Life In 19x19

N8 in comment #40 should read N12 (as move #41).

I agree with post #7. The key word is "non-standard", and it applies to both Chinese and foreign words. In fact, the last two comments on the BBC link were about right -- the edict was meant to prevent the encroachment of so-called "Martian Language" that are quite popular among youths (visit any ...

How is it the Japanese can increase their number of entrants just like that? Is it because a Japanese company is sponsoring the tournament? Are the other countries also allowed to enter more players than before?

It has been reported that the number of total entrants is increased by 8, from 24 to ...

Team China won the match, 6:4, which was held in Shenzhen, China on 3/5-3/7.

Sponsored by a Chinese real estate company (Zhaoshang Dichan), the match featured five players from each team in a two-round event. Team Korea took the lead 3:2 in the first round, but Team China clinched the ultimate ...

For her fans, there are three (new?) photos at the following link:

http://club.weiqi.tom.com/item_111_1830671_0_1.html

The photos were said to have come from an unnamed Korean website.

A diagram would help us understand your question better, but generally speaking, if you can tell the difference between the overplay and the normal move, that would be the first step in devising a plan to profit from it.

gonut wrote:hiyayang,

Doesn't White have a better response to your Black A5 attack?

Correct. White has better responses than B2. I was just expanding on ethanb's post. I think white B4 would be OK too.

@ethanb:

How does white respond to this black move:

$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X ...

@ethanb:

$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 1 O X O . O ...

Is there any country or area in the world where Go is thriving and more and more people are becoming players (amateur or pro)? Seems the Go population of Japan has been declining for 20 years or more. In the USA membership in the AGA has been pretty much stagnant for some time. I've seen stories to ...

Here is my take on the bonus questions:

I suspect the first move is the same in all three questions: B3 is the vital point for both black and white.

$$Wc white lives ...

Spoiler Alert: The diagram below contains answers to previous problems!

Problem #3. Level: Difficult

The black group extending from the upper-right corner to center is surrounded. Can it live?

$$Bc Position at move 195, Black to play ...

Variation #2:

In previous diagram, W has to be careful with the ko threat . For example, I don't think in the following diagram would work out for W:


$$Bc After move 157
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X X ...

Black failure #2:

Point wise, fighting the ko in the center is less advantageous for B than in the corner:

$$Bc After move 157
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . X X . X O . O . X ...

Variation #1:

So double hane to live with ko is the best result B can hope for in this situation.

Now W has a choice. If W avoids the ko, B lives:

$$Bc White backs off; Black lives
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X X ...