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Philosopher's Stones
PageType: OngoingGame    

SnotNose: The point of this game is to try to connect philosophical ideas to moves. This is hard (for me, at least). We're more interested in the ideas here than the quality of the game. Please write a bit about each idea in general before relating it to a move or to Go. (Sorry, this wasn't clear in the original rules.)

Rules of this game follow.

  • Anyone can play but restrict your play to only one side (Black or White).
  • Each player is to write a brief statement about the idea for the next move (will be in italics next to move number), make a move consistent with that idea and then propose the idea for the next move (but not make that next move, of course!). The statement should begin with a focus on the idea independent of its use in Go. Then, the idea can be related to a move.
  • It is nicer if the proposed idea is a good one for the situation (from your point of view). It is not nice to suggest an idea that you think will lead to a bad move. But don't worry about this too much :)
  • It is okay if the actual move played is obviously suboptimal for the situation. But it should be consistent with the proposed idea.
  • This game is about ideas and their relationship to Go, not about a good game of Go. Don't make a move if you don't discuss the idea first and in a way that connects to something outside the game of Go. (If this is unclear, ask questions.)

If this is confusing, then just see the game below and you'll probably get the concept.


[Diagram]
Moves 11-20

B1 Punishment: KarlKnechtel--Black aims to punish White's contact move and sequence via hane at the head of two. [1]

W2 An Eye For An Eye: SnotNose--To follow through with this idea means a certain equivalency. That is, what I do to you must be equivalent to that you have done to me. To do more would not be fair and might invite an escalation. To do less would show weakness and would demonstrate to you that you can get away with things. Either would throw things out of equilibrium. Can White do something equivalent to Black here? Black has played hane at the head of two. White can do the same, but it is equivalent? I think not, simple because it will be Black's move.

B3 Stay The Course: Naustin--To me stay the course means to continue with ones path or plan even in the midst of turbulence or circumstances that weren't planned on that cause difficulty. Black definitely seems to be in a difficult position here. The hane at the head of whites stones seems to me to be following through on a generaly aggressive path of play by black. To turn defensive now seems like it would be changing horses in mid-stream so B3 seems appropriate.

W4 Subterfuge: SnotNose--Very nice idea! The key component here is sub, meaning under. Of course, subterfuge implies a hidden agenda (an agenda underneath the appearent one). What is interesting about Go is that no agendas are hidden entirely by the move maker. To be sure, the mover can try to hide his agenda by making a move with multiple meanings, some more obvious than others. But, the opponent has all the information in front of him and can determine all of the possible agendas for himself. So, can one really hide anything in Go? Isn't the communication as complete as it can be? The "listener" need only "listen" carefully and he can "hear" everything clearly, no? Anyway, going with the sub (under) idea, I play a move underneath (in the sense of closer to the edge) Black's stones.

There is a related idea connected to sealed moves in a multi-session game. The sealed move really is hidden for some time. There have been cases where it has been used strategically. That is, the sealer can make a move to which he knows the answer (e.g., kikashi). In doing so, he has more information about the game over the break than his opponent. His opponent, on the other hand, can only wonder what the next move is.

B5 Laying a wall of sandbags to control a flooding river: Jared Beck Black's village is about to be overrun by an angry river. If the muddy water breaks the wall of sandbags, the villagers might have to retreat to a nearby village. (Cut and kill to connect). If they cannot make it back to the village, they might have to make a little fort on the hill (ponnuki)

W6 Will the river overflow or stay within its banks?



[Diagram]
Moves 1-10

B1 Speed: Naustin--speedy because it allows rapid development.

W2 Independance: HolIgor--If I want to be truly independent I'll find myself my own corner and build a castle. Let it be very small castle, let these speedy barbarians push me around. I am going to live anyway. I do not want to grab all those territories overseas.

B3 Flexibility: Naustin--Flexible because I can develop in several directions and am not deeply commited to the corner.

SnotNose: I think the 5-3 point is the most flexible corner move. It can change direction easily. This is not a critique of the 4-4 move that was made. It is also flexible.

W4 Peace through Strength: SnotNose--I show my strength to deter you from being aggressive. If I show a weakness, it might cause you feel you should exploit it. Slightly more generally, I wish to delay the onset of battle by not suggesting an obvious aggressive move. A symmetrical corner move (3-3, 4-4) is consistent with this since an approach is non-urgent.

B5 Grand Ambitions: Naustin--The Sanrensai opening illustrates grand ambitions to me because in some sense it claims the whole side of the board which is a difficult claim to defend. It also extends powerfull influence at least to the halfway line on the board.

SnotNose: Though one must take care in not thinking the whole side is territory. It is a sphere of influence. The sanrensai aims at building a large moyo and/or attacking. The moyo sense of it is ambitious. The attacking sense of it is aggressive. I think another very ambitious move would have been tengen.

W6 The Element of Surprise: SnotNose--The surest way to supprise someone is to know them well enough to sense what (s)he is expecting and then to do something very different. I do not know my opponent well here. I cannot sense what he is predicting. But I do know the common sanrensai strategy and tactics. So, my only hope of surprise is to not make a move that is obviously one of those. I considered attaching to the right of B5 and also the tengen. However, W6 is even more surprising. Perhaps a move just above or below W6 would be more surprising still but this is surprising enough, I hope.

B7 Consistency: Anonymous--Up to this point, black has only been playing on the star points.

W8 Malignant: SnotNose--It is not easy for me to find a malignant move at this stage. I find it somewhat irritating when my opponent plays a move like this so early in the game. It annoys me. Maybe it is malignant, I don't know. Any thoughts of other moves?

B9 Steady: Tristan--"Rock withstands Fire". Black's simple extension provides him with a granite foundation for fighting. White will surely regret the flash of malice that prompted her trouble-making move of W8.

W10 Regretfully making the Best of a Bad Job: SnotNose--I regret W8. I even regretted it when I played it. I even regretted it before I played it. I even woke up that morning, regretful, knowing at some point I'd play a bad move. I was born regretful. I come from a long line of regretful ancestors. I come from a regretful species. Life is regret. A universe without regret is unfathomable. Yet, I must continue. Malignant, perhaps, was not the best idea for W8.



[1] SnotNose: This is purely a comment about punishment with respect to the move in the game with no broader thoughts included. I reiterate that the point of this game is to discuss the ideas first and then relate them to a move. (I fear this wasn't clear in the initial set of rules posted here. I've augmented them to try to remedy this.) Few have done a good job of this (IMHO, myself included). If it devolves into merely a game of go then it will have lost its purpose (and my interest).

I'd rather see more discussion of ideas than Go here. Perhaps this wasn't the right format for that. It was an experiment afterall and it may have failed (though I'm willing to wait a bit longer before declaring failure). I do recognize and accept that I cannot control content. I'm just registering my thoughts that this is not (yet) the game I had hoped it would be (and I take some responsibility for that). I hope this doesn't offend anyone because I mean no offense.

[2] SnotNose: The sense in which I consider 3-5 more flexible than 4-4 is that 3-5 has the option of closing the corner in one move. It can switch from territory to influence relatively easily. The degree to which it can switch sides (from bottom to right, say) is beyond my ability to fully evaluate at the moment since it depends on complexities of pincer joseki that I do not know well. But, I'd say at my level, switching sides is possible. Finally, since it is less-well known at my level, the possibilities seem more open than the 4-4, for which everyone I play seems to know what will happen locally. For stronger players, these may not apply.



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