Hello, Ms. Tsukuda. I play on PandaNet as a 3-dan. I do quite well when the game is a big fight, such as a capturing race between large groups in which one side is captured. When this doesn’t happen, however, I almost always lose. In particular, I often feel that I already have a lost game when the fuseki is over. I am studying fuseki books, but I just can’t seem to improve. What is the knack for this kind of study? I’d be very grateful if you could help me out. Consultation One: Mr. Katayama The fact that you can win important fights such as capturing races shows that you must be able to read well. Besides reading ability, go requires intuition and judgement. If you find yourself behind after the fuseki, it could be because you tend to follow the opponent around; you play small moves and lose sente, thus falling behind. Or perhaps you focus too much on killing an enemy group or are too defensive about your own groups. Basically, after the corners, the most valuable moves in the opening are on the third and fourth lines, so if you focus on taking these large points you should do well in the opening. You should always try to be aware of the whole board when playing the fuseki and when you get sente, think about where is the most valuable point. This way you will improve your judgement, which is very important. Another thing to do is to review your games: it’s important to identify your bad moves. This will help you to cure your bad habits. If you focus on these two points – increasing your awareness as you play and reviewing your games – your level is bound to rise.