Elf, assuming area scoring and 7½ pt. komi, estimates a winrate for one player after
of 97% with 106.3k playouts. Which player is it?
It's
Black.
The game is GoGoD 1933-10-94a, a no komi oteai game between Kitani Minoru, 5 dan (White) and Hasegawa Akira, 5 dan. It was one of the early New Fuseki games, the first game with sanrensei by White. White, Kitani, won by resignation.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm27 Black is ahead, but White won
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Each player has captured one stone.
Game continuation
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm28 Game continuation
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . . 8 9 . 6 . . . . . . . 1 X 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
All of these move are either Elf's top choice or within 1½% of Elf's top choice.
and
are New Fuseki plays.
Earlier in the game
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm5 High flying White
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . a 5 , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 4 . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
is unusual, but only a minor error, according to Elf, which recommends the two space high enclosure at
a. As the first player, Black has a bit more leeway than White.
, on the fifth line, is a definite error, losing 11% to the approach at
b.
is a common local response to
, but is a minor error. Elf recommends approaching the bottom right corner at
c, after which White approaches the top right corner at
b.
, making sanrensei, is another minor error.
, another New Fuseki play, is also only a minor error. Elf recommends enclosing the bottom left corner at
d. Through
White has built a large sphere of influence.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Blunders
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4 3 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 5 O 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
punches at the gap in White's border.
is a small error, perhaps planning the subsequent play.
looks like a tesuji, but it is a blunder, losing 23% to par.
is also an error, losing 12% to par. Then
is another blunder, losing 25% to par. The remaining diagrams show Elf's recommended variations.
is not an error, but Elf prefers another play.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Elf's mainline for
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 B . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Elf prefers the calm enclosure for
.
and
strengthen White's wall and cut off the
stone. Then
invades the bottom right.
No resistance
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm14 plays elsewhere
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 2 . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 0 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
For
Elf recommends not resisting
, but invading the top left corner.
breaks into White's sphere of influence, cutting off the floating
stones. Then
bolsters the bottom right corner with sente. Next,
approaches the top right corner at
a. White's play is quite light. But pour moi, it goes against the grain to let the
stones get cut off and become floating.
Cutting Black in two
is a skillful tactic to build a strong wall, but Elf judges that it is better strategy to cut Black in two.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm16 Difficult fight
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4 O O 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 X . . 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8 X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . 3 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
pushes through the Black position, threatening both sides and starting a difficult fight.
responds to
.
is a strong play, threatening to cut White in two or to give White bad shape.
and
provide a strong rejoinder.
is
myoushu.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm26 Difficult fight, continued
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 0 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 5 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . a X 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O X X X 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . 1 O . O . 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
at
a secures the Black group.
makes territory and threatens to connect to White's group.
blocks the connection. Then White strengthens his group by threatening the
stones.
is a natural atari, but Elf deems it better to push into the center and cut White in two, while also getting cut in two. But Black has the initiative in the fight.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm17 Center fight
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 9 . 7 1 X 2 . 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 O B B . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 5 O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
pushes into the center, cutting the White stones off.
cuts off the Black center stones in return and threatens to cut off the
stones.
connects underneath.
strengthens the White center stones and threatens the Black center stones.
is a driving tesuji. The jump,
, is a strong play that seizes the initiative.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm27 Center fight, continued
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 8 6 1 . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 9 . 3 2 4 O O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X 5 X X X O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
puts pressure on White.
is tesuji, setting up the cut at
. Black's main center group has more elbow room than White's.
is the play to form a wall, but, again, Elf thinks that White should separate the Black stones.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm20 Let's make a deal
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 9 X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O 1 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X 2 a . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
saves the
stones and leads to a nice exchange.
takes sente and invades the top left corner. White can later play at
a with sente.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm30 Make a deal, continued
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
gives White a bit more territory in exchange for a stronger wall than usual, and then makes a large sphere of influence.
To me, the flexibility of Elf's play in these variations is impressive.