Life In 19x19

Posted: **Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:58 pm**

I take no responsibility for your results [YMMV] and initially it may be a bit scary to use, but when I figured out this technique I thought it was too cool not to share. The biggest problem as I see it is when intervening stones are near the path and you don't realize.

Of course there's no substitute for reading, but there are a large number of cases where this technique saves time.

Posted: **Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:55 pm**

Another example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Can White to play capture the marked Black stones in a ladder? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O X O O X . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . O O . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X X . X . O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . O , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O B B . . . , . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Well, it certainly looks like Black has a ladder breaker in the top right corner. Here my shortcut involves shifting it, as well.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Can White to play capture the marked Black stones in a ladder? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O X O O X . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . O O . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X X . X . O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . O , B . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X O . W . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . W B B . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . W W . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O X X . . . , . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

A quick look reveals that we can even shift the ladder one space towards the top of the board, and Black still has a ladder breaker.

Hmmm. Perhaps we can make use of the White stones near the main path of the ladder. Let's back the ladder up one step and see.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Can White to play capture the marked Black stones in a ladder? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O X O O X . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . O O . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X X . X . O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . O , B . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X O . 4 5 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . W 2 3 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . W B B 1 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . W W . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O X X . . . , . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I just saw that one.

Life In 19x19

ladder-reading shortcut

Re: ladder-reading shortcut

Re: ladder-reading shortcut