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Dochi Yose Tesuji
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: EndGame, Tesuji

In a game played on November 24, 1705 between Honinbo Dochi (Black) and Yasui Senkaku (White), Dochi was losing by a few points in the endgame, when he suddenly played a brilliant Yose (Endgame) Tesuji.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Moves 225-232

Black 1 began the brilliant sequence of moves that saved the game for Dochi.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Continuation (Moves 233-236)

The invasion made Black 1 and 3 Sente, because if White does not capture the marked stone with White 4, Black would play at A and make a Seki.

The invasion does not work if it is played after the hane-connect sequence.
-- Eric Suh?


You may wonder, if white has no other way to play. Let us have a look:

[Diagram]
Diag.: If W plays 4 instead of 'a'

The other reasonable move for White is to play 4 here instead of 'a'. Black next plays 5 and 7. Is this sente, one may ask? If not, white has refuted black's play.


[Diagram]
Diag.: B fails

Black 1 is an eye-stealing tesuji, as it makes the eye at 'a' false, but white 2 is a good response and black's attack runs into nothing. No matter how hard he tries, e.g. with B3 and so on, black cannot get a seki, ko, or anything else.


The solution for black is to play on white's vital point with B1 himself.

[Diagram]
Diag.: B forces a seki

White 2 is forced, as a move here would be rather awkward for white. Next, black 3 is tesuji and B7 establishes an eye in the corner. Thus the position becomes a seki.


As can be seen, if white does not reply, he will lose his corner territory in a seki with black. Therefore, white has to add another move to defend his territory after black played hane & connect at the top border. The hane becomes black's sente and enables him to win the game.

--Arno



This is a copy of the living page "Dochi Yose Tesuji" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.