The Art of Placement

[redponey]

The thread about new go proverbs made me think of something posted a while back on RGG by the infamous Jeff Boscole. I can't find an original source to credit it to, so here is a copy of his RGG post:

Read _The_Art_of_Placement_ by D.B.Sighkowt. Describes techniques
for blustering an opponent, such as when to slam down the stone with
satisfying aggression, or when to gently insert a stone and then pat
it on top approvingly. If your tournament rules allow it (usually do
not) sometimes placing a stone on the edge and then sliding it across
the board until reaching its destination intersection can be -VERY-
effective. Opponents can be discombobulated when the stone is offset
from dead-center of a point, moved slightly at a direction of territory
accumulation. It is disturbing to an opponent who must adjust enemy
stones: one abhors having to touch them unless they become prisoners.

Additionally, one should practice how to pick-up captured stones,
since skill at this task can fluster unwary opponents. Kyu players
can pick up only one stone, but dan players can pick up two at a time
and pros can pick up three or more in one motion using the fingers of
only one hand. The combination motion, in _ko_, for placing a stone
and picking up the captured stone(s), should be practiced repeatedly
until the player attains a smooth and continuous motion. If one wears
a kimono while playing then the ability to "adjust" stones beneath a
sleeve, or drop stones hidden in a sleeve can also be quite effective.
In certain situations, double-plays may be required, so one may also
practice picking up two stones from one's bowl, hiding one of them,
yet making certain that only one satisfying click will be heard.

Rarely mentioned in the art of Go play are techniques when using a
traditional fan: this can be practiced for opening-and-closing, and
then hitting a closed fan into one's palm impatiently. At times it
may be necessary to assume a studied glare when one's opponent delays
resignation, since through psychological bullying one can influence
the outcome of future games through behavior duing the current game.
Keeping a few extra opponent prisoner stones in reserve prior to the
start of a new game is also an effective means for stretching extra
points from one game to the next.

During the process of scoring a game, while forming "areas of tens"
it is instead critical to watch what one's opponent is doing, since
this is a key opportune moment for opponent cheating. Remember that
"a game of Go" is -NOT- finished merely because you have both decided
to say "pass-pass."

[DrStraw]

Such warped thinking seems like a logical product of someone like JB. While I don't like to say anything about the dead, I have to say that RGG in particular, and the go world in general, did not lose anything by his death. Fortunately he did not, apparently, discover GD.

[redponey]

While I agree he contributed a lot of negativity to lots of RGG discussions, I'm quite certain that in this case, it was meant to be funny.

[judicata]

New book - "Get Strong at Being a [insert appropriate expletive]".

Of course, this would subsume "Get Strong at Rearranging Territory," "Get Strong at Cheating," and "Get Strong at Picking Up Stones," which already exist.

[Nikolas73]

I know nothing about Jeff Boscole, but I am assuming (and hoping) that this was intended as a joke.

During the process of scoring a game, while forming "areas of tens"
it is instead critical to watch what one's opponent is doing, since
this is a key opportune moment for opponent cheating. Remember that
"a game of Go" is -NOT- finished merely because you have both decided
to say "pass-pass."

I admit I have done this before (kept an eye on my opponent, I mean, not adjusting the score myself), I suppose I've been a bit paranoid since a child tried this on me when I was first learning Go. Fortunately the child didn't try this again (although it was possibly a mistake; I still won the game...) and that was the only such incident I ever encountered (well, except for those on KGS who mark your stones dead immediately before you click "done"). I suppose it is a bad habit I should get out of.

[redponey]

I have played a real-life game against a Japanese opponent a lot stronger than me (6 stones) who was very skilled at making a loud ***CLICK*** when placing his stones. I could tell he was obviously doing it as a form of intimidation, and it seemed to upset him that I wasn't at all phased by it. In fact, I won a game (with handicap of course) that I really should have lost because he got so flustered. Amazing to watch.

