Some say the fuseki is hard. For others it’s the chuban. And the yose has its own challenges. We may have proclivities for one stage over another but they are all part of the same unknowable totality. Enjoy the flavor of each stage and see how core principles link them together.

Go evokes many parallels with real world conflicts. Transposing actual geographic features to the goban doesn’t work well. But translating the relative strengths and weaknesses of real protagonists in terms of Go shapes can provide a valuable - if very abstract - metaphor.

When the middle of the game comes down to competing for the center because sides & corners are taken, there is a high probability that coming towards the center from all sides will result in fierce fighting, destroy any potential for making points, and result in a neutral center.

Standard Go tactic: surround a group and let it run out for its life. As it runs, it becomes an even weaker target while the attacker makes more gains. But the hunter can become the hunted if he escapes, regroups, and counterattacks an attacker that has not properly consolidated.

Often times, it is a relief to squeeze out two eyes for a large group that is in trouble. It’s almost no territory, but at least the opponent does not get your stones AND the space. And if you are holding the line elsewhere, you might - just might - come out on top. S.U.

Geometrically, encircling a group of stones requires more resources & time than the besieged group needs to defend. That leaves the attacker open to counter attacks until the besieged group is fully sealed in. The damage the attacker may sustain can be substantial. S. U.

The delusional expectation of acquiring big territory unopposed does not amount to “fast development” or even to a “territorial style”. The hollowness of this “strategy” without a plan becomes clear when the attacking stones are promptly separated, surrounded and captured. S.U.

When much of your territory is secure, ie impervious to encirclement, reduction, or destruction, it is not unreasonable to challenge neighboring unconsolidated competing groups situated close to strong groups of your own stones. S.U.

With the dramatic events in today’s world, one wonders how it can still be moral to be interested in placing little black & white tokens on a board. Then I think of the orchestra playing on the sinking Titanic, and the pros who finished the Atom Bomb game. What has Meaning?

Playing deep games like Go is rising in popularity because an increasing number of people have a better grasp of the strategic dimensions of many fields of endeavor, including within their own profession, but yearn for the opportunity to actually design and deploy strategy.

Go is so flexible in its power of abstract representation that it can be played in many different ways, including in ways that miss its core structural dynamics to the point where constant defeat remains durably indecipherable. #weiqi

A Go skeptic explained that playing well is “just” pattern recognition. That may be so. After all, modern #AI is about deep patterns humans can’t even see. But for us humans, the thrill is in recognizing and arranging the patterns successfully. That never gets old.

It’s is by stalking the opponent, ie actively scanning for his mistakes, like neglected connections or unattended weak groups, that we develop the ability to set successful ambushes, aka traps.

There are a few responses to any local situation (nobi/tobi/hane, kosumi, keima, etc), but when the move is not forced by kikashi, the standard local choices allow for strategic freedom. Weak players lose by letting “obvious” local responses lead them into strategic impasses.

It is possible to misdirect an impressionable opponent for a long time with large, seemingly coherent “big” moves that have no intrinsic forcing power beyond the distant potential of a brilliant global master plan…until local realities contradict any possibility of such a plan.

Ever had the feeling that you are leading all through the game only to discover that you have entombed yourself is an unsalvageable corner? You may not have known it, but your opponent did. You willingly and actively crafted your own defeat.

When I return to Go after a break, I am struck by how much the Goban holds up a mirror to our soul: bold or fearful, measured or reckless, scheming or straightforward, generous or greedy. It’s not easy to interpret the placement of stones in terms of character. You need a guide.

The final positions of your stones on the goban are just like the gyotaku ink print of a fish: they preserve a moment of victory - and defeat, otherwise forgotten - board cleared after the game, fish eaten after the catch.