DieterVerhofstadt/ThePlayingProcess
What happens when you play a game, unless you are playing fast and instinctively?
- At any decision point, you make a positional judgment
- From that judgment comes some sort of plan
- You select a number of candidate moves
- These lead to sequences, which you have to read
- You evaluate a certain end point of those sequences
- Sometimes the end point is a clear positive or negative evaluation
- Other times you stop because the continuation is unclear
- And you choose the best candidate
- Or you revise the plan
Every move can be a decision point, but more often a new decision point occurs when there is more information or the opponent deviates from the sequence envisioned.
The candidate selection doesn't necessarily follow from a single plan. Often the plan unfolds while exploring candidate moves.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/15/d6107e005e91d74409f9c06591307a18.png)
Making a plan
For example, at move
Black will usually think of
- making a corner enclosure at any of the points a
- approaching the corner opposite to the 3-4 corner
- from the outside at b
- or the inside at c
- or follow the modern tendency to invade at d
- approaching the corner opposite the the 4-4 corner, with similar options
The corner enclosure is urgent, so if Black chooses to play elsewhere, then he wants to end with sente to play there still.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/49/fe9c958edce465ae3b4ae86a88c00176.png)
Seeing sequences
This sequence may end in gote, after Black
, but it also makes the corner enclosure less interesting, hence less urgent.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/14/cc242832cc0c37c2013e5908effec917.png)
Opening
The same sequence here, makes a very attractive, so White will likely take sente to play here.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/48/ff1bec7d34067c7cbbb003d3ac048c19.png)
Opening
We can visualize the same pattern in the upper left and see how White takes sente to play here
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/27/23227576de8bac0749f12f51bcfad752.png)
Choice
None of the approaches gives me a better feeling than playing the enclosure immediately, so I'll choose that and the high 2 space enclosure is reinforced by AI opening tendency.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/16/63d3d3eb220efb914e870808e0317d8d.png)
Next
Suppose White approaches from the inside. Then I will seriously consider the pincer.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/41/23c57516b2f9b25197e4a214a763be19.png)
Next
I will visualize this position and ask myself what I'll do next with sente. Play a in gote or approach any of the corners.
I feel that a is big and almost necessary, and I don't like having all my eggs in one basket.
From this I will probably choose not to pincer.