Page:Smith - The game of go.djvu/108

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21. G 2. Is played very carefully. K 3 would probably have been better. In that case White would either have played H 5 in order to save H 3, whereupon would have followed, or White would have answered at K 4.

22. M 3. Two stones which mutually support each other on the margin of the board and form a position cannot be separated by more than two spaces; for instance, R 13–R 16. In that case the adversary cannot cut one off from the other. (Korschelt here inserts continuations similar to what we have shown in a preceding chapter.) Therefore, White’s twentieth and twenty-second moves are merely intended to fill territory that would otherwise fall to Black, and are not intended to form a new group.

23. H 2. The only correct answer would have been K 3, which would have separated White’s twentieth and twenty-second stones.

24. M 5. White seeks to form a connection with No. 6, which Black frustrates by his twenty-fifth move. It is of the greatest importance to prevent the union of groups which the adversary has formed on the margin, in order that they may remain weak, and require continuous defense.

The player who has the “Sente” most of the time will generally be the victor.

25. O6.

26. Q 9. Is very necessary in order not to surrender the entire right side to Black.

27. K 17. All good players agree that 27 should not have been played at K 17, but at L 17. This is difficult to understand because K 17 can be supported from both sides at G 17 and N 17, but L 17 is better because Black should be occupied not merely with taking a position, but more particularly with killing White’s fourth stone. In the sequel K 17 is actually taken by White.

28. H 17. This move has the effect of abandoning stone No. 4 at P 17. After Black’s twenty-ninth move at N 17, No. 4 could still escape by means of P 15, but giving it up brings more territory elsewhere than is there lost. It is a favorite device of strong players to apparently abandon a position to their adversary after first preparing it so that eventually it may live, or so that it may afterward aid in surrounding one of the adversary’s groups. The abandoned position often reawakens to life if the weaker adversary allows his surrounding group to be itself surrounded and taken before the capture of the abandoned position has been completed.