Back to the past
Despite all this talk of new josekis, new styles of play, new time limits and so on de novo, we were forcibly reminded this week that the fundamentals of go are rock solid.
A couple of Korean pros visited London for the MSO in Potters Bar. A strong amateur accompanied them and played in the go tournament - many will know Prof. Hahn Sang-dae, a former representative in the World Amateur (though for Australia!). He was pitted against our own T Mark, and when John F sauntered in later (on the principle that it's more fun watching other people do all the work), T Mark was quick to show him a very neat tesuji that helped him win the game. You may like to try the problem yourself - Black to play.
As soon as he saw it, John F exclaimed that it was just like several problems in the 14th-century Xuanxuan Qijing (Gateway To All Marvels). It really is surprising how many problems there are built round a long one-eyed group that needs to do nasty things to an enemy group on the edge to live. Indeed, in one case the problem is called Keyong Returning to the Tang Court, referring to a great one-eyed general. The theme of this problem also comes up time and again in the 300-odd XXQJ problems. It may even be the commonest theme after ishinoshita.
We thought we'd show you one of these similar problems as proof that life imitates art. For interest's sake, the theme is actually a little different, but there's enough similarity to make our point. This problem, also Black to play, is known as Chu and Han (= Hahn!) Fighting for Supremacy, a campaign that will be familiar to some of you from the river on a Chinese chess board.
Solutions to both problems are on the next page.
