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Splitting Attack
    Keywords: Strategy, Go term

In Japanese karami. If you have two weak groups at all close on the board, the opponent's plays in between them will have attacking force on both sides, creating a difficult situation for you. One should not therefore develop them towards each other (unless you can force a connection) - the plays your opponent makes to keep them split up will look even better. One should develop them away from each other.

A splitting attack will often succeed in killing one of the groups. In any case being subject to one is a way to lose control of the position. Strong players are averse to making two weak groups.

Charles Matthews


BobMcGuigan: At a U.S. Go Congress several years ago I asked Nakayama Noriyuki sensei what the most fundamental idea is in middle game play. He thought for a while and replied karami. I was familiar with karami as a splitting attack on two vulnerable groups, but I have since come to see that the idea of "splitting" has much wider application. It could refer to almost any move with a dual purpose. For example a move which simultaneously threatens to invade a framework and erase thickness could be a sort of splitting attack, because it threatens two different "attacks". Likewise a probing move that forces the opponent to choose between two future courses of development might also be considered splitting, in a sense.



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