Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Volume 1
As go players we all study the game in our own way, be it leisurely or with
near-scientific precision. We attempt to distill the moves and find their
essence in recurring, understandable patterns. But every once in a while
we are struck by a move we have never seen before. A move that is so out
of the ordinary that we cannot help but marvel at it. A move to remember.
This book is a collection of such moves: the weird and wonderful of go.
It bundles together highlights from professional games. Chapters include:
miraculous tesujis that resurrect dead groups; ladders that do not work but
are played out anyway for strategic purposes; dragons that bite their own
tail; impossible looking invasions, deep inside enemy territory; endless
loops to escape defeat; and rare sequences that look so bizarre they make
you laugh. If you want to study professional play and marvel at the
creativity of human go, you will enjoy this book.
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Copyright Page
Weird and Wonderful, Volume 1
Extraordinary Moves by Professional Go Players
Published by
Kiseido Publishing Company
Kagawa 4–48–32
Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken
Japan 253–0082
5
Contents
Weird and Wonderful, Volume 1
Extraordinary Moves by Professional Go Players
Copyright Page
Preface
About the Authors
6
About SmartGo Books
7
Preface
As go players we all study the game in our own way, be it leisurely or with
near-scientific precision. We attempt to distill the moves and find their
essence in recurring, understandable patterns. But every once in a while
we are struck by a move we have never seen before. A move that is so out
of the ordinary that we cannot help but marvel at it. A move to remember.
This series is a collection of such moves: the weird and wonderful of go.
The first volume which you are now holding in your hands bundles
together highlights from professional games.
Our main selection criterion was that the moves had to surprise:
sometimes a move shone at us like an undiscovered gem and other times a
sequence looked so bizarre that it made us laugh. Another prerequisite was
that the moves were played by humans. Since the rise of superhuman
computer-go programs in 2016, the world of go has changed. Human
players now study computer moves more than they study each other’s, and
modern game analyses are ruled by the recitation of win-rate percentages.
Computers have increased the level of play tremendously and we also used
computer programs to analyze positions in this book. However, our aim
for this series is to share the beauty of human creativity. Human moves tell
a relatable story: when we realize that it could have been us in that
tournament, during that crucial moment of the game and all the emotions
that come with it, we marvel all the more at the flash of genius of a
professional player that transcends himself. Therefore, when the computer
told us that such a spectacular human move was not its preference, this
was not necessarily a reason for us to exclude it from the book.
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purposes: there are at least just as many examples that did not make our
cut. One of them is very famous and was left out for that reason, as it has
been published many times before, namely the game in which Lee Se-dol
successfully played out a ladder against Hong Jan-sik in the KAT Cup in
2003.
The cover of this book is a portrait of Cho Chikun 9-dan, one of Japan’s
most decorated go players of all time. He is also known for his eccentric
appearance and personality. The go position that floats above him as a
thought balloon highlights an exceptional move that he played against
Kobayashi Satoru in 1996 and is described in detail in the chapter ‘Double
Ladder Breakers that Calmed the Gods’.
We hope you enjoy this book and that it will give you inspiration for
your own games of go.
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About the Authors
Kim Ouweleen is an author, graphic designer and go teacher from
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has made numerous go-related artworks
under his artist pseudonym Murugandi. Kim has worked for the European
Go Cultural Center and the European Go Journal, and has created video
content for EuroGoTV and BadukMovies. He previously authored the
2016 European Go Yearbook, commissioned by the European Go
Federation. His playing level is 4-dan.
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A Time-Saving Move that Backfired
We all know that moment: you are playing a tournament game and your
time is ticking away in byo-yomi. You have only a few seconds left to
make a move before you run out of time, but you don’t yet know where to
play. You quickly play a sente move that you are sure your opponent will
answer, giving you more time to think. But then your opponent doesn’t
respond as expected; your move wasn’t sente and you just blundered!
Even professional go players make mistakes. However, for a pro to
make a time-saving move that is a mistake, something exceptional has to
happen, like a brilliant response. Here is such an exception.
11
B
A
1
2
12
6
2
3 4 5
Dia. 1. Ko
The aim of Black’s connection is to gain sente. White would love to switch
to the center and play the big move of 1, but the exchange in the corner
created a big problem: Black can start a ko with 2 and 4. White captures
first, but he can never win this ko, as Black has too many ko threats in the
upper left corner, starting with 6.
13
4
5
6
3 7 9
14
10
15
Magic on the First Line
Have you ever heard the go proverb ‘The second line is the line of defeat?’
This proverb gives the impression that opening moves near the edge of the
board are bad. But that is not always the case. As a matter of fact, the first
line, even one line lower than the proverb alludes to, can be a source of
magic. In this chapter, we show two brilliant moves on the first line,
played in the early stages of professional games. As the icing on the cake,
we include a third game with a similar tesuji that occurred in the middle
game.
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Game One
17
4 1
8
18
17 16
15 10
6 11 12
31 19 14 21 13
2 35 29 26 28 32 3
5 30 24 7 27 20
36 23 22 25 33 34
37 38
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budge and this resulted in a complicated sequence with the moves to White
38. After 38, Black is confined to the bottom. He has only a few liberties
with his one-eyed group and seems to be in trouble.
3 1
2
8 7 6 5 4
19
13 12
11 10 14
9 8
4
2
7 1
3 5
20
needs to settle this group, but would also like to continue playing in the
center, so he has his hands full.
5
9 7 6
8 1 4 A 3 2
21
5 7
9 4 8
11 10 1 6 3 2
22
49
51 47 53
48
52
50
42 45 44 46
39 43 41 40
23
6
3 2
1 7 4
5 8
Dia. 6. Overplay
Note that White 44 in Figure 2 was absolutely necessary. If White plays 1
instead and keeps attacking Black’s group at the bottom, Black will win
the capturing race with 2 to 8. This would mean game over for White.
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Game Two
25
go player. Seventeen-year-old Mi Yuting went on to win this match for his
first world championship victory. He was promoted to 9-dan accordingly.
16 37 10 8 14 46
2 35 11 1 9 12 45
29 15 13 34
26 23 6 22 28
47 42 24 25 27
43 41 32
44 36 7 33 39
38 40
20
21
18
4 19 31 3
17 5 30
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disagreed on what was more important and ignored each other’s moves:
fighting spirit does not allow either side to give in to the other’s plans.
White 38 sealed in the black stones on the right. Black had no choice but
to respond with 39, and it became clear that the upcoming fight would
determine not only the fate of the black group on the right side, but also
the status of the white corner. Moves 40 to 47 were a one-way street, and
White seemed to be in trouble.
4 2 3 10
1
8
7 6
27
Playing 1, moving White’s crucial cutting stones out into the center, looks
natural for White. However, Black has more liberties. Black 6 is sente and
allows Black to win the capturing race by one move.
5
4 7 6
1
2
3
28
51
50
49 48
29
Game Three
30
but the first line came to White’s rescue. The marked stone allowed White
to gloriously make life for his group.
9 10
8 7
11 5
6
1 2 3
31
White’s move on the first line is now perfectly placed to capture the black
stones.
8 B
A
7 6 2
4 1 3 5
32
stones at the bottom.
11 12
10 9
13 7
2 3 A 8
14 1 4 5
33
at A due to a lack of liberties.
16
15
12 11 13 14
10 9 4
6 5 3
8 2 1
7
34
9
10
4 6
2 8 3
1 7 5
35
Table of Contents
Weird and Wonderful 2
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
Preface 8
About the Authors 10
A Time-Saving Move that Backfired 11
Magic on the First Line 16
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