Sente

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    Keywords: MiddleGame, EndGame, Go term

Chinese: 先手 (xian1 shou3)
Japanese: 先手 (sente)
Korean: 선수 (sonsu)

Sente is a Japanese go term adopted into English

The root meaning of sente is playing first.

The following are derived meanings:

  • A player can have sente.
  • A move can be sente.
  • A position can be sente for one or more players. See sente position.

A player having sente

A player has sente if it is their turn and they do not have to answer their opponent's last move (at a particular place). Thus, a player who has sente can decide where to play next.


A sente move

[Diagram]

A sente move

A move is sente if the opponent has to answer it, so the player who plays it will have sente after the exchange. For example, in this diagram Black can play B1 in sente, because White has to answer to avoid dying. Not to have sente is to be constrained into a direct answer to your opponent's previous play. This state of affairs is called gote: having gote, taking or accepting gote.

The English term most closely connected is therefore the initiative: which changes hands during the game.


See also


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This is a copy of the living page "Sente" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2005 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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