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Honte
Path: GoodPlay   · Prev: Dynamic   · Next: ImmediateLife
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Go term

A move which is honte (本手 'the honest move') is one that is played to reduce the amount of aji in one's position. If one plays honte, one accepts that one gets less points than one would otherwise get, or even that one has gote rather than sente, getting in return a solid position with little bad aji, thus freeing one's hands in the future.

Other word for honte - kyuusyo (after CM of KGS) - MK

Bob Myers: No, I don't think honte and kyuusho are equivalent. Honte, as described above, is used to describe a move which superficially appears slow but is actually very solid, usually in the context of the opening. Kyuusho, on the other hand, simply refers to the vital point of a shape, for either attack or defense.

Bob McGuigan: The kanji 本 for hon in honte 本手 is the same as in hon 本 "book" or nihon 日本 "Japan" and its meaning in this case is "real", "genuine", or "true" as in honmono 本物 "the real thing". So honte would be a move which is real or straight-forward, as opposed to tricky or flashy. Maybe "sober" is a good attribute of a honte. I guess "honest" is OK as a translation, but it has always seemed to me to be a little strange, as if someone picked an ordinary English word that looked the most like "honte".


[Diagram]
White to move

dnerra: Here is an example. Where do you think would White move next? Attack at a or b? Take a large move at c or d? No, the four white stones in the bottom right need attention! So maybe e or f?


Well, Takemiya Masaki didn't choose any of the above:


[Diagram]
Move 16

(In a 1992 Judan game against Kobayashi Koichi.)





Path: GoodPlay   · Prev: Dynamic   · Next: ImmediateLife
This is a copy of the living page "Honte" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.