[Solomon]

Even reading it as attempted humor, I was still left with a bitter aftertaste. Also, no Google result comes up for such a book.

[redponey]

Yeah, I couldn't find an original source.

In any case, I thought it was pretty funny. Guess I have a bit of a twisted sense of humor in comparison to the folks here. I surprised anyone even considered it might be serious.

[MountainGo]

That was a fun little read. To me it seemed like a commentary on the silly psychological aspects of the game that we can sometimes let affect us too much. I especially like the bit about moving your stone off-center to make your territory look bigger. It's a nice reminder that we must calmly transcend such behavior as we strive to improve at go.

[Violence]

There's a funny story when a friend and I were playing a casual game at Congress one year, and we were surrounded by some of our other friends who were observing.

Ready to resign, I decided to place two stones onto the board, but in a joking manner, I was going to use them to cut a bamboo joint that would win me the game. I thought it would be obvious, so while gripping a stone between my index and third finger, I also hid one in my thumb, gripping that with my index finger, and then played the first stone loudly, letting the second one fall gently, the click masked by the first stone. My friend stared at it for a few seconds, then said, "Oh... crap... I didn't see that stone there..." Everyone else had seen what I did as plain as day, they were cracking up a bit, but he apparently had no clue that I had just blatantly cheated.

Naturally, I resigned verbally after that and we had a good laugh about the perceptiveness of AGA 6ds.

[Nikolas73]

Funny story, Violence.

I have played a real-life game against a Japanese opponent a lot stronger than me (6 stones) who was very skilled at making a loud ***CLICK*** when placing his stones. I could tell he was obviously doing it as a form of intimidation, and it seemed to upset him that I wasn't at all phased by it. In fact, I won a game (with handicap of course) that I really should have lost because he got so flustered. Amazing to watch.

I suppose I need to read "Get Strong at Snapping the Stones" or something similar. I barely make any noise when I play them. I recall playing an opponent a little weaker than me who would make a loud click after every move (again, to intimidate, I suppose); the problem was that they were mostly very bad moves. She would even slam down stones which contributed to the death of her own groups. I guess the lesson here is that if you are going to slam down the stones... know what you're doing. I recall reading that it is only considered 'polite' when you are playing a "strong" move such as one that kills an opponent's group.

There is actually a Go term for "The way the stones are physically played": http://senseis.xmp.net/?Tetsuki

[DrStraw]

I know nothing about Jeff Boscole, but I am assuming (and hoping) that this was intended as a joke.

I don't think he was capable of a joke.

[xed_over]

I know nothing about Jeff Boscole, but I am assuming (and hoping) that this was intended as a joke.

I don't think he was capable of a joke.

having known him in person... yeah, he was quite capable.

[redponey]

I know nothing about Jeff Boscole, but I am assuming (and hoping) that this was intended as a joke.

I don't think he was capable of a joke.

having known him in person... yeah, he was quite capable.

He could certainly rub people the wrong way (and that, or course, is an extreme understatement), but could also be funny at times.

[Hagios]

To address the original topic at hand, it is of course important to recognize that, ignoring the bits that are blatantly cheating (score altering during counting) there is a huge psychological side to the game of go. Whether you play such as to maximize or minimize your psychological effects against your opponent are a question of character. However, to pretend that such a side of go doesn't exist simply puts yourself at a disadvantage when playing against a player who is able to find and exploit your own mental weaknesses.

Gary Kasparov discusses this sort of thinking briefly vis-a-vis the game of chess in his book, "How Life Imitates Chess," as does Josh Waitzkin in "The Art of Learning." The psychological side of perfect information games is one subject with which I've been interested for some time.

This isn't to necessarily validate the spirit of the original post–I haven't really been active on RGG, so I don't know if this was meant to promote the idea of treating the game as something that you can bully your way into winning (an attitude that seems to have drifted towards go from the US-Soviet chess scene of decades ago) but rather to address the core ideas mentioned therein in a slightly more positive light.