Showing posts tagged: tsumego
Sunday Problem #43
This problem is from Guanzi Pu. Black needs to think of an unconventional response to White’s second-line peep on the right side.
Black to play.
Solution
Black’s unlikely jump of 1 is correct, and the only choice for the first move. If White cuts with 5 in response, Black can form life in the corner and capture White that way.
However, our reading should not end after black 1, as White still has a resistance available. White 2–6 manage to create a two-step kō for life that Black cannot prevent.
Instead of 3, Black can also pick the move order of 5-6-3-4.
Sunday Problem #42
This problem is of dubious origin. I copied this diagram from a tsumego collection composed by Ishida Yoshio 9p for the 24th Hiratsuka go festival; but, as there are some classic problems within the collection, it is not certain whether this is an original problem by Ishida or not.
Black to play.
Solution
Black’s cut of 1 is the …
Sunday Problem #41
This is an original tsumego by me. The solution sequence for this is not particularly outstanding, but as a tsumego this has value in that this position can easily result from a particular 3-3 invasion jōseki.
Black to play.
Solution
Black’s straightforward attack with 1–5 is correct, and the result is a two-step kō.
Black can also start by attaching at a, after which white b and 1–5 follow; the result is practically the same.
Sunday Problem #40
This is a problem from Chō Chikun’s Yose no Tesuji (ヨセの手筋), or Endgame Tesuji.
Black to play.
Solution
Black’s attachment of 1 is the key move. If White tries to resist with 2, then he gets captured by 3–5.
Instead of 2, White has no choice but to play 3 himself and sacrifice the two stones to the right.
Sunday Problem #39
Last week we had an extremely difficult problem, so I picked an easier one for this time. This problem is so classic that it is hard to say where it is originally from; my guess would be one of the classic tsumego collections.
Black to play.
Solution
Black 1 and 3 are an exquisite move order. White has no resistance available and, up to 7, White is captured.
Failure
Black 1 here is wrong. This time, Black can only manage a kō for the white group’s life.
Sunday Problem #38
This is an original problem by me, inspired by a shape that occurred in an ngd league game. This is one of the few cases I’ve seen where a real-game position leads to a difficult and interesting life-and-death problem.
This problem included a small competition, where the first person to post the correct answer would get one month of Kifu …
Sunday Problem #37
This is a classic problem from Gokyō Shumyō. There are in fact two solutions, but they lead to the same final shape.
Black to play.
Solution
Black can start with 1 or 5 – in either case, White responds with 2. Instead of 3, too, Black can first throw in at 5 without changing the outcome.
After 3, …
Sunday Problem #36
Continuing with famous classic problems, this is problem 15 from Chō’s tsumego encyclopedia, advanced section.
Black to play.
Solution
Black’s 1–3 combination is the only order of moves that works. The main challenge in this problem is finding black 3, which becomes a kind of blind spot due to its bad shape.
Sunday Problem #35
Like last week’s problem, this is also from Guanzi Pu – and, in fact, also from Xuanxuan Qijing, where its title is 水落石出 (sui-raku-seki-shutsu). Literally this means a river’s water receding and the riverbed’s rocks’ becoming visible, but the figurative meaning is that of truth becoming revealed.
Black to play.
Solution
This diagram shows White’s strongest resistance. …
Ōhashi Hirofumi’s Banri Ikkū
I love the smell of tsumego in the morning.
I just received in mail the newest, recently-published tsumego book from Ōhashi Hirofumi 6p, our Nihon Ki-In English class member as well as a regular visitor to European go tournaments. The problem collection includes some of Ōhashi’s most interesting creations from the past 20 years, with the difficulty level of …
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