Efficiency

GO is all about being efficient. That sort of translates to capturing the most area with the fewest stones. There are opportunities to do this all the time on the GO board and I only have a few examples to show.


Here is a situation that might exist in a game. Both ends of the black wall are single stones that are not solidly connected to the rest of the black stones. White could cut across and separate them from the rest of the wall. If black gets the chance he could simply connect each of those stones to the rest of the wall and block white - but would that be efficient? There is a more efficient way to protect from having white invade at those weak point while grabbing more territory.


Below you will see 2 stones added to the black wall. These stones make a shape called a "Tiger's Mouth" at each end of the wall. (A Tiger's Mouth is 3 stones in a shape that protects the point in the center - if your opponent moves there, they put themselves into atari instantly!) You can see that white can't cut across the ends of the black wall without putting stones in atari. You can also see that black is efficiently extending out toward the rest of the board with these moves.


Below is another efficiency series. If you start with the position on the left, it seems like the best move is to capture. (The middle is the result of that choice.) But it may be more efficient to play the move on the right. White should know that black can capture that stone with one move, even if white extends down. That white stone is effectively dead. The black move on the right grabs a little more territory on the right and still effectively "kills" the white stone.


Of course if white is allowed to add a few stones in this area while black is focused on another part of the board, that dead stone could be rescued. Black will have to keep an eye on the area and truly kill the stone before white can save it.