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Overplay
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    Keywords: Go term

An overplay tries to gain too much.

You don't learn much by playing underplays; you just lose a game by 10 points, and you aren't sure why. Playing overplays is instructive. When you get punished: you learn something. You'll never find the line between the two if you always play under it... And, if you overplay constantly, your overplays will get smaller and smaller as you learn, until you find yourself playing right on that fine line of "good play", or at least close to it --Alex Weldon

If the opponent replies correctly, it will show a loss, but if he makes a timid response or other mistake, it can succeed. Most trick plays are overplays.


In a handicap game White must overplay to be able to catch up and overtake the handicap advantage Black enjoys. Thus, overplay is relative. A play that would be an overplay in one game might be appropriate in a different game against a different player.

Migeru
Is this also part of adapting play to score?
Cazort
I disagree with this. My experience is that if you knowingly overplay in handicap games, you will get punished if black plays solid plays and stays connected. I think the way to win in a handicap game is to play lightly, which is very different from an overplay. Since white is a stronger player, white can then make incremental progress--keeping sente and winning something with each exchange in order to overtake the handicap. Playing overplays in a handicap game will form bad habits, won't teach your opponent good habits, and defeats the whole point of the handicap game to begin with!

Scartol: I beg to differ, Cazort. (Story of my life.) I play many, many teaching games with my high school students, so I consider myself something of an expert on overplays (g). I routinely play over as white in high handicap games, precisely so that I can go back later and explain to the student why her move was correct (if she punished me) or incorrect (if she failed to do so).

I suppose in some ways it's a matter of purpose; if white wants to win, then incremental progress (as you put it) is the way to go. If the purpose is to illustrate proper moves (or to win big, by killing many groups), then overplaying is better. Playing lightly against a high handicap is something I save for when my students earn the right to shed two or three stones.


Charles Matthews In fact consideration of what White does in skilful handicap play is revealing about the nature of overplays. For example invasions may be legitimate plays, may be overplays that should end in mochikomi, or may live with correct play but give away too much influence.

  • In the opening White may play for large, loose frameworks on the assumption that Black will not invade correctly.
  • Characteristic of play in the middle game in handicap go is that White makes invasions of the type that give away too much influence. That leaves problems for White's other groups in making shinogi.
  • In the endgame White ought to be making correct plays and relying on Black's small mistakes to catch up. Speculative invasions are not good teaching, in general.

The true nature of handicap go with White is to be a little unreasonable, in a way that is hard to punish. I'd say obvious overplays are only part of it. White's natural strategy is of the amashi kind, but thinner than it ought to be.

Jan: A low kyu player once said to me: 'In low (two to five, maybe?) handicap games, White usually can get away with slight overplays - three-space extensions where a two-space extension would be correct'

Bill: An overplay is better than an underplay. ;-)

Alex Weldon: Well, I'd say that depends on whether one is winning or losing. A rich man should not pick quarrels, after all. If you're ahead, err on the side of underplay. If you're losing, err on the side of overplay. :) (See safety play, though. Charles)

On the other hand, at my level (12k* IGS), most players could use Bill's advice. I tend to win most of my games by being a little bit quicker to tenuki and a bit more ambitious with my moves. However, I sometimes lose a game because my move actually does turn out to be overplay and the opponent spots it. Still, I think the other players need to play a bit more ambitiously, even if it means risking overplay.

Bill: I'm sorry. I meant my remark to be tongue in cheek, not advice. I do think that if you err, it is better to err on the side of boldness.
Overplays are both the easiest and hardest plays for me to counter. I find obvious overplays easy to punish. On the other hand, borderline overplays can give me difficulties. First, is the play an overplay? If so, my opponent has missed something subtle. What is it? ;-)

Jasonred : In my humble opinion, about overplaying or underplaying, sometimes it's the extent of the overplay/underplay. Also, player ability makes a big difference when considering the whole issue, no?

Alex Weldon: The interesting thing about overplays is that, if answered correctly, the result can be devastating. While the loss from underplay probably linearly increases with the "badness" of the underplay, the "badness" of an overplay has more of an effect on how easy it is for the opponent to spot than how bad the consequences will be if he does. I mean, a slight overplay might be one where there's a hard to spot tesuji that ends up killing the whole group (small chance of a large loss), whereas a really bad overplay would be one where it's completely obvious that the opponent can just capture that one stone in sente without giving you any compensation (almost 100 percent chance of a small loss).

Playing slight overplays can be like a reverse lottery, where you get paid for each ticket you take, but each one gives you a small chance of a large financial loss. That's why you play them when you're behind.

Anyway, Bill, I know your remark was meant to be tongue in cheek, but I thought it raised a real issue worth commenting on.

One more thing to add is that you don't learn much by playing underplays; you just lose a game by 10 points, and you aren't sure why. Playing overplays is instructive. When you get punished, you learn something. You'll never find the line between the two if you always play under it... if you overplay constantly, your overplays will get smaller and smaller as you learn, until you find yourself playing right on that fine line of "good play", or at least close to it.

Charles Matthews The same comment applies to wishy-washy, tepid plays of the type the Japanese call nurui. In fact, to try to clarify the terms a little, perhaps nurui stands in relation to the idea of vital point in the same way as small plays stand in relation to the big points; both types back off too much and can be called underplays.

Cazort Isn't there a difference too between an overplay that has a clear way to be exploited, and one that in theory could be exploited but in reality creates a situation so complex that it has a big chance of working? I've seen some pro games in which there is an extremely complex situation where someone invades territory in a complex situation and lives--and then later analysis of the game shows that the group could have been killed by proper play--but the mistake was so complex that it was hard to spot. Is this overplay? Or should there be a new term for it? I think there is a big difference...

puripuri: (in reply to above) Something like that can be looked up for reference information, but it's insensitive to label those as mistakes and errors (IMO). The "killing move" was not played, so presenting it afterwards is just a curiosity, an academic what-if. What if there was another move that makes it live even after that killing move? There's no end to this road.

I have to say, that overplay is too hard concept for me to really understand. I'd like to say that everyone does only overplays in every game after move 10, and the winner is the one who punishes the other more for their mistakes. This naturally greatly depends on how exactly "overplay" is understood...


See also: Punishing Overplays



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This is a copy of the living page "Overplay" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.