>> MOYOS

When two moyo-making experts meet, you may expect to see moyos everywhere. In fact usually only one side gets one - but then on the other side we see the gamekeeper turn poacher.

An exhibition at Osaka Commercial College - which does not sound like a major venue for go but which is actually prominent because of its support for blind go - in 2006 featured a game between the moyo-making champions of East and West Japan. That is Takemiya Masaki (Black) and Sonoda Yuichi. It was not the first time they have met, and other of their games (in the GoGoD database) show the characteristics we will mention here, but the previous efforts were serious, official games. As this was an exhibition game the headline writers could go to town. Inevitably one headline was Star Wars. Another was Final Battle in Space. The crowd was a little spaced out, numbering just 100, rather than the 1,000 or so these players might expect, but as we have explained, this venue plays a special role in go.

Takemiya had Black and so had the advantage of being able to declare his moyo intentions first. What is then very characteristic of games between moyo men is not a "my moyo is bigger than your moyo" contest, but a battle in the centre - an aerial battle, the Japanese call it.

We see that here with Sonoda's White 50. He is challenging Black's moyo in the most direct way possible, and so is accepting that the next phase of the game will be a struggle to achieve sabaki. As it happens he found a way with 68 and 70, which set up a squeeze play, at the end of which White (Sonoda) stood better - even though, at that point, Imamura Toshiya, the public commentator thought that Black's territory in the lower right could be counted as 30 points.

Takemiya responded with a ferocious attempt at a come-back. He managed to mount successive waves of attacks, on white groups on the right, in the centre, at the top then in the top right. He engineered three ko fights, but was hampered by carlessly overlooking an atari when answering White 162 in the first one, and finally had ro resign. This really was Star Wars stuff!

The full game in sgf form:

© John Fairbairn & T Mark Hall (GoGoD), London 2007.