Solutions To Problems

British Go Journal No. 62. July 1984. Page 30.

The problems to these solutions are on page 20.

Solution 1

Black can make life in ko. black 1 forces white 2. After 3 -5 white 6 is the only move, whereupon 7 is necessary to take away a white liberty. White can then use the property of the corner to force a ko.

Solution 2a

Black can force a ko. Black 1 and 3 are a combination often used to make life in the corner, but here they have an aggressive intent. White clearly must hurry to capture Blacks four stones with 4 and 6, however...

Solution 2b

Black captures at 7 and, as in problem 1, makes a ko in the corner.

Solution 3a

The nidan-bane (two-step hane) is black's saving tesuji which exploits White's shortage of liberties. Similar positions occur quite frequently in real games, so this tesuji is well worth remembering.

Solution 3b

Another variation. If white tries connecting at 4 he loses the semeai by one move.

Solution 4

The difficulty in this problem is in convincing yourself that blacks corner is a goad deal more fragile than it appears.

White 1 and 3 first exploit the property of the corner, forcing Black to give atari at 4. White then hanes at 5, and suddenly black is short of liberties. If black 6 white simply connects at 7; on the other hand if Black plays 6' at 9 white throws in at 6. Neat eh!

Solution 5

The best black can do is ko. This problem has similarities to the last - after 1 black cannot give atari from either side, so has to connect at 3. The spotlight then switches to white, who has to find the throw-in at 4, leading to a ko after 5 and 7.

If, as many readers may have done, White thinks he has time to descend at 5 (instead of 4), Black cleverly kills him by playing 7, white gives atari at 4, Black gives counter-atari one point below 2, white captures four stones, finally Black plays 'under the stones' (ishi no shita) one point above 3, in turn capturing three stones of white and killing his group. A deceptive little problem.

Solution 6

Black not so much raps whites knuckles as gives him a slap in the belly. black 1 is often called the belly tesuji (for another example, see Tesuji flash) as it lands in the middle of Whites group. Here it hits the vital spot.