Here are the weekly Go problems for week 74.
Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!
Easy Go problem
If you can create a situation where your liberties can’t be reduced in one move, that can be as good as having one extra liberty. Or one extra move.
Intermediate Go problem
Ideally, you’d like isolate white’s two stone group, and then strike at the vital point. How can you gain tempo and play on both sides?
Hard Go problem
This problem is all about liberties and the lack thereof. Black will have to work hard to live here.
Still want more Go problems?
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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
Nice problems David, as usual
the intermediate is very meaningful and also useful in real games too, I appreciated it very much.
Thanks, see you next week!
Ops sorry just one question: in Variation 6 (relative to the PDF file) of the Intermediate problem, I was wondering why isn’t it better for black to play move 6 on D4 and then, after white capture with C1, then play on H4: may the reason be that this isn’t good for black since D4 is a gote move for white and then if black plays there, he removes a possible ko threat for later?
Thanks Braket
That’s exactly right. The D4 atari is quite a big threat, so it should be sente for black to play it almost whenever he wants to, either as a ko threat, or at the right time during the endgame.
It’s also gote if white captures C4 and not particularly threatening to black. So black shouldn’t worry that white will capture, but instead hope that white will play such a small move so that black can get sente to take another big point.
There’s one more reason that’s slightly more complex and not well demonstrated by this problem. That is, that other moves are possible. For example at the end of variation 6, D1 is also sente and if white exchanges F2 for E1 at some point, black might decide to play C1 later (instead of D4). Neither of those moves are particularly powerful in this case, but perhaps you can still understand the idea of leaving more possibilities for yourself later.
The Go board is like a canvas. Try to have a light touch.
Very useful to real games the intermediate one.. thanks David.
Thanks jangalf
On the intermediate problem, Variation 1, why is White forced to reply with 4 @ b2 instead of h4?
Well, as you no doubt know, white doesn’t have to do anything.
If white plays at H4 for move 4, black will atari at D3 and the result’s still acceptable for black (and even better for black than other ways of playing).
In the end I have to choose a variation that demonstrates ideas clearly, instead of just stopping at move 3 and saying something self indulgent like “now black has a flexible position and can adapt his response to white’s next move”.
Hmm, well “black has a flexible position and can adapt his response to white’s next move” might have actually been better in this case since “How can you gain tempo and play on both sides?” is clearly dependent upon what White wants, not Black (b2 & h4 are White’s choice for personal play style and how the game proceeds, not Black’s. Indeed, I think most modern play with go with h4 since it’s so fighting, leaving-positions-unsettled-to-the-very-last-moment, kiai based.)
Anyways, only asked because I was trying to figure out how to ‘force’ (tempo) it (based upon the above quote), but found out (confirmed by your reply) that, actually, Black cannot. Balance between “demonstrat[ing] ideas clearly” and showing an exact sequence, which many of the previous intermediate problems have been struggling over.
David seems to be being tactful as usual so I’ll communicate with Logan in the kind of tactless form that he seems to favour.
The tesuji clearly gains a move (tempo). Playing as Logan suggests is heavy. It’s only possible if white has the resource of many large ko threats, but black can fight in the centre anyway and the ko can only help with that. The problem doesn’t mention that white has lots of ko threats so Logan’s plan is a good way to give black two weak groups to attack. How on earth is this a good alternative?
I’m also wondering if this is the same Logan who I remember rudely insulting Mr An on previous occasions? Like this time http://gogameguru.com/commentary-kim-jiseok-gu-li-3rd-bc-card-cup/#comment-657 Common courtesy seems to be something that many of his previous comments “have been struggling over” (sic). Perhaps he’s upset that he couldn’t solve this week’s problems? Now I hope Logan will realise that this is what it feels like when someone treats him the same way as he does others.
Eric, there is a difference between constructive criticism and angry or intentionally rude replies. I think you could use some more practice in observing this difference. Although I think many people would find your reply rude, I find it more disappointing — that you would: immediately assume the worst in my post, make negative assumptions about my intention or emotional state, and proceed to ‘punish’ me all without lifting a single finger to clarify things before doing so. Perhaps it frightens me more than disappoints…
As for the problem, White does not need to fight any ko. After filling, White’s left shape is quite resilient. Furthermore, Black will find it difficult to effectively attack the three center-side stones from his single stone. Again, please correct me if I am wrong David, but I believe his (David’s) reply was to emphasise the conceptual nature of the problem rather than an exact sequence per se. The problem seems to have been intended for an audience other than myself, however I still enjoyed trying to look at it from a different audience’s perspective.
Let me say something about the problem. The point of this intermediate problem is the first move. If you’re correct at the first move, that’s fine. It doesn’t really matter where white would play next. There could be many other possible moves, but we can only show one move for white. Your idea is reasonable Logan, but I can’t say yours is more common and appropriate than the answer by David.
Thanks.
I think Logan’s question was pertinent, but I agree his followup comment is somewhat rude. Naturally one cannot cover a middle game position like this comprehensively without writing at least a short chapter of a book about it. I myself find such situations difficult to understand. Can white tenuki? If she does, what are the steps B can take to deal with that? As Eric points out, W now has to weak groups to take care of. In principle this is okay for B, but the proper followup is probably a dan-level problem, maybe even mid-to-high dan it seems to me.