Attacking and Defending Moyos; Kiseido

BGJ 172 Summer 2015, Reviewer: Roger Huyshe

by von Zeist and Bozulich

This is Volume 7 of the Mastering the Basics series and is further confirmation that the word ‘basics’ is not to be taken too literally. The book starts with an interesting discussion of general principles then gives examples from professional games which focus on the decisions on how to handle moyos. The bulk of the book is taken up with 151 problems in the usual Kiseido format.

These I found quite eye-opening in the variety of techniques and ideas discussed. We move beyond the simple binary choices of: invade — to live or run out; versus reduce – and build an outside position. Many problems address the messy situation where there are more than two areas of interest and the flow of moves needs careful evaluation. While the ideas would likely give 8-10 kyu players a greater awareness, most of the text and problems would be challenging to low SDK and probably low dan too.