Black to play. Obviously he has been concentrating on a moyo. With that in mind, how should he proceed?
Answer:
R5 is the move.
This position is from Sonoda but what I want to say has nothing to do with book. In my experience the word moyo has certain associations that trigger stereotypical responses in amateurs, even strong ones. The association I am thinking of here is the nexus of words centring on 'expansion'. I expect many players, especially kyu players, and most especially those who like to play moyo games anyway, will have been looking at moves that expand the Black moyo and make it "awesome". There may be some niggling doubt as to whether the opponent will invade, but expanding the moyo is often sente, right, and if I've got sente he can't invade, so build, build, build!
However, most moyos resemble a house of cards. It is therefore necessary, if you haven't done it already, to add another important association in your brain to the word moyo. How you choose to do that is a personal thing, but the usual Japanese is moyou o hikishimeru. You need to brace, prop up, reinforce, stiffen or whatever your moyo. Personally I like the idea of pit props, thinking of a moyo as a mine that can deliver great treasure but can also collapse suddenly.
But this is a talking point, so here's a digression. People like Takemiya often say that the right way to handle a moyo is to entice the opponent in and let him live small. He gets 2 points and you get really "awesome" thickness. I've used that idea often and know it works a treat. But in that case, why does Black reinforce at R5 here instead of inviting White to invade the corner and live small. I think I know the answer and it's only partly about giving up all four corners, but it's worth talking about more widely.
This position is from Sonoda but what I want to say has nothing to do with book. In my experience the word moyo has certain associations that trigger stereotypical responses in amateurs, even strong ones. The association I am thinking of here is the nexus of words centring on 'expansion'. I expect many players, especially kyu players, and most especially those who like to play moyo games anyway, will have been looking at moves that expand the Black moyo and make it "awesome". There may be some niggling doubt as to whether the opponent will invade, but expanding the moyo is often sente, right, and if I've got sente he can't invade, so build, build, build!
However, most moyos resemble a house of cards. It is therefore necessary, if you haven't done it already, to add another important association in your brain to the word moyo. How you choose to do that is a personal thing, but the usual Japanese is moyou o hikishimeru. You need to brace, prop up, reinforce, stiffen or whatever your moyo. Personally I like the idea of pit props, thinking of a moyo as a mine that can deliver great treasure but can also collapse suddenly.
But this is a talking point, so here's a digression. People like Takemiya often say that the right way to handle a moyo is to entice the opponent in and let him live small. He gets 2 points and you get really "awesome" thickness. I've used that idea often and know it works a treat. But in that case, why does Black reinforce at R5 here instead of inviting White to invade the corner and live small. I think I know the answer and it's only partly about giving up all four corners, but it's worth talking about more widely.
) but I noticed that, while it tends to allow the opponent to reduce the moyo, it also made harder for him to launch invasions that would reduce it to nothing. One welcome consequence is that (some of these) moyo games were not the kill-the-invader-or-lose type I was accustomed to but allowed a more relaxed way of dealing with invasions.