Undoubtedly most of you are active Go players by now and would thoroughly enjoy a seemingly never ending thread of screenshots of Go boards with long-winded commentary by some self-important scrub. Those of you who somehow still don't play the game will surely be convinced this time. Anyway I enjoyed doing it last time so why not.
Last thread: viewtopic.php?f=315&t=18319
I started a game against my boy funloop, who I'm currently 4-5 against looking to even it up. I'm black, so I get the first move but my opponent gets 6.5 bonus points to compensate.Go can seem like just another Chess-like game where you're mostly analyzing as many moves ahead as you can, even though it isn't. I figure one way I could shed light on this is by commentating on one of my own ongoing games in a targeted way. That is, not by going into the many variations that were considered each time, but focusing on the broader strategic concepts, the big picture thinking if you will, that goes into each move. The fact that big picture thinking is such an important part of decision making in this game may, for some of you, help lift it from "just another Chess-like game" to the truly unique and, contrary to chess, strategically fascinating gem that it is. We AoE3 players like strategy, don't we?
Since I play a lot of correspondence Go (meaning you get multiple days per move) it is fairly straightforward for me to do this. I can do it as the game is going on, because these games can take months.
In the screenshots, the move order will be shown using numbers, where 1 is the first move played.
Of course, anyone is welcome to ask any questions at any point ITT.
In the very weird event you missed the memo about Go: viewtopic.php?f=315&t=15086
Glossary
Territory: Map control. Points. The goal of the game. Each empty intersection "surrounded" by your stones counts as one point of territory. Example: This corner would be worth 9 points for black.
Alive: A group is unconditionally alive when it's impossible to surround and kill. If you're interested in how that works, (the beginning of) this video might clarify.
Strong stone/group: A strong stone or group is a stone/group that is not at risk of dying. Strong groups help in fights because they are good to attack from, or to run towards for safety.
Weak stone/group: A weak stone or group is a lonely stone/group with many enemies near it that is at risk of dying, like the white stone in the "invade" example.
Reduce: To move somewhere near your opponent's (potential) territory, often as close to the edge of the territory as possible, in order to reduce his potential to get more.
Invade: To move into your opponent's potential territory in order to reduce it or create your own territory within it. Example: White's move 13 in this position "invades" black's territory. White's stone is weak and can be attacked, but if it survives black will have lost a lot of points.
Secure: To move in or near your own territory to prevent strong invasion or reduction moves.
Influence: The intangible "potential" of any one stone or group of stones, be it in territory or fighting strength. The stronger a group is, the more influence it exerts.
Territorial: A territorial move or play style is focused on gaining territory at the expense of influence. Example: In this variation, black played territorially by taking the corner but allowing white to gain influence.
Settle: To place stones in a way that the area becomes "done" (settled), meaning neither player will find much use playing another move there until much later in the game, when there are no more big moves to play elsewhere.
Sente: Initiative. The player who is forcing the other player to respond to his moves "has sente". They effectively decide where the next area of contention is. Another way of putting it: The player who has the next move where he is not forced to respond to an opponent's move, has sente.
Forcing move: A move that forces a specific response from the opponent in that if it is ignored, they would lose many points or lose the game outright. "Ignoring" here means playing another move elsewhere on the board.