Share your fvourite Go proverbs, or proverbs you like to use in the context of Go!

I've always been very fond of:

"Lose Your First 50 Games As Quickly As Possible" and "You Can Play Go But Don't Let Go Play You".

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If we can go to the moon, then why are umbrellas still umbrellas?
-Fujiwara no Sai

I absolutely LOVE Go proverbs and I have about half a dozen books about them (if I count the stratagem books). But/and I also know that one has to decide for oneself — i.e. for every situation — whether it applies.

One of my favourites is this:

• Go proverbs only apply to Black.



<edit>

Oh, and of course these:

• If you have all four corners, resign.

together with

• If your opponent has all four corners, resign.

(this seems to be one of those that only apply to Black players, as I understand it)

</edit>

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

Mine is "mieux vaut un tient que deux tu l'auras" but it's not a go proverb
I'm not sure how to translate that in english... I think it is "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush" but I'm not sure...

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Converting the book Shape UP! by Charles Matthews/Seong-June Kim
to the gobook format. last updated april 2015 - Index of shapes, p.211 / 216

The English equivalent is "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

And I was about to post "A go proverb over the board is worth two in the book", but I guess you preempted me.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

That's such a classic proverb, but it certainly does seem applicable to Go ^^

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If we can go to the moon, then why are umbrellas still umbrellas?
-Fujiwara no Sai

• Forgo the small and take big

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

"Cut, no matter what."


Well, maybe it's not a real go proverb (or very good advice), but it does rhyme.

It's not really a proverb, but still good advice:

If you can't take the pain, don't play the game!

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Stay out of my territory! (W. White, aka Heisenberg)

Don't go fishing when your house is on fire!

• A rich person shouldn’t pick a fight. (Meaning to play conservatively = not risky when one’s ahead)

And the counterpart:

• When behind, complicate the game.

And since I still can’t count, I always get these wrong

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

This one remind me of "If you don't like ko, don't play go"

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Converting the book Shape UP! by Charles Matthews/Seong-June Kim
to the gobook format. last updated april 2015 - Index of shapes, p.211 / 216

I followed Herman's advice, read the book and came up with this one:

Don't start a fight for no good reason.

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Stay out of my territory! (W. White, aka Heisenberg)

my favourite has to be

"If you don't like Ko don't Play Go"

just a great sentiment really.

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I am John. John-I-Am.

Oh well, being angry or being bored have always been good bad reasons for me

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

"Two brothers shouldn't fight the same road"

Weiqi, making the world a better place on proverb at a time!

Another favourite has to be:

"Get strong at removing you're own liberties"

Also, "Get strong at killing you're own stones" has helped me to improve.

(Note: while not technically a Go proverb, "a piece of wood cannot fight back against a punch" can be quite useful to Go beginners)

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On Go proverbs:
"A fine Gotation is a diamond in the hand of a dan of wit and a pebble in the hand of a kyu" —Joseph Raux misquoted.

Don't wreste with pigs. You will both get dirty, and the pig will love it.

I know this one, but how would you relate it with Go?

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

It's not a proverb but this axiom applies to about 99% of all amateur moves so seems to deserve a place:

"This must be the best move because he's bound to answer it."

My favourite proper proverb is "If you have six groups, one will die."