Re: 4-4 and 4-3 corners compared
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:05 am
I tried to underline the mis-understanding in the quote - the main idea in the opening is not claiming territory as fast as possible. If you stick on territory too soon, your game may become too slow. It is also important to get influence and be prepared for fighting at the relevant places all over the board. A strong player in my club once told me that Go is a game on connecting your own groups and separating your opponent's groups. If your opponent is busy with settling his weak and split groups you will get many sente plays, which can be used e. g. to attack while growing your territory.PeterPeter wrote: That does not seem that significant, and not worth the much greater security of the corner that the 3-4 point gives you.
Or am I missing something?
It is an interesting exercise to focuse mainly on separating opponent's groups while playing games instead of securing territory - this usually leads to games with enhanced stress level and very clear results at the end (in both ways). Playing on WBADUK (despite the dreadful Windows client...) can give you an idea about that
. On the other hand, a territory-oriented calm style - if played well - could also achieve the goal. But that's how the difference in 3-3 and 4-4 may be expressed (all above IMHO of course, please correct any misjudgements).