solution to the final problem is given and analyzed. In the past few lessons, we have learned a few things about capturing race and how to win it. Before we proceed to Lesson 2, where I will go into a little bit more depth on counting liberties and some tesuji, here is the solution to the final question. I hope that by the end of this series on capturing race, you have learned something and become more confident when faced with a capturing race situation in your game, which is quite common.

Again, as I have mentioned in the previous lesson, do not jump to conclusion based on “feel” but try to explore all possible moves logically and step by step. The more you do this, the better and faster you will become, and the stronger you will be for sure.

Lesson 1d. Capturing Race – Solution (part 4)

Konnichiwa! Today we continue with the solution to question 5 asked in Lesson 1. We will see techniques used to reduce opponent’s liberties while increasing our own liberties. Before we start, however, I would request that you have the habit of checking every possible moves before jumping into conclusion. Yes, sometimes one can answer the question just “at a glance” but have you really investigated other possible moves? You must always consider the most severe answers from your opponents and after you have checked every possibility, then only can you be satisfied with your answer. And by doing so, you will also improve significantly.

So, shall we start?

Lesson 1c. Capturing Race – Solution (part 3)

Konnichiwa! We have now come to part 3 of the solution to the questions in Lesson 1. Let’s start!

Solution to Question 4.

1. Identify the groups that are in a capturing race. Is your answer as per the Diagram 4a below?

Lesson 1b. Capturing Race – Solution (part 2)

This is part 2 of the solution to the questions in lesson 1. Our objective is to assist you to analyze the problem and offer a step-by-step solution so that you can verify for yourself and use this skill in your games.

It is important at this point to note that you should not memorize the solution as each game is different but the key is to understand the thought process and learn the skills to analyze the position instead.

Lesson 1a. Capturing Race – Solution (part 1)

Following from Lesson 1, here is a step-by-step solution to the problem. Try to understand the method.

Solution to Question 1.

As mentioned in Lesson 1 as well as in the study pack, the first step is to identify the groups that are in the capturing race. In our question, the marked stones in Diagram 1a are in a capturing race. Did you get this correct?