Subject: 	THE BIG GAME 9 Question
From:		John Fairbairn <JF@harrowgo.demon.co.uk>
Date:		Wed, 14 May 1997 21:24:07 +0100

I am going to whizz on a bit now, for two reasons. One is that we are coming to some heavy tactical sequences which do not lend themselves readily to questions (too few different type moves to consider) or to presentation in this ascii format. The other reason is that I don't want this thread to overstay its welcome.

So the next big chunk of moves (with commentary) is given below, and the diagram shows the position after these are played.

66. F4 - natural

67. E4 - The only move Black considered. He allowed that g3, g4, h2, h4 (not e3 as Black h4 is too thick), e3, d3, e4, e5, k2 was a powerful alternative.

68. E5

69. E3

70. G4

71. D3 - natural sequence

72. C3 - Forced. c5 would be a shape-only move with no affect on White. What would follow is c3, g2, k6.

73. G3 Not c2, c4, b2, g2 (gote for B) And not c4, d5, b3, c2, b2, c5, b4, g3, d2, m2.

74. H4

75. H2

76. G2

77. F2 Realises he has made a mistake. Was expecting to play j3, g1, j2, f2, c4, d5, c2, b3, e2. But he suddenly saw that in this sequence White can replace d5 with d2: d5*, e2, d4, b3, e6, f5, d7, g7, b4, a4, a5, a3, b6, m2.In that light, 67. g3 was probably better.

78. J2

79. G1*

80. J3

81. C4

82. D5

83. B3

84. C2

85. B4

86. B2 - c4, b2, k3 is not enough for White because Black will play o6 and get the whole right side as territory (What? You thought he had it already?!).

87. C6

88. D2 - j1, d2, d7 is similarly not enough (Black plays o6. The hole at e10 cripples White.).

89. J1 - if a2, White j1 and Black is then forced to take off the white stones in the corner, losing a lot of territory in the process. [This sort of play by White is called semedori and is a useful concept to isolate and learn].

90. K3

91. L2

92. D7

93. D6 - with this and his next Black appears to be filling in his own liberties, but he is actually defending against c5 which leads to a one-step approach move ko in the corner (sequence: b5, b7, b6, c7, a2, a3, a4, a1, b1, c1).

94. E6

95. C7

96. C8

97. E7

98. D8

99. L3 - White still has tricks in the corner: c5, b5, b8, b6, a2. The "but" will be understood after this instalment's question.

100. L4

101. A2

Your task is now to find two pro-looking moves: 102 and 103. The 103 played was not actually the best move, but it _was_ a pro-type move. 

           a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t 
        19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
        18 . . . . . # # . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
        17 . . . # . @ # . . # @ @ @ # . . @ . .  17
        16 . . . . . . @ # # . @ # . # . @ . . .  16
        15 . . # # # . @ @ @ @ @ # . . # # @ . .  15
        14 . . @ @ @ . . . . . # . . @ # . . . .  14
        13 . . . . . . @ @ # # . # . # # @ . . .  13
        12 . . . . . . . # @ . . . @ # @ @ . . .  12
        11 . . . @ . # . # . . . . . @ . . . . .  11
        10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ . . .  10
         9 . . . # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
         8 . . # # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
         7 . . @ # @ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
         6 . . @ @ # . . . . . . # . . . . . . .  6
         5 . . . # # . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
         4 . @ @ # @ # # # . @ # # . . . . @ . .  4
         3 . @ # @ @ @ @ # # # @ . . . @ . . . .  3
         2 @ # # # . @ . @ # @ @ . . . . . . . .  2
         1 . . . . . . @ . @ . . . . . . . . . .  1
           a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t

Because of the length of the above, Background Noise this time will reduced to a whimper in the form of a question/puzzle.

How many animals can you think of as being intimately associated with go (on or off the board). Monkey jump and clam shells give you two. I have jotted down a list of about 30 so far, most on the board. My answers next time.

