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Play away from thickness
Path: AllAboutInfluence · Prev: ThicknessExercises · Next: ThicknessDiscussion Path: ForcingAndInitiative · Prev: BQM36 · Next: TFG7Solution Path: GeneralOpeningPrinciples · Prev: TakeTheLastBigPoint · Next: ApproachOnTheOpenSide Path: GoProverbs · Prev: UrgentPointsBeforeBigPoints · Next: DontUseThicknessToMakeTerritory
Difficulty: Beginner
Keywords: Strategy, Proverb
This is a very important proverb, but it should not be misunderstood.
The next diagram is a good illustration. When speaking of thickness, the examples coming to mind usually involve impressive walls. Here
Neither Black or White should consider this part of the board as important, at least in the beginning phase of the game. Why is that so? For White, the side is uninteresting because the marked stone is low and no really big potential territory can be developed. For Black, a move around a would be a natural development from the hoshi stone Sebastian: What does the red ring stand for? Can we delete it? Or does it mark the ideal invasion point for White?
In this artificially created position, the marked white stone obviously goes against the proverb not to play in the neighborhood of thickness. White plays just next to a thick black position! Is it a bad move for this reason? No, there is nothing wrong with it because this move is a kikashi which can be discarded after Black connects. White is not trying to establish herself in the area, she just wants to play a move which might help her in the future, without losing anything. On the contrary, an invasion at a for instance, would go against the rule and would be very bad (there is absolutely no prospect of making a base for White in this area).
Charles Matthews That seems to assume Black will just connect in reply to the peep. Black should certainly play Actually, the proverb should state: don't try to build a position too close to your opponent's thickness. The proverb also applies to your own thickness. If you build two strong groups in the same area of the board, you somehow duplicate your efforts, which is not efficient. Jasonred Doesn't one group make the other stronger, with the chance to connect and mutual killing of enemy invasions? Charles Matthews There is no remedy for overconcentration. It is normally better to be spread too thinly, because you can fix that later. Velobici: Seems like we need some text explaining how this maxim and the maxim Make both ends strong are compatible. Something that might talk about the two ends of Make both ends strong not being groups and the ends can can be expected to join into one group or severely attack an attempt to prevent them from joining. Could a dan level player add this explanation? Kungfu : "Stay away from thickness" has a dual meaning. Consider the game below:
White to move. White might think that a move around b is terrible and she's probably right: there are other moves. But it is also against the saying "play away from thickness" for Black to move at b or c himself. For the same reason, a move around a is also bad for White in this situation. An approach move around d or e is better than a for White because "stay away from thickness" means stay away from your own thickness as well.
Extending from a very thick and obviously 100% alive group is merely point-grabbing. Remember the saying play urgent moves before big moves... Well, extending from a 100% alive/thick group is not urgent. It's just big. So play an urgent move first! And if there are no urgent moves, move into a big space like around d or e.
Charles Matthews The wedge play [1] The way I learned this proverb is, "Do not approach strength", which is more general. In fact, "Do not play (too) close to strength," is even better, since it applies to one's own strength as well as the opponent's. -- Bill Spight A variation on this theme is Otake's comment that it is 'bad taste' to expand existing territories. That must be taken with a pinch of salt, of course. -- Charles Matthews Path: AllAboutInfluence · Prev: ThicknessExercises · Next: ThicknessDiscussion Path: ForcingAndInitiative · Prev: BQM36 · Next: TFG7Solution Path: GeneralOpeningPrinciples · Prev: TakeTheLastBigPoint · Next: ApproachOnTheOpenSide Path: GoProverbs · Prev: UrgentPointsBeforeBigPoints · Next: DontUseThicknessToMakeTerritory This is a copy of the living page "Play away from thickness" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |