Robert Gillooly (B) v. Zhou Xuecai
1 ~ 24
Murashima's first comment, interestingly related to komi. As we have pointed out,
it was live issue at the time.
Komi was 5 points here. Murashima remarked that with such a komi Black probably felt disinclined to play the double shimari by enclosing the lower left corner with 7. Though that would by no means be bad, it would be perhaps too straightforward.
White 8 came in for criticism, as a half-measure. As a pincer it is too far away from 7 to have much impact. There are several possible alternatives but one Murashima picked was the joseki shown at right.
The fault with 8 is that once Black comes into the corner, White has no option but to defend there, and after 12 Black has the more active shape and can switch elsewhere.
The diagram below shows what happens if White tries to attack in the corner with 11: it just helps Black settle himself completely, which is a loss for White.
Shimamura disliked White 18. It should have been either on the right, as a checking extension against 17, or one point above 24.
None of Gillooly's moves had been criticised so far, but White at lost got grudging acceptance for 20, in that it took congnisance of 19. But 24 was clumsily overdoing it and should have been at 1 in the next diagram, the right direction of play.
25 ~ 100
White 26 was considered odd. It was a forcing move that had no effect.
Black 33 is a big point but he should not have left the upper left so peremptorily. His group there still lacks eye shape. Therefore he should interpolate a forcing move as shown in the diagram at left below. If White answers at 2 and 4, then Black 1 in the diagram at right becomes sente to live - or else White collapses in a heap, as shown. Which means that White would not answer at 4 in the left diagram, but at one point above 3 so that Black would then have enough wriggle room to switch to 33 on the right side.
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Murashima considered Black 35, answering the invasion at White 34, as tepid. The right approach was to make White heavy and then attack on a large-scale, as in the diagram below.
With 36 White should either just jump straight out into the centre or hit at the shoulder (37). Attaching just creates a heavy group. A ko results after 40 but it is hardly one White can fight.
For that reason, connecting at 43 was bad for Black, but White missed his chance. If he had played 1 as in the diagram below, he could connect in sente and Black would have a tough fight.
After 47, White has a thin shape. He seemed pleased to have got in 48 and 50, but Black ought to have connected at 1 in the diagram below. Black 3 is a safe answer to 2.
Black 59 should simply be the turn at 1 in the next diagram as this leaves better aji than in the game.
Black 65 was a curious way to play when he could have just pushed straight out. But White's answer, 66, was a huge mistake. He should have played at 73.
Black 71 should have been atari at the left of 62. The reason is to take away the possibility that an atari at the left of 65 might become a forcing move for White later.
For 77 Black should first interpolate the hane at 79 and cut, as shown in a diagram above. If he can ensure life of this big group he will win the game.
Black 91 is unnecessary. Blocking at 98 is good enough.
101 ~ 200 (rest of moves omitted; White won by 5)
After this the game became rather hairy, with a picnic ko and a huge trade (the further record is on the GoGoD CD). The result was a 5-point win for White. It is intriguing that Murashima chose, as his final comment, to note that this was the amount of the komi.
It is also interesting to consider the nature of his comments. Although we have adapted them (and omitted some), they are rather mild and concentrate on small tactical insights rather than big themes. This is a clear indication of which part of the game the two 2-dans needed to work on.
It would, incidentally, probably be a mistake to assume that 2-dans then were weaker than 2-dans today. That would likely be true of a later generation, but at this period (1955) grades were still rigorous.
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