Influence

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    Keywords: Strategy, Go term

Chinese: 厚势 (hou4 shi4); 势 (shì); 势力 (shi4 li4) [1]
Japanese: 勢力 (seiryoku); 外勢 (gaisei)
Korean: 세력 (Se-Ryuk)

Each stone has a certain influence on the board. Captured stones have an influence close to zero. Surrounded stones that make a live group, influence only the surrounding group. Stones that are in open space have an influence on that open space and the stones bordering that open space. Influence is a long-range effect.

  • The stronger a group, the greater its influence on a neighbouring area.
  • The more open the neighbouring area, the greater the group's influence.
  • The weaker the other groups neighbouring that area, the larger the group's influence.

Examples

[Diagram]

9x9

For example, the central stone has influence in all directions. On a board as small as 9x9, the influence is rather strong towards all parts of the board. Whatever happens in the corners or at the sides will be greatly affected by this stone.

[Diagram]

corner

In this typical outcome of a 3-3 point joseki, White has corner territory, while Black has central influence. The White tails will also affect the sides somewhat, but since they can be easily blocked off, we can say that the sides are more influenced by the black stones which extend farther towards the side.



See also:

One document that attempts to draw broad geo-strategic influence lessons is:


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This is a copy of the living page "Influence" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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