Skybox - experiments with influence

Influence is important in GO, but it is somewhat hard to quantify. Books talk about trading territory for influence, but it is pretty tough to figure out what a fair trade looks like. I can't tell you exactly how to judge this, but an interesting GO variant called "Skybox" is worth a game or 2.


Skybox Setup: Put a black stone on every spot on the first line as shown above.

Skybox rules: One side (white in my example) tries to make a living group. If white can make 1 group with 2 eyes, white wins. So, obviously, black needs to stop white from getting a 2-eyed group.

So, basically, you are playing a regular game of GO, except that black has a ton of influence around the edge of the board. The page on Sensei's that mentions Skybox states that white should fail. We played 1 game at work, and I sort of consider this less of a "game" and more like an "exercise". It is REALLY tough on white, but I think that hints at the power of influence.

It is also interesting to see how to optimize your play as black. Basically, keep it simple and run to the wall when threatened. Don't try tricky cuts, don't try to capture anything, just drop a stone somewhere that destroys eyeshape and run to the wall!

Watching a game of Skybox did make me rethink my assumptions about "best moves". I really encourage you to play a game, err...try the exercise!