Semedori/ Discussion

semedori  

If Black plays first at a, he makes a point there and has eleven points. If White plays at a instead, then eventually Black will have to capture the three circled white stones, reducing his territory to eight points. Thus this play at a is much bigger than it might look at first glance. In a real game, forcing a semedori could be worth even more, depending on the number of liberties the group that you force the other side to capture has.

Very literally, playing one stone that requires your opponent to use, for instance, two moves to capture could be considered a form of semedori, but in practice the term is not used to describe that situation, but rather larger groups of, say, half a dozen stones and up. In that sense, I don't believe the examples given on this page are examples of semedori as the word is normally used.

As I mentioned above, semedori is often the unwitting result of a complicated fight. Although one side may win the battle, semedori may force him to eventually explicitly capture some of his opponent's stones, greatly reducing the value of the win.

John F. I agree. Not only are the examples suspect, there is a wrong nuance in the first definition. It is not a technique used by an advanced player. The term semedori (or uchiage) is used of the player that has to do the "attacking and capturing" of the cuckoo in the nest - the victim. Or, if you like "I am a Cat", you might think of it as having to expel a fur ball. As Bob mentions, it's often unplanned. Of course, a technique exists for making a victim suffer like this, only it's not called semedori from his point of view.

Bill: I have tentatively offered a new definition.

tapir: If we could find better examples during the week, that would be great. I am sure we have them even on SL already.