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Reverse Sente
Path: Endgame   · Prev: SenteGote   · Next: AmbiguousPosition
  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: EndGame

A reverse sente play is a play which forestalls a sente play of your opponent.

[Diagram]
Reverse sente

If Black were to let White play out this sequence (as shown in SenteGote), White would gain three points in sente. The value of the Black play is also 3 points, but in gote. However, since it forestalls a sente play by White, the actual value of the gote play is the same as a same-size sente play.

Thus, value of the play is the same as 3 points sente.

Since gote plays only count half (see Basic Endgame Theory), this is equivalent to a 6-point gote play. So, Black should play this before he plays any 6-point gote plays.

-- MortenPahle

Comment: Usually White should play sente before the players get around to the 3-point gote (miai value). (A 6-point gote by deiri counting is a 3-point gote by miai counting. Confusing? Better stick to MiaiCounting.) Black gains the same amount on average by playing a 3-point reverse sente as a 3-point gote (miai values). Sometimes it is better to play one, sometimes the other, sometimes it does not matter. You can't make a hard and fast rule.

However, you should usually try to get tedomari. If you have a choice of gote vs. reverse sente that are worth the same (or often approximately the same), you usually want to get the last such play. Doing so depends on whether the number of gote is even or odd. (None are ko, which complicates things. ;-)) If the number of gote is even -- they are miai --, play the reverse sente to get tedomari. If the number of gote is odd, play one of them and answer the sente.

-- BillSpight



Charles Matthews One can get some feel from the stacks of coins model.

Given a chance of a reverse sente move you can play of value v, added onto a stacks position with largest stack s, there are just two ways the game goes. Either you reverse the sente and your opponent starts on the stacks: or you start the stacks, your opponent plays the sente v-point play, and then the stacks play out unaffected.

Here you are clearly faced with saving v at the cost of the advantage of starting the stacks. If that is guessed at s/2 we get the recipe 'double for reverse sente'. It could be as much as s, or smaller than s/2 in the presence of much miai: in which case the reverse sente is going to stand out as tedomari.



Path: Endgame   · Prev: SenteGote   · Next: AmbiguousPosition
This is a copy of the living page "Reverse Sente" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.