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Ko Threat Playing Order
Keywords: Ko
Normally, you have several ko-threats at your disposal, the order in which they are played is important. Past discussions on the newsgroup seem to indicate that you should play a threat that is larger than the value of the ko, but that you should save your biggest threats for last. I.e. if the ko is worth 17 points, and you have threats of 18, 25 and 27 points value, play the 18 points first, then the 25 points etc. The reason for this is that later in the game, a bigger ko may come up which may require bigger threats. However, you should always play ko threats which are bigger than the ko. HolIgor: the last statement is not absolute. Get as much as you can if the ko fight cannot be avoided. Avoid ko fights if you can't gain by them. Dieter: Neither is the first. Suppose I'm 3 points behind and the game reaches its end. My opponent plays a ko worth 3 points. I have a threat worth 4 points and one worth 6 points. He has none. If I play the 4-threat he connects and wins by 2 points. If I play the 6-threat he either connects and it's jigo, or he answers, I take the ko, he passes and I connect: jigo again. BillSpight: Factors to consider include:
Threats so big that they must be answered are primary threats. Smaller threats that do not have to be answered and are costly to ignore are secondary threats. Even smaller threats that are not costly to ignore but prevent loss if ignored are tertiary threats. Sometimes miai pairs can function as tertiary threats. These are virtual threats.
Some primary ko threats are miai, and may be played by either player. In general, they should be played as soon as the ko fight begins, or in preparation for the fight, to prevent the opponent from playing them.
Some primary ko threats are costly to play. In general they should be played as late as possible.
Other kos may exist on the board, or may arise later, or may threaten to arise. In general, ko threats with larger reverse sente should be played early, since they will disappear naturally earlier in the play if they remain after the ko is decided than threats with smaller reverse sente.
With hyperactive kos one player, instead of winning the ko, may make a play that makes the ko hotter. (With an approach ko she may be forced to play an approach move before she can win the ko.) In general players should save their large threats for the later stages of such kos, after they have become hotter, and play their small threats early.
Technically the smallest threat you can play is one such that it makes no difference whether your opponent ignores it or not (if such a threat exists). If your opponent answers a smaller play or ignores a larger play, it is usually an error. You are more likely to induce an error by making plays of around that size early. OTOH, you are more likely to make an error if you try that tactic, as well. ;-) This is a copy of the living page "Ko Threat Playing Order" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |