Six good and six bad shapes

These lists were posted to rec.games.go in 1999 by Clive Hunt, who learned them from Victor Chow. They go back to Victor's early go training in Guilin, China.

The six 'famous good shapes' are:

• double hane

• cross-cut

• counter-hane

• striking at the waist of a knight's move

• ko lock

• butting play, together with contact plays on the other three sides of a lone stone.

'Bumping'  

That is, Black in some way 'bumps' with a play at or any of a,

 b and c.

These are ways of creating good, fighting shape.

The six 'famous bad shapes' are:

• The split shape like

Split shape  

Very bad for the stones.

• Empty triangle

• Pushing from behind

• Being squeezed into a 2x2 block.

• Suffering Hane at the Head of Two Stones.

• Compromised diagonal.

Charles Matthews

Discussion on /Discussion page.