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Let the Enemy Off in order to Snare Him
Path: SecretArtOfWar · Prev: LureTheTigerOutOfTheMountain · Next: CastABrickToAttractAGem
Difficulty: Advanced
Keywords: MiddleGame, Attack & Defence, Strategy, Proverb
Part of Secret Art of War Careful delay in attack will bring destruction to the enemy. This stratagem tells us not to make an all-out attack on the opponent, when the situation does not heavily favour us. Of course, the question arises: why, for example, not kill a group if one is able to do so? Several points come to mind:
In short, it's better to create a weak group (and keep it weak) that can be used to gain important points somewhere else on the board, than to make a (small?) capture that leaves a lot of aji behind. -- Arno Hollosi If the opponent has a weak group you can chase them building territory as you play. When you run out of ways to make territory by chasing, you can work on cutting off escape routes, which will strengthen your position. If you should be lucky enough to accomplish all that and find that the group is in danger of not having two eyes, then you will be in a good position to kill it. By delaying killing, you have a better chance of winning the game even if the group ends up living. Jasonred - Does this have anything to do with tenuki, by the way? I mean, logically, this situation should only apply if we have NOTHING BETTER TO DO... or should it? Should we delibarately make some pointless or unimportant moves (filling in dame and such) when we could kill a group? Or are we talking about even sneakier stuff here, like, not killing a group when it looks like a shaky victory, but instead playing nearby... which was a two pronged move, as it was not only to reinforce that position, but to strengthen the attack on the flank? If you have examples from games insert them here. Path: SecretArtOfWar · Prev: LureTheTigerOutOfTheMountain · Next: CastABrickToAttractAGem This is a copy of the living page "Let the Enemy Off in order to Snare Him" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |