Shusaku Game 1 (Part 5)

Here we go, we will wrap up this game and then find something new to dig our teeth into. I will be doing many Shusaku game reviews here but sometimes I will pick out pro games too, especially when looking at fuseki which has changed a lot. There will also be more problems as time goes on, which reminds me I have to post the solutions to those two life and death problems. If you're just getting here you can go to the beginning or click the link to 'Game Reviews' at the top of the page to go to a page that will have links to all the games I go over on this site.

First of all I'm going to backtrack here and cover the end of the ko fight that were were looking at last time because this is where (I think!) black pulls ahead. Black 29 has just taken the ko to the left of 47 and white makes a ko threat by peeping at 30 along the top.

Dia. 1

Black ignores this ko threat and turns to attack the large white group on the bottom. The logic is that after 31 and 33 the white cut at 49, setting five black stones adrift, is no longer very threatening to black. This is doubly true because the white stones in the top center are very weak and have bad shape. 33 also weakens this group further. White has no time to take the ko after 33 because he has to make eyes for his large group on the bottom. While he manages to make two eyes through 46 black is comfortable enough to ignore white 30 and fill the ko at 47. White would like to play at 49 to profit from his ko threat but the white group in the center is so weak that he has to take the time to reinforce it at 48. Black now descends at 49 so white can't even get partial compensation from the ko.

We can see that white 30 was actually a mistake that allowed black to gain the advantage in the center and eventually win the ko fight. This also shows the wisdom of not following your opponent around the board. Had this been my game I might have reflexively answered white 30 and then gone on the lose the game. Every move you should take stock of whether you truly have to respond to your opponent, take every chance you can to get sente and execute your own plan. If we remember that white had to add the stone at R12 to increase the value of the ko we see that white has invested a number of stones into this fight and gotten almost nothing in return. This is a beautiful sequence for black and really shows how strong Shusaku was even at a young age (he is ten at the time of this game).

With 50 white takes the biggest point on the board but this allows black to take the initiative and attack the floating white stones at 51.

Dia. 2

White pushes out through 60 and then builds up the top left with 62 and 64. White switches back to defending his center group with 66 and then ignores black's turn at 67 to play the large point at 68. Black makes an excellent move at 69 which exploits the bad aji at G18, white has to defend the point with 70 or black will play there and cause all kinds of trouble. See if you can work out the details for yourself (hint: Black's wedge at F16 has some intriguing possibilities).

Dia. 3

This takes us through to the end, these moves are all pretty small but notice how Shusaku ignores the threat to cut at 78 to live on the side with 79. This is bigger in terms of territory and makes the cut meaningless. After white blocks at 80 black uses sente very well, forcing at 81, 83, 85, and 87. White resigned after black 91. I'm not the best counter but no matter how I play out the endgame it seems black has a secure lead of at least a couple points.

I hope you enjoyed this game. I had a lot of fun playing through it for you. Maybe we can do another Shusaku game next week. I'll see if I can find a good one, or maybe we'll just go through the book, game by game, and see how Shusaku progresses. Till next time, ciao!