Strategies defined by absences

Some terms used to describe negatively-defined strategies.

• Jidorigo

A game without a middlegame fight.

• Ippoji

One player tries just for one framework. This has a particular double ippoji variant, in which the first dozen moves of a parallel opening divide the board into two large frameworks dividing along a diagonal (NE-SW or NW-SE). You could say that this early pattern, which is unlikely to be sustained very long, says 'no plays across the diagonal'.

• Game of small groups?

A game with no frameworks - or where all frameworks are invaded early in the middle game.

• Ryojimari

A game without any kakari would in classical go of the Edo period based on the 3-4 point (plus 3-5 point, 4-5 point) have turned into a game with each player making two enclosures. It would also have been a game without conventional corner joseki.

In contemporary go, matters are more complex, or at least the choice of opening patterns is richer.

Charles Matthews