Spot The Move - Answers

British Go Journal No. 65. July 1985. Page 28.

Richard Granville

The problems for these solutions are on page 8 of BGJ 64.
This month's problems are on page 5.
The answer to problem 2 may be found on page 27.

The original article used coordinates (such as K10) for most of this article. It has been altered to use marked up diagrams for the EBGJ.

Problem 3 - Marks

Marks for various black moves.

Diagram 7

Problem 3 - Commentary

Diagram X3

Panelists replies:

• H - Jeff Ansell 2k
• H - Andrew Daly 3d
• A - Toby Manning 2d
• G - Matthew Macfadyen 6d
• H - Francis Roads 3d
• H - Piers Shepperson 3d
• H - John Smith 2d

This problem is the first which has failed to produce a significant divergence of opinion among the panelists, since almost all chose the same move. The exception was Toby Manning:

"The important area is the upper left corner, but before that I would play at A to investigate Black's response. Assuming that Black replies with a knight's move (at B or C) it is then necessary to turn to the upper left by playing either D or E."

A seems more sensible than F (the move actually played in the game, which was between two 1-kyus) to deal with Black's moyo. But it doesn't do much for the rest of the panel. The British Champion is clear about the focal point of the game.

"The top right is uninteresting - White is secure and black can't be usefully attacked. The top left is also unimportant, since the approach move and an invasion at the 3-3 point are roughly miai (if white takes the corner, black takes the outside, and vice versa)."

"But the lower right has two points which should scream 'play me' to anyone who claims to be a Go player. the 2-2 point (G) gets all the yose (endgame points) and all the eyespace, and prepares a deep invasion for whoever plays it. The 6-6 point (H) on the other hand, is the intersection of two moyos. The choice between these moves depends partly on style and partly on the reading of the subsequent invasions."

"I personally prefer the 2-2 point. Black will reply at H (he cannot let white get both vital points), but then white invades the side at A (there are also other possibilities) when black seems to be in trouble due to his lack of territory. Black invasions of the upper right are no fun because his own upper group doesn't actually have any eyes yet."

The rest of the panel, however, preferred the move in the centre. Their views are summed up by two spokesmen.

Shepperson: "I play H, which is such a natural move there seems no point in looking further. White should reduce Black's moyo rather than invade it."

Smith: "The black group at the top right may not have a base but is well out into the centre and not susceptible to attack. Black can therefore aim at exploiting the thinness of White's position on the right with an invasion at J. This is a serious threat which white can cover by jumping to H, aiming at invading himself at F."

Competition Winners

Our winning entry this time came from, of all places, Yugoslavia. Yes, Branimir Nedeljkovic (grade unknown) from Beograd put all the British kyu players to shame by clocking up a score of 15/30.

Well done, Branimir, a suitable prize will be forwarded to you in due course.

Second was our own BGA secretary, Tony Atkins, 1-kyu, with 13/30, who wins a £5 BGA token.