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[1]The opening
· A game of Go is roughly divided into the opening, the middle game, and the endgame. In the opening, you scatter your stones around the board and roughly map out your territories. In the middle game, the rival stones clash with each other and the lead is often decided. In the endgame, you round off your territories and play until there are no more points to be taken and the vacant points between the two sides are filled in. Let's start by studying the opening. After showing some model examples, we will look at the order of moves and try to get a feel for what is happening. |
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· Dia. 1. Please follow the moves from Black 1. Up to 9, Black builds a position on the right side. The stones of the two players are still separated; quite often, the black and white stones don't make much contact in the opening. White stations his stones on the left side from 2. After 10, the left side looks like becoming white territory. |
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Dia. 1
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· Dia. 2. Following Black 1, White plays at the bottom with 2, so Black plays 3 in an area away from the opponent. Up to 9, Black occupies the top, and up to 10 White turns the bottom area into his territory. This is a pretty opening, without much fighting. |
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Dia. 2
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· Dia. 3. This time, White heads for the top with 2 in response to Black 1. That being so, Black plays in the area away from White with 3, occupying the bottom. Avoiding the area where the opponent has played in order to play in an empty area is an efficient way of playing. |
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Dia. 3
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· Dia. 4. Black 1 and White 2 are similar to moves we have already seen, but this time Black plays in the bottom left with 3. White occupies the vacant bottom right with 4. The stones of both sides seem to be scattered, but this way of playing is also possible. Black gradually starts to link up his stones with 5 and 7. White plays at the top with 6, then at the bottom with 8: he is busily jumping around the board. The right side becomes black territory after Black 9. |
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Dia. 4
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· Dia. 5. Black plays 1 in the middle of the 9x9 board. This is a bold strategy: if the opponent plays in a corner, Black plans to build a large territory. White immediately attaches against Black 1 with White 2. On the narrow 9x9 board, this kind of immediate contact fighting is sometimes seen. Black builds a territory at the bottom with 3 to 9 and White matches it with a territory at the top with 4 to 10.
· There are various ways of playing in the opening. You should try out various strategies in your games and find the kind of opening that suits your style. |
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Dia. 5
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