Close Encounters with the Middle Game

by Michiel Eijkhout

Overview

The middle game is where a game of go is most often decided. Being strong at the opening will give you an advantage, and accurate reading and calculation in the endgame can gain you many points; but excelling at the middle game is the surest way to victory. This book presents 32 crucial middle-game positions that arose in top professional games. It focuses on making clear what purpose is served by the moves played and which strategic considerations are at play. It tries to answer a question many amateurs may ask: Why do professionals play where they do? Every position is discussed in detail, explaining what goes on in the minds of the players, showing the moves that are good, bad, or hard to judge. It makes for an entertaining journey through the realm of professional go and also gives an insight in what lies beneath many professional moves that at first may look strange.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9784906574803
Publisher:	Kiseido
Publication date:	05/05/2016
Series:	Mastering the Basics , #10
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Michiel Eijkhout has been one of the top Dutch go players for more than thirty years, reaching 6-dan in 2001. He represented the Netherlands at the World Amateur Championship in 1994 and 2001 and participated with his partner Yvonne Roelofs in the International Amateur Pair Go Championship in 2001 and 2011. He was the chief editor for the Dutch Go Magazine for five years and has been a regular contributor to it for decades. He can be contacted at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Part One: Frameworks of Territory (Moyos) . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Speeding Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. No Need to Rush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. The Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4. The Start of the Middle Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5. Freedom and Flexibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6. Attacking to Set up a Moyo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Part Two: Invading or Reducing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7. Just Another Forcing Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8. Making Use of Scattered Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
9. Into the Deep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
10. Virtual Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
11. How Deeply Should You Invade? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
12. Everything Has its Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
13. A Radical Invasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Part Three: The Art of Trading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
14. Fatten Before Slaughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
15. A Side Territory Changes Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
- iii -
16. Exchanging Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
17. Throwing Away Some Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
18. An Attack That Did Not Happen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
19. For a Few More Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Part Four: Mean Fighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
20. Middle Game Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
21. Attacking to Make Profit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
22. The Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
23. A Short Story about Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
24. The Fate of a Corner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
25. Making a Really Wide Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
26. Plan? What Plan? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Part Five: Encounters with the Unexpected . . . . . . . . . . 180
27. Treating Your Stones Lightly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
28. An Unexpected Blow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
29. Attacking from a Distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
30. Outreading the Opponent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
31. A Proper Provocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
32. An Unorthodox Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Contents