NoSkill wrote:
Uberdude wrote:
There are several chapters about probes in the opening in that Korean style fuseki dictionary (e.g. 21, 53, 57).
Right but im not sure those count as yosu-miru or exactly what yosu-miru is. Ive heard some people simply call it probe, but I think it can mean a bit more as strategic concepts of go explains. I read that book, but wonder about more examples to go with it.
It's difficult at a lower level to define yosu-miru. It's closely related to kikashi, but is very different. I read through the SL page I posted earlier and I have to say it isn't as helpful as I had thought.
So let's contrast yosu-miru to kikashi.
Here
might look like kikashi, but while a is the normal choice here, b or c might be appropriate if either the top side or the corner are most valuable in the situation. in this case is not really kikashi, because kikashi is more or less defined as a move which forces a response which is favorable, immediately or as part of a sequence, to the player forcing the response. Here White could frustrate Black's plans with b or c. Were not present, White would have many other follow-ups from his two-stone enclosure.Even the normal response is nothing to celebrate about for Black, who now has a single stone pressed against a flawless White wall. However, this forces White to fix his shape into a wall. This is where a Go player's ingenuity comes in.
Let's see game 5 of the 2012 Honinbo title match:
I could explain, but this comment from the marked stone move by An Younggil 8p will be a lot more concise:
"This is the most solid answer for protecting black's right side position, but as you'll see, white can now play to live in the corner later.
Instead of 33, if black plays A, white gains sente moves like B and C, so it would be easier for white to invade the right side. And if black plays 33 at D, white can aim at moves like E later."
White, having 'forced' Black into a fixed position, went on to play
, a choice he made in light of Black's strengthened position on the side. This wasn't a loss, however, as White went on to reduce with little danger Black's primary area and then, as Younggil commented, chose a beautiful time to play to live in the corner.Of course being a top pro, White chose not to play the sequence out completely, but use the potential of the white group in the bottom-right to force black to fight with the sequence in mind, cramping his play slightly throughout the board and thus gaining the advantage.
He then went on to make a simple life & death mistake and lose. But hey, we're all human. Pros are just less so than we amateurs are.
The idea here is that White, had he not been forced, could have handled the situation much more flexibly by doing what he wished with his corner stones. As such, he had a wall and that was that.
I hope this helps at least a bit.
