Hamete

  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Joseki, Tactics, Go term

This page needs a WikiMasterEdit

A hamete is a trap, a trick play, a move that yields an unreasonably big advantage to the player if it is not answered correctly.


Trick play example 1
Trick play example 2
Trick play example 3
Trick play example 4 by aLegendWai

See also: A trick move analysis by Alexandre Dinerchtein. [ext] http://www.go4go.net/english/article/tricky/


It's hamete if you knowingly play a sub-optimal move, hoping your opponent will answer wrongly. The best hametes are the ones where if your opponent answers correctly, you only take a very small loss, while if your opponent plays the obvious (and wrong) move, he gets ripped to pieces. :) - deft

Anonymous: Perhaps a better translation for hamete is "tricky play", one where the 'obvious' response leads to a loss.


Bob Myers: The Japanese word "hamete" (usually written ハメ手) has a rather well-delineated meaning. First, the trick must be challenging--it needs to be something that could trap even a dan-level amateur. Simply making a bad move that a weak opponent might answer incorrectly is certainly not hamete. Second, in Japanese usage hamete is used almost entirely in a joseki context. Terminology mavens, please correct me if I'm wrong.

From this standpoint, Trick play example 1 is true hamete, Trick play example 2 is borderline, Trick play example 3 as mentioned is just a joseki mistake, and Trick play example 4 is just hoping your 10-kyu opponent makes a stupid move.

Since the English "trick" lends itself to being used in a variety of non-hamete contexts, perhaps we need a new English term for hamete. How about "garden path sequence"?

Hamete also applies to shogi.

TODO: put up some examples of real hamete.

Dieter: Would 34 Point High Approach Low Extension Trick Play or 35PointLowApproachPressTrickPlay apply?


This is a copy of the living page "Hamete" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2005 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]
StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About