Here are the weekly Go problems for week 73.
Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!
Easy Go problem
There’s a vital point in black’s shape that should jump out to you here.
Intermediate Go problem
Focus on what you can practically expect from each stone. Stones shouldn’t go where they can’t go.
Hard Go problem
There’s a blindingly obvious tactic here, but you might expect that this is one of those move order problems with a twist.
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
5 was a nice problem – try to do it in one try!
Thanks, doing them all in one try should always be the goal
Thanks for the problems David, very nice and instructive to me.
You’re welcome jangalf.
The second problem had me guessing about move 3, until the hint saved me a lot of effort. So for the hard problem I sat down and read it all out. How rewarding!
I’m glad you liked it Dieter. The last one is more of a ‘pure reading’ type problem
In the intermediate problem, it looks like black can play at c3, white responds at b4, black c4, white d4 and then black d2 to tbe able to kill the whole group, wouldn’t this be a better solution, or am I missing something?
Yes, after d2 White can capture a stone with a5. Next Black needs to connect in the centre and White can capture the black stones invested in the lower left corner.
Hi David,
In the correct sequence of the intermediate problem after C3 B4 D2 C4 E3 W can instead of connecting make atari at B3. Now B will take 2 stones but if W later gets a stone at G3 he will be able to attack black eye shape severely at C2. To prevent this option B may instead of double atari play at B3 right away. Now even if W gets a stone at G3 and attacks B at B2 B still can guarantee two eyes.
I agree with this. In fact, connecting to the 4 stones does not seem to matter all that much: there is no eye shape to be found there, nor any influence of importance. Perhaps the white stone at E8 should be elsewhere to make the connection worthwhile and make miai of an escape to E8 or to G3.
If it did play out like this, wouldn’t Black respond to White B3 with B2 creating a ko battle? If Black wins the Ko fight the resulting shape still looks good for Black to me, but I know I could be wrong.
I on the other hand disagree. To obtain this result w would be accepting gote and abandoning G5 as completely useless. Also C2 is not severe unless w can get several stones along the right hand side, even then it’s at best annoying.
That’s another way for black to play, however I think in nearly all cases if white lets black capture the two stones like that, black would be quite satisfied. So I think both ways should lead to a similar result.
While preventing black’s four stones from being cut doesn’t promise any serious followup threat against white’s group on the left, they’re still important in terms of influence over the center (and points). So black wants to connect them.
If you imagine that, after letting them be cut, black wouldn’t then try to rescue them (because it would be heavy), it means the cutting point becomes a sort of pivot point for potential in the center.
Compare the two diagrams, after black connects or white cuts and you’ll see clearly what I mean.
The usefulness of G5 is also important.
It looks like it would be very difficult to attack black’s group after black captures the two stones, requiring black to tenuki several times. In contrast, if white connects, there’s still some aji in the corner and around points like H2
Nice problems again. To me the intermediate and the hard problem were about equally difficult, but the latter is nicer. Thank you again for 5 minutes of pleasure.
Kind regards,
Paul
You’re welcome Paul, thanks for the feedback.
Great problems again. In the hard problem the first solution I thought to try was to go for seki. It’s nice to know learn that large shapes can still be vulnerable.
Yes, these kinds of large open eyespaces can be quite difficult to read in actual games.
All problems seems to be easy to me now
That’s good. Have you been practicing?
By the way, I changed the name you posted your comment under so your email address wouldn’t be displayed publicly.