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AspectsOfSacrifice

 

Add Another One And Then Abandon Both Of Them
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This is a proverb nobody ever explained to me, so I'm not sure that it doesn't apply to something altogether different. But I use it to remember the sequence below, so this is at least one possible interpretation.

Consider the following sequence (discussed by Sakata Eio in his book "The middle game of go").

[Diagram]
Diag.: Crosscut

Black has just played the crosscut at 1. Sakata calls White 1 vulgar style in the context of the discussed game, but that is another matter. There's plenty of occasions where this sequence is perfectly OK.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Add a second stone

It is clear that the marked black stone is going to be captured. Nevertheless Black adds another one, in accordance with the proverb. White answers at 2 to keep the stones captured.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Kikashi

The thinking behind Black's line of play becomes clear in this diagram. Black has sente forcing moves at 1, 3 and 5. Compare this with an atari at 1 without adding the extra stone: White would capture and make a ponnuki, and that would be the end of it. Adding the extra stone increases the liberties of the black group. As White needs more moves to capture it, Black gets more kikashi moves. To note that Black must play 5 fairly soon, even though it smells like aji-keshi. This kikashi slows White down by a whole move, i.e. changes a white move at 'a' from sente to gote.



--Stefan

I think the whole point is that youre creating aji. Aji of one stone is less potent than a two-stone group that requires at least two more moves to kill, and can later reveal itself to be dangerous. All this for an extra move! 'Abandon' is maybe not the right word, but as its impossible to completely figure a game out the end, theres no way of knowing what those two stones can do, until its within the near(er) future.

--Stevert(somewhere 'tween 10 kyu and 4 dan)




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