![]() StartingPoints Referenced by
|
Moyo
Difficulty: Advanced
Keywords: Opening, Go term
A moyo is an area where one player has a large influence, and which potentially could become that player's territory. In the diagram we see a large black moyo on the left and lower side, and a white moyo on the right side. A moyo is often explained as a 'potential territory', but one should watch out considering as such. Turning a moyo in territory is often not the best way to deal with it, especially not with large, spread-out moyos like this one. Rather, a moyo player should invite his or her opponent to invade, and then get profit from the attack. Of course if your opponent refuses to invade you should gradually convert your moyo to territory, but this is not the way things usually should work out. Scartol: I don't understand this last paragraph. I can think of 3 things that can result when black invades at A: (1) White will kill his invading stones. (2) White will trap the invaders, but they will live. (3) White will force the invaders to flee. In all three cases, white has lost points. (In the case of (1), the captured stones make up the difference, but we shouldn't count on being able to kill, right?) So how does white profit? Bill Spight: You seem to me assuming that moyo is territory. White cannot lose points that were not already his. (1) If you kill stones played inside your territory, you make no gain (assuming the same number of plays by each player). But if it is not your territory, then you have made a gain, unless your opponent has gotten sufficient compensation for the sacrifice. (2) If you enclose the invaders, who live, your wall may be worth more than the territory the opponent makes with the invasion. It may nail down territory for you, it may support your own invasion, it may aid an attack. (3) If you chase the invaders out, the attack may enable you to make territory elsewhere, capture other stones, or ruin the opponent's moyo. Scartol: Understood. Many thanks. This is a copy of the living page "Moyo" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |