Life In 19x19

Is there any guidance on studying individual joseki - for example how to set out the rest of the board in a relatively "neutral" position that allows study to be focused on local joseki variations ?

Sorry to hear...

I think, from my experience, the OGS grades in the 4k - 1d range seem a bit flaky* - and difficult to benchmark personal progress against.

*I play at 2d on KGS, 1d+ on IGS - but sometimes seem to be wiped out by 100 points plus by a 3k or 4k on OGS. The dan grades seem a bit more ...

This is just the type of thing that happens when new rules and regulations are summarily introduced without following international regulatory best practice (such as: consulting stakeholders on possible changes, understanding potential cultural barriers/issues, carrying out an impact assessment ...

As also being a 'European of certain age', over 40 plus years ago in July 1981, I watched Mr Nagahara comment on a game (translated by Stuart Dowsey) between two kyu players in a hall in Hammersmith, London. One of the players was the British mathematician Richard Borcherds.

$$Bm6
$$ +--------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X ...

White has made a position on both sides, black's framework is looking a lot less impressive, there's aji in the corner, and it looks like black has been swindled. Where did black go wrong?

Is this actually a fair assessment at this stage? Has White made a good position on both sides as yet? It ...

$$Bc Black to play in the corner
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . X X . . . . .
$$ | . . 7 X . . . .
$$ | . O O X O . . .
$$ | . O X O . O . .
$$ | 1 X X O . . . .
$$ | 4 . X X O O . .
$$ | . 2 3 O 5 6 . .
$$ +----------------


$$Bc Black to play in the corner ...

A3 certainly looks like a vital point. I wonder if B can just play it immediately.

If Black plays C1, will White really simply reply E1?
Ah, now you're surprised too :-)
...Or will White leave the bad aji hanging of playing A3 later? for example:
White is dead in double ko, right?

If B chooses that option...

But this is potentially quite a negative result for Black? If ...

If Black plays C1, will White really simply reply E1?...Or will White leave the bad aji hanging of playing A3 later?

for example:

$$Bc Black to play in the corner
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . X X . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . . . .
$$ | 8 O O X O . . .
$$ | 7 O X O . O . .
$$ | 2 X ...

Indeed - another possibility, and a Frequently Asked Question in my experience.

Just interested in what is your surprise...

I'm not sure I fully understand the problem, but is your surprise that the correct answer given by the website looks like it could generate a lot of ko treats for white - possibly something black might want to consider if another ko elsewhere on the board ...

There are other options. But all of them, including the ones above, have the major problem that pros never tell us how to choose between them (with the minor exception of counting, but that only works if the position is truly countable). When pros say which option they have chosen, it's often a ...

It's the increased use of probes that I find most interesting.

There seem to be at least 2 main types:

- the early probe invasion which seems to ask or try to force the opponent's hand in committing to claiming an area, and may also leave possible aji

- the contact probe, which I'd speculate may ...

A relevant paper from 2021 that I was unaware of until it was referenced on Facebook today:

Human Learning from Artificial Intelligence: Evidence from Human Go Players’ Decisions after AlphaGo https://escholarship.org/content/qt6q05n7pz/qt6q05n7pz.pdf

in this blog, "After AI beat them ...