Here are the weekly Go problems for week 72.
Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!
Easy Go problem
Both black and white are short of liberties. Look for a move that takes advantage of this.
Intermediate Go problem
Playing moves that create miai is the essence of practical play.
Hard Go problem
This problem isn’t that hard, as long as you get to the vital point first.
Still want more Go problems?
You can find Go books packed full of life and death problems, tesuji problems and other valuable Go knowledge at the Go Game Shop.
Discuss other possible moves
If you have any questions or want to discuss any of these problems, please leave a comment below at any time. You can use the coordinates on the problem images to discuss a move or sequence of moves.
You can also download the solutions as a PDF or SGF file by clicking the links below each problem.
About David Ormerod
Thanks David, I very like the “miai” and “vital point” problems…. They are very intructive in order to get stronger.
Thanks jangalf, that’s good to know.
In the intermediate problem: after B h4 you have W j4; after that, B g7 connects the two black groups, no? You have an “end of variation” after h4 j4 g7 f6 h6 g5 h5.
Both ways are ok for black.
I just didn’t add a lot of variations to that branch because, even though I gave it as the main variation to make the technique clearer, it’s not really sensible for white to play like that.
I’ve added your move to the problem as an alternative solution.
thx for your nice problems. In the intermediate problem the left edge is not visible.
Yes, that happens when there aren’t any stones or variations in that part of the board, in problem the file. Does it bother you?
@ej: your h5 leaves g3 and e3 as sente moves for w. g4 instead of h5 only leaves the thank you move of j5 as sente move. So h5 is inferior. ( I think )
Ah, of course — I hadn’t seen that g4 is the primary “correct” solution and it’s obviously better.
ironically hard is the only one i solved hehe…
That’s surprising! Well done
I do think there is more to the intermediate problem:
For Black 7, g4 is considered correct and h5 incorrect, presumably because White can then cross under and connect. However, I think White can still cross under and either connect or draw out her cutting stones with g4, due to shortage of liberties.
I still think g4 is the better capture but the difference may not be as big as it looks.
I agree Dieter. White can play to connect under either way. With G4 on the board, black might let the cutting stones escape and play for a trade though.
I notice that you’ve been talking more about miai in your go problems over the past half-year or so. Did you make some sort of personal insight or discovery recently, David?
Unfortunately not Logan
Miai is just an important, fundamental concept and I’ve known that for quite a long time.
In terms of my own play, I don’t think I’ve improved much since starting Go Game Guru because it takes so much of my free time. I still learn things from editing Younggil’s commentaries and the Baduk TV videos though.
If you’re wondering about whether I’ve studied Shuei’s games, I haven’t really had time to look at them seriously either. At the moment I’m playing through Gu Li and Lee Sedol’s collected games when I have time. I think you’d like that book.
Is there a book on their games? Or do they both have their own book?
Yeah, it’s “Long Yuan: Gu Li vs. Yi Sedol. 28 Dog Fights with Detailed Explanation,” or something like that — “龙渊·古力李世石28番激斗” by Gu Li last year. Long Yuan is reference to a legendary Chinese sword. It’s very good.
The intermediate problem seems quite hard to me. W g7 seems to be the variation to really worry about. The one that plays out automatically is perhaps a little straightforward. I have a funny feeling that the hard problem is going to have a followup problem soon
yep, intermediate and hard were flipped in my opinion.
Yes, you’d expect something like white G7 in a real game, and then both players would continue negotiating (perhaps as shown in the alternative solution).
I wanted to show the tesuji in its basic form, but you shouldn’t expect white to walk into your trap like that.
For these kinds of practical tesuji that appear often in games, the only way I can think of to show them properly is to setup realistic positions where they can be played.
Of course, once you do that, you have to deal with all the complexity of Go and the many possible moves, but black still gets a better outcome than is otherwise possible by playing as shown.
Easy and “hard” were no problem, but I couldn’t have solved the intermediate problem this time if I’d had a hundred years to think about it.
If you focus on the relationships between the stones and how black’s tesuji works, you’ll be able to see it next time. A lot of it is just pattern recognition and experience.
About the difficulty level: in the intermediate problem, Black 3 is a known technique, which can be induced by shape knowledge. The usual unfolding of that technique needs a stone at Black 1, so for me it was pretty straightforward.
good job diet!
I thought so too. Though clearly from the comments, it’s only easy once you already know certain things
.
In the hard problem, it’s marginally better for white to connect at t5 in the end rather than capture at t1—makes a difference of one ko threat.
Although technically, losing a liberty by connecting could hurt white in the longer run, when the board is so open.
I was pondering that difference too when making the problem. I honestly couldn’t decide which way was better. Later on I asked Younggil and he said capture.
The difference is subtle, but I guess you could end up regretting either move, depending on what sort of game develops.
Wow – first time I’ve been able to solve all three on first try! That made my day — thanks, David! Hate to admit it, though, that the “Easy” one took me the longest. : )
Well done Alan!