singular wrote:
> How to calculate value? Some areas are more obvious than others . . . . they could be put into categories or something.
> How to weigh value and sente (play a big move or a sente move?)
> Damezumari: how to put the mind in order about dame-filling. It can be confusing for me with so many groups in contact and so many different kinds of weaknesses to cover. Some guidelines or principles would help. I always get this wrong and pay for it.
> Semedori and tiny ko. When are they worth something and what are they worth?
> Tedomari-- when does endgame start? And at the end of endgame is the final move worth anything? Why?
> Tesuji-- how to avoid making shapes vulnerable to tesuji, and how to exploit vulnerable shapes.
> Which moves are endgame moves? (Not always obvious).
So to tackle a few of your questions, at least, an endgame move is a move that is only worth points. The contrast is with moves in the middle game, which concern the life and death of groups. Once all the groups' statuses are decided, it's time for the endgame. There are, of course, sometimes very large endgame moves that should be taken before the last middle game moves, but as for classifying a move as one or the other, the question is whether a group is unsettled or of uncertain status and can be attacked, in which case it's up to you to attack or defend as appropriate, or move on to endgame if it is not true.
Regarding Tedomari, as mentioned, the endgame starts when all the groups statuses are decided. This doesn't mean that you don't have forcing moves against those groups, but just that with proper play, they won't die. It is also possible for a game to move into the endgame and then, as a result of a cut or somesuch, go back to the middle game, because there are undecided groups. Tedomari itself is taking (and by extension, arranging to take) the last move of a particular value before all the moves drop significantly in value. This requires counting, or at least a sense of the size of moves, and is probably best explored through problems. One thing that's related though you didn't mention it is miai. If there are two moves left at a certain value, make sure you get one of them! Especially if both are double-sente, as giving your opponent both is a huge loss.
As for Semedori and dame filling, these also need to be read out, but generally, if you have two eyes on one side of a capture, you don't need to capture, and if you have one, you eventually will if your opponent can fill all the other liberties. If this is the case, then you need to count how many liberties you have, and how many the dead stones have, and start taking liberties when you are one away from losing the capturing race. Dame filling is similar, expect that if you have one eye, plus various loose connections and false eyes, you are generally okay, and if you don't, you need to read out how many liberties you have with the last string, and how many moves it will take you to confirm your connection, and then start connecting one liberty before you lose. You generally also want to connect from the living group to the string, rather than the other way around, so that each move your opponent makes threatens to capture less and less stones. Again, problems help here.
Regarding sente, gote, and value:
Traditionally, moves are grouped into 3 or 4 categories: double sente, sente, reverse sente, and gote.
First, a move is sente because the follow up is significantly larger than all the other moves available on the board. Sometimes this means that it threatens to kill a group, sometimes not. Also, once played, the other player may be able to intersperse a sente move with a bigger followup prior to responding to your threat.
Double sente are moves that are sente for both sides. Play these first, as soon as the threat is big enough.
Sente moves are sente for you, but if your opponent plays there first, it's gote for them. Generally these are your privelege to play, and to value them, you count the difference in territory and prisoners from when you play first and when your opponent plays first.
Reverse sente moves are the opposite, sente for your opponent, gote for you. You count them the same as sente moves, but generally, your opponent will take them first, since by taking it you give up sente.
Gote moves are gote for both players. Traditionally, these are counted the same way as sente moves, and then the value is halved for the purpose of deciding when to play it. They are the least important moves to play, since neither player is in a rush to take or prevent them, and they give up sente.
The counting method I am describing here is known as deiri counting, if you want to look it up, and there is a slightly confusing page on it at sensei's library:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?DeiriCounting. This may be worth looking at for the first example, at least, to get a better idea of how the count works. You may also get good value out of looking at the endgame section there:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?Endgame. There are several exercises with answers and other resources that may help you bridge the gap between where you are and the written literature.
Hopefully this helps a bit, at least.
But, OC, they are unaware of their errors in dame filling. 