Hello, go lovers!
Today I am going to talk about two concepts that I've been trying to work out in my head recently. The first is a form of "passive" play, while the other is "aggresive". I am putting these two words in quotes because they are simply a form of thought. The misconceptions you may get with my (indeed, flawed) terminology are the following:
2012-06-14-ryo21-Median.sgf
This is a "passive" game from my point of view. My fuseki is a 3-4, 4-4 which is pretty certainly going to give me some territory on the right side.
Let me give you a quick tour through my mind as I play this game (note that this is a blitz game, and that my mind is not that thorough):
Move 7: I will probably have some solid territory on the right, so I will not jump into his corner. I will rather fight and see what comes out of it.
Move 11: This is cuttable, isn't it? (I wouldn't have cut here if my mind had answered with a shaky "yes". Since it was a solid "yes", I did cut. Notice I am going for simple life on the side here, instead of ambitious center influence. That is pretty passive, imho.)
Move 17: I like my corner, tyvm.
Move 21: I'll take that fifth line territory, yes sir.
Move 30: If our walls continue upward, I am at an advantage. My invasion on the left is deeper than his on the right, because I am closer to his corner. Onward! (passive, isn't it?)
Move 37: White 36 wrecked my easy-going path on the bottom, so I need to do something big to make up for it.
Move 47: I have the choice of attacking the upper right white group, making my upper left group larger, or tenuki. I decide to tenuki, since both groups seem pretty much alive already.
Move 53: You're actually going to allow me to connect downward? O.o Nice! :D
Move 59: Yay! Hane!.
Move 61: Combo x2.
Move 73: Ok, right now the status is: I have more territory on the right than he has on the left. All I need to do is make sure that this great wall of china doesn't do anything. TENGEN! Oh, wait, one above. Okai. That leaves the stones on the top open for attack, though. :( It's gonna be rough.
Move 74: Or is it?
Move 77: Right now, I feel that I can connect the stones above downward in a snake at worst, so I decide to reduce him while I still can. He's probably going to defend in gote, anyway.
Move 78: Told ya.
Move 121: Woo monkey jump on at least one side!
Move 130: Dude, that was end-game gote. Monkey. ^^
Move 133: You threaten to take those two stones, do you? Can I connect the other ones if you do that. I can? DOUBLE MONKEY!!!
Move 150: This is where I should have been very careful, but I wasn't. Which was stupid, since I'm playing a passive game, and not winning by too big a margin.
Move 160: K15 is a very nice move for white now, but I didn't see that. :(
Move 168: Apparently, he didn't see it either. o.O
Move 178: Oh, wait, there it is.
Move 184: Let me note that I am not yet aware of what's happening. If I simply play J19 now, I'm perfectly fine.
In this game, my mind was in the general area of: I am going to make a lead in the fuseki and early middle game, and work hard on keeping that lead. This is my "passive" mind at work. Here is what an "aggresive" mindset would be for me:
2012-06-15-alohacat-Median.sgf
I opened solidly, and my opponent went for massive frameworks. I pretty quickly felt urged to invade and live inside. Here is how it worked out.
Move 7: A high pincer. I doubt I'll be keeping the corner.
Move 8: Oh, wait.
Move 11: He is playing a high game. Let's work on reducing that framework of his as quickly as possible.
Move 12: He likes his framework a lot. o.O Ok, safety first, then wreckage.
Move 17: H14 looks weird. I don't think he can make a lot out of it in the next move. I'm going to go solid now, since if he destroys my territory, I really have nothing going for me.
Move 18: Ok, so I was pretty sure he was going to attack the stone in the upper right corner. He didn't? Let's use that to our advantage, shall we? BTW, his framework does look imposing, but it's full of weaknesses, really, I'm fairly certain I can still invade it ... like ... anywhere? I also feel that one move at J5 would even the frameworks out, but that would be passive. Let's not do that in this game, k?
Move 22: Pincer? Really? Soooo you're giving up on the three stones?
Move 27: Looks like it. Now is my last chance to make a significant reduction. Where to start. Upper side seems nice, since if I can't live inside, I can run to the right. He's probably gonna make me live inside, though.
Move 28: Yup.
Move 31: I don't think I can surround the two stones, but I can at least build up some strength while threatening it.
Move 42: So far, so good. Now what do I do with this? O.O
Move 44: Yeah, I thought you would use that. :( I didn't want to connect it because it would seem to slow. I think he could start a decent surrounding if I had connected. Right now, I'm thinking about ditching the top 3 stones, but I'm going to use them to threaten a capture of his two stones, first.
Move 52: Ouch. >.< My shape!
Move 57: Yes! That's what I wanted. The left-side group seems to have potential for life. I may need to discard the K13 triangle, but I don't mind, really. That territory was his before the invasion, anyway.
Move 58: Exactly what I need! I'll give you a double atari you can't refuse!
Move 63: Mission accomplished. ^^ I can start thinking about that J5 now to finish up. Don't wanna. Destruction ftw.
Move 64: Oh, we're resurrecting those, are we?
Move 72: This is a tippy-toe situation. I was at a slight advantage, though.
Move 79: Sure, I'll chase you around if you want me to.
And resignation. I still wanted to do something deep, like C7. In a game where the opponent is playing very wide moves, I feel inclined to work toward destroying large parts of his territory. That is the "aggressive" stance.
Feel free to give your thoughts, variotions etc. in the comments. :)
Today I am going to talk about two concepts that I've been trying to work out in my head recently. The first is a form of "passive" play, while the other is "aggresive". I am putting these two words in quotes because they are simply a form of thought. The misconceptions you may get with my (indeed, flawed) terminology are the following:
- These two forms of thought do not make your games look completely opposite to each other. The "passive" one still includes invasions, as invasions are a natural part of Go. The "aggresive" one is not reckless. Neither one of these is insane/extreme.
