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Play away from thickness
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    Keywords: Strategy, Proverb

This is a very important proverb, but it should not be misunderstood. The next diagram is a good illustration. When speaking of thickness, the examples coming to mind usually involve impressive walls. Here the marked stone doesn't make a wall at all, but it is certainly part of a thick group which has influence on the upper part of the board.[1]

Neither Black or White should consider this part of the board as important, at least in the beginning phase of the game. Why is that so? For White, the side is uninteresting because the marked stone is low and no really big potential territory can be developed. For Black, a move around a would be a natural development from the hoshi stone, but White could easily invade and live without fearing any consequences for her strong group.

[Diagram]
White is thick on the upper side


[Diagram]
Play kikashi against strong groups!

In this artificially created position, the marked white stone obviously goes against the proverb not to play in the neighborhood of thickness. White plays just next to a thick black position!

Is it a bad move for this reason? No, there is nothing wrong with it because this move is a kikashi which can be discarded after Black connects. White is not trying to establish herself in the area, she just wants to play a move which might help her in the future, without losing anything. On the contrary, an invasion at a for instance, would go against the rule and would be very bad (there is absolutely no prospect of making a base for White in this area).



[Diagram]
Resist kikashi against strong groups!

Charles Matthews That seems to assume Black will just connect in reply to the peep. Black should certainly play B2 here first. If White plays W3 that's heavy, so that Black could play B4 with some satisfaction. W3 at b is a better idea but then there is no threat to cut, so the peep is a failure. The idea here is that Black is so strong he shouldn't be forced and pushed around like this.



Actually, the proverb should state: don't try to build a position too close to your opponent's thickness. The proverb also applies to your own thickness. If you build two strong groups in the same area of the board, you somehow duplicate your efforts, which is not efficient.

Jasonred Doesn't one group make the other stronger, with the chance to connect and mutual killing of enemy invasions?

Charles Matthews There is no remedy for overconcentration. It is normally better to be spread too thinly, because you can fix that later.


Kungfu : "Stay away from thickness" has a dual meaning. Consider the game below:

[Diagram]
White to move

White to move.

White might think that a move around b is terrible and she's probably right: there are other moves. But it is also against the saying "play away from thickness" for Black to move at b or c himself.

For the same reason, a move around a is also bad for White in this situation. An approach move around d or e is better than a for White because "stay away from thickness" means stay away from your own thickness as well.



Extending from a very thick and obviously 100% alive group is merely point-grabbing. Remember the saying play urgent moves before big moves... Well, extending from a 100% alive/thick group is not urgent. It's just big. So play an urgent move first! And if there are no urgent moves, move into a big space like around d or e.

-Kungfu

[Diagram]
The wedge

Charles Matthews The wedge play W1 seems to be an obvious candidate here: if Black is allowed to play at a to form sanrensei that gives him a plan on a larger scale than White can match. The other move I'd consider at first glance is White at b: but if Black plays a pincer the game will proceed at a higher speed, and Black's thick wall above will probably show to greater advantage.



[1] The way I learned this proverb is, "Do not approach strength", which is more general. In fact, "Do not play (too) close to strength," is even better, since it applies to one's own strength as well as the opponent's. -- Bill Spight

A variation on this theme is Otake's comment that it is 'bad taste' to expand existing territories. That must be taken with a pinch of salt, of course. -- Charles Matthews



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