Any choice pieces of advice you think don't get bandied about *quite* enough? Be it run-of-the-mill or brilliant. Also; kibitz, caveat, critique others' advice.
I'll start with:
1) Take care of the super-moyo your opponent is inevitably building before it becomes a big problem/fight.
If you can live easily you can split / invade (like if you can definitely get an uncramped 2 space extension).
Otherwise, you can make a limiting play. Limiting play? Various caps; or the "knight's move at the edge of two moyo" are good examples of limiting plays. I would say the key point is that your move must have easy access to the centre. If your opponent can aggressively cut you off from the centre somehow, your move was "too deep".
2) Only play 4-4 stone enclosures when that approach has become your opponent's best next move.
If making an early enclosure here was going to be a big part of your strategy, you could have started with a different stone . Some illustration:
Your opponent has supporting thickness he wants to approach from.
As pointed out recently: You don't need to kill everything. Getting ahead (esp if in sente is enough). Attacking too hard will leave you weak.
Bruce "Yeah, right..." Young
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 5:29 am
by Loons
I read one of Fairbarn's articles where he explained the "amashi" strategy (which you may have only vaguely heard of) is actually to coax your opponent into over-attacking a weak group, ending up with inefficient, "musclebound" shapes and an inferior result (assuming you succeed ).
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:18 am
by Mef
We all learn pretty early on that it (eventually) takes at least 6 stones to make a living group in the corner, 8 on the side, and 10 in the middle...but when you think about it, that means that every time you allow yourself to get cut you're potentially committing yourself to 6-10 more moves just to make life for your new group, that's 6-10 more moves that you aren't building, making points, etc. If you're going to let yourself get cut, make sure it's going to be worth it. Likewise, if you have the opportunity to cut your opponent / connect two of your own groups, the reverse situation applies.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 1:58 pm
by Shaddy
I heard some variation on "It's so hard to kill stones" almost every day in China. It's surprising the places you can live in.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:17 am
by Tsuyoku
However badly you do it, count the score at every big decision.
Before you resign, count the score. Before you decide whether to invade or reduce, count the score. Before you play a purely defensive gote move, count the score.
It matters whether you're behind or not for these decisions. The more you count during your game, the better you get at it, both in speed and accuracy.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 5:59 am
by Chew Terr
Here's one I had pointed out at Congress: "If a move doesn't make points, it might or might not end up doing anything". This seems obvious, and it seems like there are a million exceptions to it. But basically, I had to start asking myself whether moves were likely to become dame for no reason. After that, I started finding more excuses to take moves that got points. That is, after all, how you win.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:14 am
by jts
Chew Terr wrote:Here's one I had pointed out at Congress: "If a move doesn't make points, it might or might not end up doing anything". This seems obvious, and it seems like there are a million exceptions to it. But basically, I had to start asking myself whether moves were likely to become dame for no reason. After that, I started finding more excuses to take moves that got points. That is, after all, how you win.
Did they mean specifically territory, or any kind of point-gaining move? If the latter, this seems kind of like a tautology: in go, points are what matter, so if it doesn't make points, it's not doing anything. If the former, it must be a tautology again, balanced on the "might". Any good move that doesn't change the balance of secure territory is changing the balance of potential territory (loosely speaking), so of course that potential might not become actual.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:47 am
by Solomon
Don't be afraid to get yourself in atari, even knowing it can get captured. This is Go, not Capture Go.
[go]$$Wc Where did White (Choi Cheolhan) play? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X X . X X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O X O . X . . X O . | $$ | . . O O . . . O O X X O . . . X . O . | $$ | . . . . O O O X X X O O O X . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . X X . . . X . . O . O O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . 2 . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:19 am
by Chew Terr
jts wrote:
Chew Terr wrote:Here's one I had pointed out at Congress: "If a move doesn't make points, it might or might not end up doing anything". This seems obvious, and it seems like there are a million exceptions to it. But basically, I had to start asking myself whether moves were likely to become dame for no reason. After that, I started finding more excuses to take moves that got points. That is, after all, how you win.
Did they mean specifically territory, or any kind of point-gaining move? If the latter, this seems kind of like a tautology: in go, points are what matter, so if it doesn't make points, it's not doing anything. If the former, it must be a tautology again, balanced on the "might". Any good move that doesn't change the balance of secure territory is changing the balance of potential territory (loosely speaking), so of course that potential might not become actual.
Yes, it may seem obvious/tautological. However, I found myself spending a lot of moves in what became dame later. For example, I would split living groups, or play a lot of moves building a wall that was more or less invalidated before I started building it. That sort of thing. So I was basically telling myself 'If this doesn't actually make territory, consider twice whether or not you have a plan for what it WILL do'.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:29 am
by jts
Chew Terr wrote:Yes, it may seem obvious/tautological. However, I found myself spending a lot of moves in what became dame later. For example, I would split living groups, or play a lot of moves building a wall that was more or less invalidated before I started building it. That sort of thing. So I was basically telling myself 'If this doesn't actually make territory, consider twice whether or not you have a plan for what it WILL do'.
I guess... but then, it can be okay if your stones, even an entire wall, ends up as dame, or even as part of an opponent's territory. It depends on what you got in return. "OMG I need to make territory here" ends up in a distinctly low class of game. Bill Spight did a great post on how to use walls, with this lesson.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:31 am
by Chew Terr
jts wrote:I guess... but then, it can be okay if your stones, even an entire wall, ends up as dame, or even as part of an opponent's territory. It depends on what you got in return. "OMG I need to make territory here" ends up in a distinctly low class of game. Bill Spight did a great post on how to use walls, with this lesson.
Oh, sure. There's definitely a time and place. I was just in a phase of... forgetting the goal of the whole game, and wondering why I lost.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:01 pm
by gowan
If possible, when you make a defensive move make one that does more than just defend.
This is part of the general advice to make multipurpose moves, but so often I see players, when they need to play a defensive move (e.g. to protect a gorup under attack) make a move that has no other effect than defending. For example if you need to protect a group play a move that protects but also does something else like leave a big endgame move for later.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:34 pm
by Solomon
gowan wrote:For example if you need to protect a group play a move that protects but also does something else like leave a big endgame move for later.
The best defense is a good offense. The hand which strikes also blocks.
Re: Friendly Advice Thread!
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:41 pm
by xed_over
Araban wrote:
gowan wrote:For example if you need to protect a group play a move that protects but also does something else like leave a big endgame move for later.
The best defense is a good offense. The hand which strikes also blocks.
but the one I always had/have trouble with: close fist before striking
.