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Sente
Path: Endgame   · Prev: Gote   · Next: SenteGote
Path: ForcingAndInitiative   · Prev: TenBasicPointsAboutThreats   · Next: Gote

  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: MiddleGame, EndGame, Go term

The root meaning of sente is "playing first". A player has sente if it is their turn and they do not have to answer their opponent's last move. Thus, a player who has sente can decide where to play next.

[Diagram]
Diag.: A sente move

A move is sente if the opponent has to answer it, so the player who plays it will have sente after the exchange. For example, in this diagram Black can play 1 in sente, because White has to answer at 2 to avoid dying.



A move may also be called sente because of the local conditions (sente position), even if the opponent does not answer it.

The opposite of sente is gote. Sente or gote is often a large difference: If you do the same thing in gote that could also be done in sente, that is a big difference - you lose a whole move.

[Diagram]
Diag.: losing sente

An example where this error has been made is in this diagram. Black plays atari with 1, White answers at 2, and Black connects at 3. Black has defended the right hand side here, but would have done better by playing at 3 immediately. This also threatens to capture the two white stones (by playing 2), but if White now answers, Black has sente and can play elsewhere.

Also note that sente is relative: If Black would play at 3 here early in the game, White will not answer at 2, but play elsewhere, because the threat of capturing the two stones is not large enough. Of course, also in this case Black 3 rather than Black 1 is still the correct move.

Comment: If the area to the right is Black's, Black 3 is unlikely to be sente. It would be larger than the threat to take White's stones. -- Bill Spight



Dieter: The above comment may account for a good definition of sente: A move is sente if the value of the follow-up move (when the move is not answered) is larger than the value of the move itself (when the move is answered).

Of course this definition assumes we know the value of a move (deiri counting). In yose (endgame) we can calculate it (miai counting). It also assumes that for each move there is another move of appoximately the same value.


Jan: I have also seen the word 'sente' used as a noun - a certain move is Black's sente. I'm still not entirely clear on what that means, and (more importantly) why that implies that Black will get that move before White - is that because of the proverb 'Sente is worth twice as much gote'?

Bill: Sente is a noun.
If a play is considered Black's sente (see sente position) it carries a threat that is larger than its reverse sente. When the ambient temperature is cooler than the threat but hotter than the reverse sente, Black will normally be able to play the sente and get a response before White can afford to play the reverse sente. That's why Black owns his sente.


Gabaux?: Could some of you guys show a position, where both players have a sente? The question arised yesterday, when I played a game with a rather newbie go player.

Bill: See Double Sente.

Charles Matthews There are a couple of separate issues here.

[Diagram]
Diag.: Double sente

Black 1 is an example of double sente play. It is likely to be treated as sente by White because Black next at a is very big territorially and affects White's base too. But if White plays first at 1, Black is quite likely to treat that as sente also, to preserve the corner territory. That is, a play here is potentially sente for either side.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Which play is 'more' sente?

This is a different type of position.

If Black plays the marked stone, should White treat it as sente, by answering at a? Assume White's alternative is to play the marked stone in the right corner.

Black's threat is to play next at b, which is big in terms of territory. White's threat is to play next at c, which may call into question the safety of Black's corner.

In this case White's play is likely to create a more serious threat. Black ought to treat it as sente. This is not just a question of territory. The priority given to plays may also involve questions of attack and defence.



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This is a copy of the living page "Sente" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.