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SecretArtOfWar

 

Let The Enemy Off In Order To Snare Him
Path: SecretArtOfWar   · Prev: LureTheTigerOutOfTheMountain   · Next: ReplaceTheBeamsAndPillarsWithRottenTimber
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Proverb, MiddleGame, Attack & Defence, Strategy

Part of Secret Art of War


   Careful delay in attack will bring destruction to the enemy.

This stratagem tells us not to make an all out attack on the opponent, when the situation does not heavily favour us. Of course, the question arises why e.g. not to kill a group if one is able to do so.

Several points come to mind:

  • If you kill the group you are now burdoned with keeping the group dead. I.e. your opponent gains many ko-threats or threats from the outside that may help her building thickness.
  • If you don't immeaditaly kill the group, but keep it weak, your opponent has to take into account that you might eventually capture it. It may even be possible that the group dies a "natural" death after all its escape routes are blocked.
  • If your opponent tries to save the group, it becomes larger. Thus it becomes increasingly difficult (or even impossible) to sacrifice the group later on.
  • If you don't kill immediatly it is you who has a lot of ko threats for other fights. This may prove to be a deciding factor for winning a game.

In short, it's better to create a weak group (and keep it weak) that can be used to gain important points somewhere else on the board, than to make a (small?) capture that leaves a lot of aji behind.

--ArnoHollosi

If you have examples from games insert them here.



Path: SecretArtOfWar   · Prev: LureTheTigerOutOfTheMountain   · Next: ReplaceTheBeamsAndPillarsWithRottenTimber
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