Strategy
Go strategy entails devising a plan that may lead to victory, while considering the global position; Go tactics refers to moves played in a local area. A good strategy will be based on:
Strategic Position
Factors that affect devising a plan include:
- Intuition
- Sense of direction
- Importance of stones
- Whole board thinking
- Positional judgment
Strategic Concepts
Strategic concepts are ideas and techniques that can be applied to a global strategy, such as:
- aji
- amarigatachi
- amashi
- honte
- furikawari
- karami
- kikasare
- kikashi
- korigatachi
- miai
- probe
- sabaki
- thickness
- tedomari
- tenuki
Strategic Principles
Strategic principles are guidelines that can help a plan be successful, such as:
Strategic Plans
A strategic plan involves a plan of action to accomplish a specific goal in relation to a global position. Many stratagems are discussed on Secret Art of War. The following subsections examine how some of these stratagems can be applied to Go.
Cross the Sea Unseen
This strategy entails seeking out a weakness in the opponent's position that cannot be exploited without supporting stones. The key to this strategy is to add the required supporting stones without alarming the opponent to the danger. This is usually done by planning an attack that naturally causes the opponent to drive your stones into the supporting position.
Besiege Wei To Rescue Zhao
This strategy is also known as "a good defense is a strong offense". When the opponent is attacking a weak group, retaliate by attacking an opponent group to amass support for the weak group that was being assailed.
Allow the Enemy to Move First
This strategy is based on the opponent having two (or more) weaknesses that can be exploited. Rather than exploiting one of the weaknesses immediately, take the time to strengthen your own position in anticipation of a fight. The position you strengthen should have a relation to both weaknesses.
Further Reading
- 36 Stratagems Applied to Go -- Ma Xiaochun
- Strategic Concepts of Go -- Nagahara Yoshiaki and Richard Bozulich