:: Igo Hatsuyôron 120 (2015)

Variations of the Professional Solution

VARP (.2)

: ( 716)
White gives atari in the top left corner. This starts a variation that is shown in the 2010 book of Cheng [LIT. 9; page 379].

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Black can no longer win the semeai with White's group on the left side, so he has to start the semeai with White's group on the bottom.


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, :
This is a tesuji combination that we were not aware before. It enables Black to decisively reduce his loss in the upper left corner.

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White has destroyed Black's option for an eye on the upper edge, so Black has to secure life with a move in the corner.

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In principle, Black has sufficient liberties left to connect his single stone in atari, but this does not really matter here.

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White must capture the hanezeki's tail now. Otherwise, Black would connect at himself, first decide the semeai with White's group on the bottom in his favour, and thereafter still capture White's stones in the hanezeki.

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This move ends the sequence of Cheng. Black will capture all of White's stones in the hanezeki (), and is ahead by approximately 15 points.

White would be able to win, only if she reduced Black's upper left corner, and captured Black's nakade stones (). Another option would be to kill the entire upper left corner. But these are tasks that White will never be able to accomplish.

Copyright © 2016 Thomas Redecker.

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