Tesuji by James Davies and the Nose Tesuji

Elementary GO Series, Vol. 3 - Tesuji by James Davies

This is a book that takes a while to get through. Every few pages a new tesuji is shown, and then there are problems for the reader to solve using the new moves.

I originally understood tesuji to mean "trick play". I thought it was something that happened on rare occasions by masters of the game. But tesuji are really not tricks as much as known positions of stones that lead to some kind of a forcing play or capture if you know the pattern. I would call the Ladder and the Net some basic tesujis. I guess my point is that I assumed I didn't really need to read a book on tesuji since it was just some weird trick plays - well, I was wrong.

Tesuji is a book with a lot to offer. Davies details quite a few tesujis and then gives some great problems to help you practice. I am nearly done with my first pass through the book, but I can tell I need to revisit it regularly. Why? First, I have forgotten some of the patterns already. Second, I did a fairly poor job at the problems. In general, I could guess what the critical first move of the sequence would be, but I wasn't able to see the "forced" response or get the chain of moves through to the solution. I think that as I absorb a few of the tesuji in the book, I will be able to wrap my brain around a few more, until I eventually have more or less memorized the tesuji in the book. The fact that I can't read the problems out to the end tells me that I need to improve my reading - or simply that I am a 15 kyu, and I have a lot to learn.

Despite the book being a pretty strong challenge, it has already paid off in game. Here is a game where I recognized the opportunity for a "Nose Tesuji".

Here is the position where I recognized that a Nose Tesuji was possible. A play at 'A' by white is the Nose Tesuji - I guess getting the name from the fact that the 2 black stones stick out like a nose. The set up wasn't quite perfect yet, so I played a stone to set up the trap...


White 1 below doesn't seem to be an attacking move, but it isolates the black stones at F13, G13 and sets up the tesuji. I am guessing that my opponent doesn't know this tesuji, so he isn't prepared to defend against it. His Black 2 doesn't affect the tesuji, so I spring H13 on him...


The Nose Tesuji reduces his group to two liberties and by struggling to escape he loses another liberty. Now the 5 black stones are in atari - nice job Nose Tesuji!


Having read Tesuji, and having seen the praise it has received on GoDiscussions, I believe it is an essential book for a player's GO library.

Janice Kim Vol 5 and Shape

Janice Kim's "Learn to Play Go" Volume 5

I zipped through this book and found it light but clear.

One highlight: This book does a nice job of talking about a tough GO term - "shape". I have struggled with understanding what shape is in GO. I have learned a few things about it.
First is efficiency. You want to get the biggest bang for the buck when placing your stones. If you play extra stones in an area that doesn't need them you become inefficient and "overconcentrated".

(Here is an example of what Janice Kim talks about.) What is the most efficient way for white to capture this stone?


The most efficient way is to surround it and cut off its liberties directly. This makes the Pon Nuki shape (or "Death Star").


Look at the shape below - it used an extra stone to capture the black stone, so this shape is not as good at the pon nuki above. White should have played that 5th stone somewhere else to be efficient.


Next, shape as a concept has to deal with the proverb "My opponents best move is my best move." Shape isn't something that deals with one player's stones while ignoring the other player's stones. I really didn't get this at first.

Look at this shape. A play at 'A' by either player will create the pon nuki shape. White may really want to play at A to make a Tiger's Mouth. Black may want to stop the formation of that white Tiger's Mouth. So, playing at A is "good shape" for either player.


Other good shapes are listed on Sensei's library. (Here are some.) I still don't feel 100% comfortable that I understand shape on the GO board, but I am starting to grasp the basics.