The Further Evolution of Amateurs' Knowledge
(2011 - 2014)
2012 - Occupying White's Liberties
(Referenced by 497) While occupying White's liberties on the left side of the board, Black should play moves like , and , last, for technical reasons. These moves occupy neutral points only, and do not protect Black's territory. This leads us to another interesting feature of the problem's overall structure. |
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If White, at any time, had more territory-reducing moves on the left side of the board ( to each destroy one point of Black's territory () in sente, but also lose one liberty of White's group, while is gote (but creating an approach-move liberty), losing one liberty in exchange for destroying another point of Black's territory ()) ... |
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... as Black on the right side of the board ( to each destroys one point of White's territory in exchange for losing one liberty of his group; gains two points by saving the single Black stone in gote, so loses two liberties of his group), White could reduce the margin of her loss in the Capture Variation. However, this is not true with the problem. Please remember that the fates of White's group on the left edge, and Black's group in the upper right, are strongly connected. To realize her territorial gain (), White must live on the left side, so capture the hanezeki's tail (). In this case, however, Black's group in the upper left also lives, and Black's territorial gain (, ) also matters. | |
At the top (after to ), destroys one point of White's territory in sente () in exchange for losing another liberty of his group. Thereafter, is gote, destroying one point of White's territory () for losing one liberty of his group. In total, each side destroyed seven points of opponent's territory in exchange for losing seven liberties of their large groups that are engaged in the Main Semeai. The Semeai Variation is unaffected as well. | |