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Territory
  Difficulty: Introductory   Keywords: Strategy

To make territory is the ultimate goal in Go. In order to distinguish territory from a sphere of influence we can describe territory as:

A part of the board that is surrounded by stones belonging to a living group, and in which the opponent cannot make a living group. :)

[Diagram]
Artificial example

This black group delimits two areas, in which he will easily make an eye.



It is impossible for White to create a group with two eyes in the area. Black makes 21 points of territory.

[Diagram]
Territory arising from real play

The exchange up to B8 is a common continuation of the 3-3 point invasion. The exchange of White a to Black d is more of an endgame sequence.



The circle-marked points constitute an area controlled by White, where Black can't make a living group (if White answers correctly). We can say that this 3-3 invasion makes roughly 10 points of territory.

ChihChan: I have a question here.

You consider White a to Black d is more of endgame sequence. Then White get 10 points of territory. However, it is also possible for Black to play a or c first. Then, White will get fewer points of territory. So, during the middle of the game, different calculations will have different results that may be favorable for both sides. So, are there any criteria for deciding this kind of situation?

Shouichi: Compare advantage to disadvantage. CostBenefitAnalysis or common sense can dictate the answer.

Sebastian: I think what Shouichi means is that, instead of playing a or c, both Black and White can better play at some other part of the board first. At some point of the game there will be no bigger move than a anymore. Then one of the players goes there and gets the remaining few points. You ask: "Why is it called a 10 point move, if it can be less?" The answer has to do with sente, which is beyond the introductory level. Simplified, we might say, it is like counting accounts receivable as assets in a balance sheet. Even though we know that the company may likely never receive the full amount, the accountant counts it as 100% because it simplifies things. -- 2003-09-12




This is a copy of the living page "Territory" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.