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Miao Shou
   

Tderz: 妙手 (miàoshǒu resp. miao4 shou3) - is a very good move,
not necessary in the definition of tesuji (e.g. quite local or as "technique"),
but it could be a move which is very good in the total game context, e.g. turns the situation around (the latter here is my own interpretation, cf. e.g. example 2, which would not be classified as tesuji, nor as good shape, however in this situation a very effective move!).

Sakata is called [ext] here the "Inventor of Myoshu":
妙手 Myoshu (...) means an "extraordinary", "excellent", "magnificant" move, and such a move is unexpected by most people when it's delivered. (...)

Trying to make every stone a most efficient move would naturally leave some thinness in one's own shapes. When shapes become thin, one has to struggle to save these weak stones. When Sataka is attacked and surrounded by his opponents, he can mostly make alive and escape from the danger. When making alive, ordinary moves do not work easily; one has to deliver severe tesuji or even myoshu. Sakate has made many such moves to save unsavable big teams, and when many people say he's an inventor of myoshu, they are not exaggerating.

Professional high-dan players' reading skills are about the same among each other, but the sharpness and accuracy in Sakata's reading makes him the best on this aspect. When people nickname him "Razor Sakata", they are not being unreasonable.

He is able to create so many myoshu, is it because the structure of his brain different from others? What exactly is his brain made of?

Satata said, "Among the moves that I've made, there have been some very rare ones that I would consider as myoshu. If everyone regard it as a myoshu, it's then certainly not prepared long ago, but rather, it's discovered during a game. When one gets in trouble or danger, he naturally works harder and ideas come out. I often have such ideas come out when they're needed. This is my strength, and probably my greatest strength. But on the other hand, it's more important to win the game in a simple and easy manner. If one gets in trouble, he would have to work very hard to solve the problems, and to win it this way is tiresome." (Hence, Myoshu will be very often related to shinogi, and you might expect it more often from people who play this style (ed.)).

I was incited to write this explanation when I read, starting from [ext] rec.games.go, in the Chinese Go terms list that it only would mean "good move".

MiaoShou therewith has the meaning of "ExcellentMove" and (n) expert; virtuoso; master, because 妙 (= miào) means = clever, brilliant, marvelous, outstanding / wonderful / excellent, beautiful and 手 not only means hand:

能手 neng2 shou3 / (n) expert / 拿手 na2 shou3 / expert in / good at /

妙手 is "believe(d) ... (to be) "myoshu" in Japanese. Not every tesuji is a myoshu." by [ext] Bill Spight in [ext] rec.games.go

[ext] WadokuJT gives 妙手 as "myoo-shu" みょうしゅ in Japanese (just another transcription?)

Related entries could be (Japanese/Chinese):

  • 鬼手, kishu = gǔishǒu, devilish move (tricky, cunning, artful).
  • 妙 手, myooshu = miàoshǒu , splendid, brilliant move.
  • 絶妙手, zetsumyooshu = júemiàoshǒu, jue2... , absolutely brilliant move.
  • 微妙手, bimyooshu = wēimiàoshǒu , wei1 ... (very) subtle move, much different from
  • ハメ手 (most common?), はめて, 嵌め手, hamete, trick move, trap.

I will try to find some examples from games:

  • example 1: BloodVomitingGame: the white moves 5+7 and 7 in diagrams 5 and 6 resp. are as played by Jowa's ghost.
  • [ext] example 2 (excellent fighting played on May 11, 1787), and perhaps
  • example 3:
  • example 3 (please notice, that you would not qualify this empty triangle as tesuji) and perhaps
  • example 4:
  • example 4 which are 1-2 point tesujis) and
  • [ext] example 5 ("Lee ChangHao's miàoshǒu in the middlegame", but I'm too weak to understand it)
  • [ext] example 6 (Wang Jianhong 9-dan's endgame miàoshǒu ; one needs to click "next" several times to see all the implications, otherwise the move would look quite normal) and
  • example 7
  • example 7: (碰是妙手 making life, avoiding ko by pèng=attach, is of course also a "normal" (depends on playing level) L&D-procedure)
  • example 8: 絶妙手 - exquisite move:("黒3が絶妙手たるゆえんである" in [ext] exquisite move
  • example 9: [ext] Sakata's Myoshu-examples with SGF, [ext] w6 & w34 in Fujisawa Hosai vs. Sakata Eio
  • example 10: [ext] w35 in Kitani Minoru vs. Sakata Eio

For more examples see also [ext] Myushu, I only got later the idea that someone already might have created an entry under the Japanese term.



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