Go onlineIn the past, if you wanted to play go, your only
options would be to visit a go club or play with a friend at his
home or yours. Today, however, the Internet offers a third
option--playing online.
There are a lot of advantages to playing go on the Internet.
Since go is played in different time zones, you can always find an
opponent day or night. There are a large number of players at all
levels, from beginners to professionals, so you can easily find an
opponent around your playing strength. You do not have to worry
about equipment: the online graphics are superb with easy to follow
instructions. And with the option of choosing from a number of
computer-generated language modes, there are no language problems.
There are a number of sites where you can play go, but the most
popular is IGS, or the Internet Go Server at http://igs.joyjoy.net/. At peak hours, there may be
as many as 800 players logged on. Another site is the NNGS (No Name
Go Server). Among Japanese-language sites, "San-san" is popular, and
Toshiba Corp. has just opened its own go server, WWGo. A number of large Japanese companies are
planning to launch similar servers, so these organizations will no
doubt be spending a lot of money advertising their go servers,
thereby promoting the popularity of the game. You can also play go
on the Internet in Yahoo's gaming area (http://games.yahoo.com/) and at Microsoft's MSN
Gaming Zone (http://zone.msn.com/). However, these two sites are
not designed for the serious go player and are best for beginners
who just want to get a few games under their belts.
Online go is starting to cut into the clubs where go players have
traditionally congregated. There has recently been a decline in
membership, and new clubs are having a hard time attracting members.
This trend has not been so noticeable in Japan where most players
are of the older generation and are not as computer savvy as those
in their 20s and 30s. But, as time goes by, this is bound to change.
In contrast, most players in Europe and the United States are about
college age, and this is the age group that is quite knowledgeable
about computers and finding its way around the Internet.
In spite of the decline in clubs, the go population in the United
Staates and Europe seems to be increasing dramatically because of
the Web. Beginners can learn go on the Internet and weaker players
can easily enjoy games with strong players who will instruct them,
pointing out their mistakes and suggesting better moves. Since
participants can use a pseudonym on the Web, beginners are spared
the embarrassment of having their mistakes associated with their
real names.
The Web has also been a boon for the propagation of go among
children. On the first Friday of every month, IGS runs a "cybercamp"
where children can log on and play games with each other.
Still, with all its advantages, Internet go seems to lack a human
element. Go, like all games, is a social activity, and the anonymity
of the Web does not lend itself well to human contact nor the
friendships that so often comes from meeting an opponent
face-to-face. Also lacking are the tactile feel of the stones and
the resonant click they produce on the board when fine equipment is
used.
But whatever misgivings traditionalists such as myself might have
about Internet go, playing go on the Web seems to be the wave of the
future and is perhaps best way for go to become a major game in the
West.
Sacrifice tacticsLast week, I gave an example of how
sacrificing a stone can kill an opponent's group. Here are some more
examples.
In Diagram 1, the white stones
almost have enough room to make two eyes, but it is Black's move and
he can kill them if he sacrifices a stone. If Black plays 1 in
Diagram 2, White will capture it with 2, but this will leave
him with only a three-point eye space. Black makes a placement at 3
and White cannot make two eyes so his stones are dead.
Reversing the order of moves by making a placement at 1 before
sacrificing at 3 in Diagram 3 also works. As before, the
point at 3 is a false eye, so White is left with only one real eye.
White might connect at 2 in Diagram 4 in response to the
placement of Black 1. However, Black will answer by extending to 3
and White is unable to make two eyes.
If Black fails to sacrifice a stone and simply ataris with 1 in
Diagram 5, White will be left with a four-point eye space
after he connects at 2 and his group is alive. That is, if Black
makes a placement at A, White plays B and he has two eyes. If Black
plays B first, White will play A.
Diagram 6 shows another example,
but this one is a bit more difficult than the one in Diagram
1. This time, if Black directly sacrifices a stone at 1 in
Diagram 7, White will capture at 2 and his group has two
eyes--to the left and right of 2. If Black later ataris at A, White
will connect at 1. As you can see, a direct sacrifice fails.
Black 1 in Diagram 8 is the key point in this position. If
White connects with 2, Black extends to 3 and White cannot make two
eyes.
Now for the sacrifice. Suppose that White answers Black 1 with 2
in Diagram 9. Black will now play 3, letting White capture
two stones with 4.
Black can now throw in a stone at 5 in Diagram 10, leaving
White with only one real eye on the 1-1 point and a false eye at 5,
so the white stones are dead.
Below are three problems involving sacrifices. Problems 1 and
2 use the same technique shown in Diagram 6.
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