How do you make good shapes or know how to do it?

Hi Glummie,

Some sample discussions: MakingGoodShape

You can also have your games reviewed
( the quality of the review matters ).

Top human games have many examples of efficient shapes.

Hi, thanks for the prompt response. Is that book the best for shapes study?

Hey Glummie,

i don't know which book is the best on that topic, but here is another one: ShapeUp (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)

You can use this article as an entry point, too: Shape

This video by dsaun gets recommended often

“Shape Up” by revered L19 member Charles Matthews is a good suggestion indeed, but I’d recommend to use this (AFAIK latest) edition: http://cdn.online-go.com/shape_up.pdf

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Thanks for the suggestions!

For beginner intro to shape I recommend these 2:
- https://senseis.xmp.net/?LameDuGo
- https://senseis.xmp.net/?HaengMaTutorialForBeginners

(Shape Up is good but probably too hard for a 25k).

Here are some threads about shape.

forum/viewtopic.php?t=8136

viewtopic.php?t=13527

viewtopic.php?t=11896

I highly recommend the first one. It was started by a beginner who was very good at hosting interesting and instructive discussions.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I like https://senseis.xmp.net/?GoodShape, particularly the last paragraph.

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Was Fan Hui's book ever translated or is it just this one chapter?

I'm not aware of the whole book being translated to English.

This may be a bit advanced for this thread, but I have a comment about Fan Hui's example, the so-called ripped tobi. Here is the diagram for it from Sensei's Library.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c A ripped tobi
$$ +---------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------+[/go]

The problem, as I see it, is that it is on the third line. Presumably Black will play , else if White plays there the Black shape is really, really, really bad.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Joseki
$$ +---------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 6 3 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . 5 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . , . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------+[/go]

makes a ripped tobi. Bad shape, eh? Not at all, because it is on the third line. That means that whichever way White cuts, Black can capture the cutting stone.

I sympathize. It is not easy to construct good, specific examples of general concepts.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Thanks buddy!