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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.
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 The English term most closely connected is therefore the initiative: which changes hands during the game. A move may also be called sente because of the local conditions (sente position), even if the opponent does not answer it. This is theoretical rather than practical: after all one can only say what ought to be answered, not what will be. 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. Players obviously will prefer sente sequences, other things being equal.
An example where this error has been made is in this diagram. Black plays atari with
Also note that sente is relative: If Black play at
Comment: If the area to the right is Black's, 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.
Here
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. Grindel <-- some lowly 30Ker on KGS
I think double sente would be more like Black playing a sente against White but White doesn't respond by defending the stone in danger, and instead plays sente against a black stone. This forces Black to consider the loss of his stone against the gain of a capture. In this case Black would connect and leave the white stone for later consideration. This however has shifted the initiative from Black to White. Bill: That's not unreasonable, but, as it happens, double sente refers to a different kind of situation. What you are talking about is discussed on the in-between move and Mutual damage pages. See also:
Path: Endgame · Prev: Gote · Next: SenteGote Path: ForcingAndInitiative · Prev: TenBasicPointsAboutThreats · Next: Gote This is a copy of the living page "Sente" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |