Big Dragons Never Die

    Keywords: Proverb

Actually it is a controversial statement to say that "Big dragons never die". Sometimes they die with a bang.

The proverb reflects the fact that a big group that stretches across the board (dragon) has a lot of possibilities to either form two eyes or to get engaged in a semeai that is easily won because the group is so big.

As with all proverbs it is just a hint and does not replace actual reading.

It is believed also that a side that has only one group wins the game.


Minor note: If you in fact think you have killed a big dragon, check all of the stones around it VERY carefully. If you play away (tenuki) too soon, you may find an unexpected move saves it, which can really hurt if you have one or two capturing races involving the big dragon.


Barry Phease: There is a practical application of this proverb. Don't let two weak groups connect, because while they are disconnected they are weak, but two connected weak groups are much stronger. As always, there are exceptions :)


Chinese Go proverbs

(See Chinese Go proverbs for more info.)


Korean Go proverbs

'The expression 'dae-ma-bul-sa' derives from the game of baduk, or go in Japanese and literally means large horses do not lose. (quoted from page 54 of Joongi Kim's article [ext] A Forensic Study of Daewoo’s Corporate Governance: Does Responsibility for its Meltdown Lie Solely with the Chaebol and Korea


Comments

Anonymous: Corollary for handicap go: White groups never die.

tapir: Killing white groups in handicap games is not only fun, quite often it just happens against overplaying white players leaving weak groups around everywhere.

See also

State of Mind


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