Hint

From:  John Fairbairn <JF@harrowgo.demon.co.uk>
Date:  Sat, 17 May 1997 22:25:00 +0100
  1. A secondary clue: no-one I think has hit the nail(s) on the head, but Barry Phease was moving in the right direction. Too much emphasis is being put on the lower left corner.
  2. Here is my own list of go animals: I didn't think of including players' names that happened to have an animal in them, and there are none here. It's fair enough to include rabbity six and horse's neck, but it may be worth pointing out that these are not Japanese or Chinese terms, which is what I have restricted myself to here. J. = Japanese, C. = Chinese. Where the terms exist in both languages I have given precedence to Japanese.

    1. Monkey jump (J. saru suberi, or o:zaru if referring specifically to the large one)
    2. Dragonfly - the shape m17, q16, r12 (J. o:tonbo, or the smaller version kotonbo)
    3. Snake - as in the special live position "two-headed snake"(J. ryo:to: no hebi no iki)
    4. Dragon - as in a similar position (J. so:ryu: no iki - double-dragon life)
    5. Turtle as in turtleshell shape (J. Kame no ko:) or deba kame (booktoothed turtle - said of a game full of peeps)
    6. Crane's nest (J. tsuru no sugomori)
    7. Horse as in knight's move (literally laurel horse; J. keima and variants such as kogeima, o:geima, yokogeima)
    8. Crow - as in Three Crows (J. sanbagarasu - the top three stars of a generation, or the shape c15, d16, e17)
    9. Heron - as in U-ro (Crows and herons = go stones = whimsical name for go)
    10. Wild goose as in Flight of Three Geese, a special variant of the Three Crows shape (J. sanganko:)
    11. Cockroach - famous figure in the British Go Journal (J. gokiburi)
    12. Racoon dog as in the tesuji Drumming on the Belly of ... (J. tanuki no haratsuzumi)
    13. Goblin as in the tesuji Tweaking the Goblin's Long Nose (J. tengu no hanazuke)
    14. Boar as in the Large Boar's Snout - the J Group (C. da4 zhu1 zui3) and a smaller version (xiao3 zhu1 zui3)
    15. Swallow as in Two Flying Swallows, approach moves c6 and f3 against an enemy stone at d4 (C. shuang1 fei1 yan4)
    16. Tiger as in Tiger's Mouth - the shape d4, c5, d6 (C. hu3 kou3, generally in Chinese abbreviated to tiger - hu3, or variants such as C. shuang1 hu3)
    17. Oriole as in Oriole Siezes a Rabbit - a tesuji but needs a big diagram (C. huang2 ying1 pu1 tu4)
    18. Rabbit, as above
    19. Butterfly as in Oriole Siezes a Butterfly - a variant of above (C. huang2 ying1 pu1 die2)
    20. Ex-pig as in A Cheap Pork Cutlet (J. yasumono no tonkatsu), referring to the case when a player has all thickness (batter) and no territory (meat) - "all icing and no cake".
    21. Cat as in Cat's Paws Go Board, referring to a kind of legs (J. nekoashi no ban)
    22. Duck - Japanese slang for a sucker, as in gambling go (J. kamo)
    23. Crab as in Crab's Eyes - the opening c15, r15 (J. kani no me)
    24. Clam (J. hamaguri)
    25. Mole as in Mole Opening, e2 against d4 (J. mogura)
    26. Octopus as in An Octopus in a Kettle, referring to a group bottled up so that its limbs stick out (J. yakan no tako)
    27. Eel, through a pun on the phrase unagi no kabayaki, broiled eels; you suggest to the opponent that you both go and eat broiled eels but use onage = resign instead (onage no kabayaki) as an unsubtle hint
    28. Cockerel as in Gold Cockerel Stands on One Leg - needs a diagram but involves extending down from a single stone in atari on the third line in order to kill a group (C. jin1 ji1 du2 li4 - from martial arts)
    29. Rat as in Rat Steals the Fat - needs a diagram (C. lao3 shu3 tou1 you2)
    30. Fox as in Wood Fox. Foxes in Japan are believe to bewitch many things. The fox that bewitches go and shogi boards is bokuyako.
    31. Piglet as in referring to a small group that is fattened (made heavy) before being slaughtered (J. buta no ko)

    Phrases using humans such as oiran go and Mori no Ishimatsu are omitted. Tengu is included but not other unearthly beings (eg Kannonbiraki).

    Maybe someone very creative fancies devising a web page of this menagerie. Then we can go on to the flora.....

-- John Fairbairn