Malweth’s Metablog

This post is for beginners who know the rules but are mystified at how to play on a “big” (19×19) board.

This is the game flow in the game of Go. Some of the terms used are Japanese, but they have simple meanings…
Fuseki and Joseki are both parts of the Opening in Go. Tenuki simply means to “play elsewhere” (away from the local situation).

When first starting a game, you play elements of the “Fuseki” which is essentially just “scattering your stones” around the big, empty, corners. I say “scatter your stones” not because that’s really what you’re doing, but because it’s often best to take the biggest areas and surround area loosely before defending tightly. For example, you could completely surround a tiny little area with only 10 stones, or you could put 9 stones on each of the star points and have a big area all to yourself (though in a real game you will have to share with your opponent)!

Sharing with your opponent is what the game is all about, after all… the point being that you want to get the bigger share! This is where “Joseki” comes in… when your opponent approaches one of your stones (especially in the corners, but also on the sides or even in the middle of the board) you will want to react. “Joseki” are the tens of thousands of patterns that give approximately equal results to both sides (given that if you play “outside of joseki” you will end up anywhere from 1-2 points worse off to losing the whole area). Beginners need not worry about Joseki too much - if you already have a rank, Joseki are good to start studying around the 5-Kyu range.

Fuseki and Joseki are interchangeable! You don’t need to finish the first to start on the second. There are common patterns for both, but perhaps it’s best to try playing them out for yourself first. If you really need help with the beginning of the game there are books and websites available for this (at the 20-kyu level, “In The Beginning” is an ok book; at the 15 to 10-kyu level, Otake’s book on the opening is very good).

Once the Fuseki and any Joseki are played out, the mid-game starts… in fact, you needn’t even finish the Fuseki for this to happen (though in many cases you will). This is where threats and counter threats occur. When one player attacks, the other must defend and vice versa. Try to make your attacks real threats, though, or you may find the tables turned! Try reading “Attack and Defense” for more information (perhaps starting at the 15-kyu level).

When you think your group of stones is safe (cannot be killed) you can “Tenuki” which we said is to play elsewhere. This usually includes making an attack against enemy stones, getting more territory for yourself, or solidifying your other positions. With respect to the chart above, the first is obviously an attack, and the latter two can be considered forms of defense.

Finally we reach the endgame - the board is mostly full, but there are still moves to be played — even if they’re only worth one or two points. The main tactic for the endgame (Yose in Japanese) is to take the biggest points first.

“Life and Death” and “Reading Skills” are involved in all of the above (except Fuseki). Life and Death is really just an application of “Reading Skills,” but it’s a common term that beginners learn, so I’ve included it. Life and Death is an indication of the status of a group of stones… Is it unconditionally alive? Is it completely killed? Is there any means of escape (to link to a group that is already alive)?

Reading skills can certainly be part of life and death, but also include “can I cut through my opponent’s position?” and “can I link my groups together?” Reading skills are the tactics behind go… reading a certain number of moves ahead of the current position lets you know exactly how safe your groups might be. It’s ok if you can’t really do this yet — it doesn’t really come until about the 10-kyu level, but for practice when it’s your move, try thinking about where your opponent will move depending on where you move next - this is how reading works.

There’s a lot to the game of go, despite the simple rules… this just scratches the surface with respect to “game flow,” but perhaps it’s a good introduction to how the game works.

100% of Go is estimation. I’m not talking about territory estimation, though this is also a good application of the word. Nor am I talking about positional estimation, though this is also important. I’m speaking of the psychological factor that exists between yourself and your opponent.

There’s a good reason that many people bemoan their ranks, get stuck at certain ranks, and play better in an unranked system. Part of getting stuck is technical, in other words a lack of knowledge. Even when these technical points are factored in, however, ranks are still a psychological barrier (though in this case, not related to estimation).

The real problem with ranks is the estimate or prejudice you make about your opponent, even before the game begins. To play well, one must overcome the overestimate or underestimate you’ve given your opponent and play the moves you think most correct. How easy it is to lose to a 9 or 10 kyu player when at the rank of 8 kyu - even in an even game! This is because you believe they’re weak and play too softly and with too little reading. I can only imagine what kind of psychological barrier being a 1-kyu playing a dan level player (or vice versa) must exist.