- The terms do not relate to a specific set of skills you may require, shapes you need to know, choice of joseki or anything like that. The choice of moves is a complex process, and making it a black-white relationship (I am either going to do THIS and be aggressive, or THAT and be passive) is somewhat narrow-minded. What I am talking about is merely a state of mind, nothing else.
2012-06-14-ryo21-Median.sgf
This is a "passive" game from my point of view. My fuseki is a 3-4, 4-4 which is pretty certainly going to give me some territory on the right side.
Let me give you a quick tour through my mind as I play this game (note that this is a blitz game, and that my mind is not that thorough):
Move 7: I will probably have some solid territory on the right, so I will not jump into his corner. I will rather fight and see what comes out of it.
Move 11: This is cuttable, isn't it? (I wouldn't have cut here if my mind had answered with a shaky "yes". Since it was a solid "yes", I did cut. Notice I am going for simple life on the side here, instead of ambitious center influence. That is pretty passive, imho.)
Move 17: I like my corner, tyvm.
Move 21: I'll take that fifth line territory, yes sir.
Move 30: If our walls continue upward, I am at an advantage. My invasion on the left is deeper than his on the right, because I am closer to his corner. Onward! (passive, isn't it?)
Move 37: White 36 wrecked my easy-going path on the bottom, so I need to do something big to make up for it.
Move 47: I have the choice of attacking the upper right white group, making my upper left group larger, or tenuki. I decide to tenuki, since both groups seem pretty much alive already.
Move 53: You're actually going to allow me to connect downward? O.o Nice! :D
Move 59: Yay! Hane!.
Move 61: Combo x2.
Move 73: Ok, right now the status is: I have more territory on the right than he has on the left. All I need to do is make sure that this great wall of china doesn't do anything. TENGEN! Oh, wait, one above. Okai. That leaves the stones on the top open for attack, though. :( It's gonna be rough.
Move 74: Or is it?
Move 77: Right now, I feel that I can connect the stones above downward in a snake at worst, so I decide to reduce him while I still can. He's probably going to defend in gote, anyway.
Move 78: Told ya.
Move 121: Woo monkey jump on at least one side!
Move 130: Dude, that was end-game gote. Monkey. ^^
Move 133: You threaten to take those two stones, do you? Can I connect the other ones if you do that. I can? DOUBLE MONKEY!!!
Move 150: This is where I should have been very careful, but I wasn't. Which was stupid, since I'm playing a passive game, and not winning by too big a margin.
Move 160: K15 is a very nice move for white now, but I didn't see that. :(
Move 168: Apparently, he didn't see it either. o.O
Move 178: Oh, wait, there it is.
Move 184: Let me note that I am not yet aware of what's happening. If I simply play J19 now, I'm perfectly fine.
In this game, my mind was in the general area of: I am going to make a lead in the fuseki and early middle game, and work hard on keeping that lead. This is my "passive" mind at work. Here is what an "aggresive" mindset would be for me:
2012-06-15-alohacat-Median.sgf
I opened solidly, and my opponent went for massive frameworks. I pretty quickly felt urged to invade and live inside. Here is how it worked out.
Move 7: A high pincer. I doubt I'll be keeping the corner.
Move 8: Oh, wait.
Move 11: He is playing a high game. Let's work on reducing that framework of his as quickly as possible.
Move 12: He likes his framework a lot. o.O Ok, safety first, then wreckage.
Move 17: H14 looks weird. I don't think he can make a lot out of it in the next move. I'm going to go solid now, since if he destroys my territory, I really have nothing going for me.
Move 18: Ok, so I was pretty sure he was going to attack the stone in the upper right corner. He didn't? Let's use that to our advantage, shall we? BTW, his framework does look imposing, but it's full of weaknesses, really, I'm fairly certain I can still invade it ... like ... anywhere? I also feel that one move at J5 would even the frameworks out, but that would be passive. Let's not do that in this game, k?
Move 22: Pincer? Really? Soooo you're giving up on the three stones?
Move 27: Looks like it. Now is my last chance to make a significant reduction. Where to start. Upper side seems nice, since if I can't live inside, I can run to the right. He's probably gonna make me live inside, though.
Move 28: Yup.
Move 31: I don't think I can surround the two stones, but I can at least build up some strength while threatening it.
Move 42: So far, so good. Now what do I do with this? O.O
Move 44: Yeah, I thought you would use that. :( I didn't want to connect it because it would seem to slow. I think he could start a decent surrounding if I had connected. Right now, I'm thinking about ditching the top 3 stones, but I'm going to use them to threaten a capture of his two stones, first.
Move 52: Ouch. >.< My shape!
Move 57: Yes! That's what I wanted. The left-side group seems to have potential for life. I may need to discard the K13 triangle, but I don't mind, really. That territory was his before the invasion, anyway.
Move 58: Exactly what I need! I'll give you a double atari you can't refuse!
Move 63: Mission accomplished. ^^ I can start thinking about that J5 now to finish up. Don't wanna. Destruction ftw.
Move 64: Oh, we're resurrecting those, are we?
Move 72: This is a tippy-toe situation. I was at a slight advantage, though.
Move 79: Sure, I'll chase you around if you want me to.
And resignation. I still wanted to do something deep, like C7. In a game where the opponent is playing very wide moves, I feel inclined to work toward destroying large parts of his territory. That is the "aggressive" stance.
Feel free to give your thoughts, variotions etc. in the comments. :)
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