I Tenuki (Humorous)

[hailthorn011]

I was thinking of Go terms, and this one came to my head. So I decided to write a humorous little poem about the tenuki. It's actually a bad habit I've developed. I tenuki at all the wrong times. I've lost several games because I let a group die when I could have saved it. <<

Also, for those who don't get the Tanooki reference, here you go:



I Tenuki

When my opponent places a stone
I gaze in shock; awe; stunned surprise
And I simply tenuki

The stones, they're surely alive
They can thrive without further help
And thus; I simply tenuki

My opponent cocks an eyebrow
My moves frazzle his befuddled mind
He doesn't like to tenuki

So he tries to capture my stones
Wait- I think I made a mistake
Because he doesn't like to tenuki

So my stones are spiraling; Almost dead
They're crying; they're sighing; they're dying
But I'm addicted to the simple tenuki

The game is long over and moreover
I feel like a fool wearing a Tanooki suit
So I simply tenuki

[mogosoup]

Happens to me all the time

[Erythen]

I love this poem

[Lighthouse01]

The idea of thoughtful, it's great, I like it a lot.
ทางเข้า genting princess

[Bonobo]

And for those who (like me) still didn't get the “Tanooki” [Tanuki] reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog

The Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus), also known as tanuki (狸 or たぬき [..]) in Japanese, is a subspecies of the Asian raccoon dog.

Researchers [..] have suggested that they be considered a separate species, N. viverrinus, or that raccoon dogs of Japan could be further divisible into separate subspecies as N. p. procyonoides (hondo-tanuki) and N. p. albus (ezo-tanuki), but both views are controversial.

As the tanuki, the animal has been significant in Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absentminded. It is also a common theme in Japanese art, especially statuary.

"Tanuki" is often mistakenly translated into English as "badger" or "raccoon" [..], two unrelated types of animals with superficially similar appearances. Traditionally, different areas of Japan had different names for raccoon dogs as animals, which would be used to denote different animals in other parts of the country, including badgers and wild cats; however, the official word in the standard Tokyo dialect is now "tanuki", a term that also carries the folkloric significance.

(Emphasis added by me)

Image text: “Cropped version of an image of a tanuki from Iwanafish. Altered to better display the animal; Nyctereutes procyonoides, commonly know as a Tanuki or Japanese Raccoon Dog.”

Not sure whether I’d dare to pat this animal’s belly (though I admit it doesn't look unfriendly) …

And then there’s “Master Tenuki”, of course, from Inkwolf’s wonderful “Aji’s Quest”:

[Babelardus]

LOL. I wish I had a bit of that habit. Now I'm sometimes wasting stones by making 100% sure that a group is alive, while it actually already is, even without the extra stone.

That causes my opponent to be able to either save a group, close a gap, or fix something else that I could have exploited but didn't, because 'I'm going to wait one more move to first make this group alive, for sure'.