First Sequence to Understand

Your opponent sets down a stone. You want to attack! But where is the best place to go? You want to smash right up next to his stone, right? Wall him in and stop any expansion, right? WRONG! I think what intuitively makes the most sense is a bad move.

GO has patterns of play that are called "joseki". There are tons! Entire books are written about them. They are a series of moves that have been tested over time and are considered to be a somewhat "even exchange" between the two players. (Similar to chess opening theory if you are familiar with that - although as I understand it, the GO joseki can happen at any time during the game and in various locations.)

I wanted to call this post "Beginner's Joseki", but I realized it isn't an even exchange. It is bad for one side! Which is what I want to warn you about. The proverb is "Don't Attach When Attacking". But what does that mean? Where does the strongest attack appear to be for black in the diagram below? (Assume the first play of the game, your black stone with the "1" on it is on the other side of the board. White "2" is his first play of the game.)



Let's get in his face! That will force him to play defensively, right?


Actually, white has a great offensive response to our attack.


Basically, white attacks us right back. and the 2 stone is helping the 4 stone on offense. We are in what is called a "liberties race". Who can surround the other sides stones first? White already has two stones out there and our black stone has only 2 liberties left. If black continues to try and surround the white "2" stone, he will lose the "3" stone first and fail to capture white "2".



After a few more stones it is white's turn. Both black "3" and white "2" are in atari, but since white was there first (or turned around, because black attacked) white will win the liberties race:


The black stone at 3 was captured. So, in this simple scenario you can see why attacking by connecting (touching the opponent's stone) is to the advantage of the player who had a stone there first. It also gives you your first strategy! If you are attacked by someone who places their stone against yours, you know how to respond - attack right back!