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October 1999's Go Answer of the Month

Dia 1 - An inverted problem, White to play.

In a conversation recently, a dan player expressed surprise when I said that I still get a lot out of Kano's Graded Go Problems For Beginners, Vol 2. One of the reasons is that I don't just do the questions as written, but also look at them from the other point of view.

Here is one from Vol 2 - problem 4 - to be looked at the other way round. In GGP2, it is Black to play. This month answer as White to play.
Hint: Your opponent's move is not always your best move.

Obviously, as with the standard GGP problems, we are looking locally, so the answer is not 'play in another corner'.

Dias 2 & 3 - Why playing at Black's vital point fails, and its direct counter.

In dia 2, White very rapidly runs out of liberties. (But you knew that anyway.)

In dia 3, White 1 captures the black stones and lives the white ones. But this is a knee jerk reaction without careful thought of what could be achieved.

Dias 4 & 5 - Two other sequences.

In Dia 4 White gets some territory and pushes a little down the right edge. In Dia 5 he gives up the right edge for access into the centre. It is Black's choice which occurs.

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