Hello, Ms. Ayumi.At present, I am dawdling around 7-kyu. Maybe one reason is that I am weak at contact fights. Even in games with 8- or 9-kyu opponents, if my opponent likes contact fights and so starts fighting early in the opening, I don’t do very well. I would be grateful if you could give me some advice – for example, what is the knack of playing against players who like to fight, how can one get stronger at contact fights, should I learn how to dodge fighting? Consultation One: Mr. Iino Hello, Mr. Iino. Thank you for your question. In contact fights, reading ability is important, so it’s difficult to say how you should play. One possible strategy is to try to dodge the fight. However, parrying an attack so that the opponent doesn’t get what he wants requires high-level techniques. For that reason, I recommend you to slug it out toe-to-toe with your opponents. Reading ability will, of course, be important then, so you should do regular study to develop your strength by solving life-and-death problems and playing lots of games. Reading ability is bound to improve with regular training. I hope that you get strong at contact fights.