[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]

StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About


Paths
NadareJoseki
OneSpaceLowPincer
Mistake
AspectsOfSacrifice
TakemiyaKosumi
ForcingAndInitiative

Referenced by
GoTerms
Nakade
HumourAlmostProverbs
33PointInvasionJo...
BigQuestionMark
YiChAngHo
EnglishGoTerms
Sacrifice
TeachingGame22
ANoviceTriesToWri...

Homepages
KarlKnechtel

 

Tenuki
Path: AspectsOfSacrifice   · Prev: SacrificeThePlumForThePeach   · Next: Furikawari
Path: ForcingAndInitiative   · Prev: IntermediatePlays   · Next: MutualDamage

  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: Go term

'Tenuki' is used to denote playing somewhere else. Black plays tenuki by not answering White's last move locally, but instead adding a move in another part of the board.

One of the commonest amateur mistakes is getting locked into the local fight and continuing to play there when there are larger plays elsewhere. Tenuki is always an option.

:Go proverb: "Play the big points first"

But playing tenuki without knowledge does not work. There is a difference between a play that is big and one that is urgent.


Take for example the below proverb below:

"If it's worth only 15 points, play tenuki."

This of course is not true in the endgame, for example, when even five points may be a huge play. It is rather meant to illustrate the natural tendency to save stones even when it's not the best move. Thus, answering must be balanced with a reading of substantial moves and their real value, i.e. often the loss of a group is not as urgent as the capture of another.

Stronger players will lead weaker players around by the nose, choosing the agenda. This is because the weaker player will simply not know as much in several areas of the game.

For example, in life and death, a weaker player might be able to play tenuki, gaining sente, but instead answers, simply because the player does not understand the life and death of that shape.

In another example, a balanced corner situation (joseki) that is best left alone, may be immediately disturbed by the player who does not know he can tenuki, and make a more balanced move.


Bill Spight: One of the commonest amateur mistakes is getting locked into the local fight and continuing to play there when there are larger plays elsewhere. Tenuki is always an option.

Iron Chef Sakai: That reminds me of a go proverb that goes somewhat like this: "Play the big points first"


Fenomenoide: There's another proverb "With fewer than 15 stones in danger, tenuki."

Bill: I think players do not tenuki enough, but, pardon me, that so-called proverb is ridiculous.
Just my two cents worth.

SAS: I think this proverb is misquoted. I recall it as something like "If it's worth only 15 points, tenuki." Assuming this means 15 points in gote, deiri counting, and assuming that it's not meant to apply to the endgame, then this is quite reasonable.


Karl Knechtel: A stone on the board is generally worth two points as I see it - it's a stone your opponent hasn't captured, on a space that now isn't your opponent's territory. That's a rough way of looking at things, but still. With that in mind, "If it's only worth 15 points, tenuki" resembles the Russian proverb "Sacrifice every group of fewer than seven stones" (see HumourAlmostProverbs). That one was meant to be facetious, but the point is clear. :)



Path: AspectsOfSacrifice   · Prev: SacrificeThePlumForThePeach   · Next: Furikawari
Path: ForcingAndInitiative   · Prev: IntermediatePlays   · Next: MutualDamage

This is a copy of the living page "Tenuki" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.