And because I brought it up, there exist a number of plateaus starting at the 12-kyu level. I’ve spoken of them in the past, but I’m certain that: 99% of the problem at any barrier is psychological. Certainly there’s some additional skill you need before you can pass the barrier, but this type of learning is small. It’s much harder to: identify that which needs to be learned and apply that which has been learned. The non-psychological step in the middle is (usually) the easy part: processing that which needs to be learned.

One of the things to understand, starting at [about] the 8-kyu level, all increases in ability are from an increase in reading skill. I can’t say it enough… everything involves reading - some are tougher tasks than others (joseki-type reading, mid-game (non-contact) type reading). Counting and estimation are still important, but those tasks pale with respect to raw reading ability.

At any given level there are three types of Tsumego (or problems in general — not exlcusively Life and Death)… I’m sure that many of you can think of many different Problem types, fuseki problems, joseki problems, tesujis, L+D, and endgame are some … you could even have whole board Attacking / defending problems… So why are there only three? Perhaps you’ll start to understand what I’m talking about if I tell you that these three types of problems can change drastically as one gets stronger. Have you figured out what I’m talking about? The three different types of problems aren’t related to subject or topic (though some subjects are probably not very appropriate at certain strength levels). These three levels are:

1. Very Easy
2. Challanging (but not impossible)
3. New Approach, New information (nearly impossible without a little help)

If I’m to take each of these in turn, we’ll start with the Very Easy problems. These problems are ones who’s solutions are obvious (or almost obvious) at first glance. At higher levels, there’s a whole slew of problems fitting this description, so it needs to be clarified a bit. Although it’s not bad to go back and review your basic nakade, at a certain point finding nakade should become second nature. So the Very Easy problems are ones who’s solutions are just beginning to be obvious, but might take 5-15 seconds to reach the actual conclusion. Practicing this type of problem improves your speed, pattern recognition, and vital point finding skills. Next up! The Challanging problems are ones that can certainly be done within, perhaps, a minute, but take more intense reading on your part to solve. The techniques used in these problems should be ones you’ve already learned in the past, but perhaps harder examples of such techniques. Solving these problems helps build your deeper reading skill. It also may help you learn how to narrow down multiple vital points so you’re able to first check the most probable points. And Finally… the New Approach problems are ones that you cannot solve without the help of a teacher, text, or the answer to the problem. These are the most dangerous problems because they’ll teach you the new techniques more quickly, but can bog you down if you’re not ready for the new information. Solving one of these problems should be possible, but might take 5 minutes or even more. A good example of such problems are Tesuji - these give you vital point patterns that are often hard to find before you know of them. For best results, I believe these should be studied in the order shown above and in equal portions. The real problem seems to be finding and categorizing problems using the above method. The Very Easy problems are usually not hard to find - perhaps the Korean Academy Problems or that Tesuji book you finished months ago… The Challanging problems are usually also fairly easy to find… in my opinion the hardest to find are the problems that are just tough enough to give you the New Approaches that you need… and New Approach is where you find much of your growth… A few thoughts on the New Approach problems:

• New Approaches can include:
  1. New Nakade (typically limited to beginners)
  2. Unseen Tesuji Patterns
  3. Extra challanging reading
  4. New vital points (Non-nakade) or multiple vital points
• New Approaches can simply exist to push your limits rather than teaching an actual tactic
• New Approaches can take five minutes or weeks to change from a “new approach” to simply a “Challanging” or even “Very Easy” problem.
• New Approaches are not limited to problems - they can be found by reading new material or by studying with your teacher

Most interesting is the “Extra Challanging Reading” problems. I believe you can help your reading skill by looking at the answer to a problem you cannot solve on your own, then return to the problem diagram and practice visualizing and reading out the answer. This almost turns a “New Approach” problem into a “Very Easy” problem (in terms of purpose, not skill level).