Life In 19x19

A lot of the time the shape in B will be reached by starting in the position below and then white exchanges 'a' for 'b'. But this is a mistake. As you can see, white is alive here, while after the 'a'-'b' exchange white's group will become ko unless white wastes his sente to fix it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Don't play 'a' as white.
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . X . . . . .
$$ | . b . . . . . .
$$ | . a X X . . . .
$$ | . O O X . X . .
$$ | . . . O X . . .
$$ | . . O . . . . .
$$ ----------------[/go]

Thanks ndkrempel, it actually says that in the book, but I forgot to write it

Ok, next problem is about order of moves, with some text. I don't want to quote too much, but the basic idea is that you need intuition to find the vital points, but then you need to read to find the correct order of moves. "The reason is that intuition is in the end no more than that, and it is not enough to be sure of the best move. Even if locally it is a vital point, there will be times when overall it is not suitable."

And then we have a nice order-of-moves problem. This one to me seems a step up in difficulty from the simple tesuji problems before, but it's still doable.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . X X X X O O . . .
$$ | . X . . O . X . . . .
$$ | . X O . . . O O . . .
$$ | X O . O . O B . O . .
$$ | X O O O . . B . . , .
$$ | X X X X O O B . O . .
$$ | . O O O B B B . O . .
$$ | . . . . O O O O . . .
$$ ----------------------[/go]

To me it seems like the basic reading process has 4 parts:
1) pick move to try
2) visualize move on the board
3) evaluate
4) either add another move, or backtrack

Intuition is most important for step 1. I think 2 is mostly just practice. I know sometimes when I'm reading a long sequence I'll lose track of the visualized stones, or make a more subtle mistake like miss an atari or snapback because I can't "see" as clearly as I can with real stones. 3 is mostly straightforward in L&D, although knowing certain shapes are dead or alive without reading can greatly speed up the process. As for 4, I think it's a question of discipline: you have to resist the temptation to read a few moves in, think "looks interesting", and play it without taking the time to find out whether it really works. Actually I think most of my mistakes in reading come from overzealous pruning; I don't consider a critical response because it looks "obviously bad".

I think almost all reading mistakes are a case of either:
1) I decide I know the solution, but I didn't consider a move (overlooking the answer)
2) I can't read deep/broad enough, and give up (underlooking?)

Anyways, that's my thoughts on reading and intuition, what do you fine readers think?

I think a better description of the reading process, from what the book has said so far, might be:

1) Find the vital point or tesuji in the shape
2) Visualize a sequence of moves using that tesuji
3) Read the continuation out carefully to see if it really works
4) If it does not work, try varying the order of moves

In the example problem, it is easy to see the vital points, and I think many of us would instinctively play the 1-2-3 punch below, only to realize (too late) that it does not quite work. The point is to be disciplined enough to read this out before playing, so you have a chance to make a small correction and find a variation which does work.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B First instinct?
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . X X X X O O . . .
$$ | . X . . O . X . . . .
$$ | . X O . . 3 O O . . .
$$ | X O . O . O X . O . .
$$ | X O O O 1 2 X . . , .
$$ | X X X X O O X . O . .
$$ | . O O O X X X . O . .
$$ | . . . . O O O O . . .
$$ ----------------------[/go]

Here is another problem along the same lines. It is not too difficult to figure out the eye stealing tesuji, once you know it exists (although in an actual game you might simply think W is alive). But after that it takes a lot of reading to find the complete solution. Hint -- there is only one correct sequence, not two.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to kill
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . X X X X X X . .
$$ | . X . . . O X . .
$$ | O O O . O O X . .
$$ | . . . . . O X . .
$$ ------------------[/go]

Here are the solutions, in case anyone didn't figure it out. I'll put up some more stuff in a bit.