My name is Sugimoto. I am ten years old! After one year, I have finally made 1-dan!! Immediately after I made 1-dan, I played a player who was 1-kyu* and was astonished when he played his first move on the tengen (centre point). I had no idea what was going on and before I knew it I had lost. I was really upset and not long after that, when I was playing a 2-dan, I also played on the centre point and won. Izumi Sensei, have you ever played the centre point in a professional game? Consultation One: Miss. Sugimoto Hello, Miss Sugimoto. You’ve made marvellous progress to get to 1-dan in one year. I can imagine your surprise when the centre point was played against you. I’ve never played it in a professional game, but at one time Keigo Yamashita Kisei often used to play it. He used this move as the basis of an attacking strategy. The idea is to set up a wide position based on the centre point and to attack White when he invades. It leads to an exciting and enthralling game. How did you use the centre point when you played it? Sometimes it becomes an attacking stone, sometimes a defensive stone, sometimes it becomes a ladder breaker . . . It all depends on your later play how good a move it becomes. It’s not at all a bizarre move; I think it can be a good opening strategy, so I hope that you get more experience and try various different strategies.