A slap in the face

Here, you will learn some practical techniques needed when you start a real game.

You are black, as always.

White puts a stone very close to you - this move is called "attach" or "contact play". How should you respond to the touch?

static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In this case, the black's move shown below is good. This move decreases the white stone's liberties from 3 to 2. It's almost as if black is giving white a slap in the face. Attack the attacker!

static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Continuing from above, if white played somewhere else like , black can continue attacking the white stone as below. Now the stone is in Atari - with one more move, you can capture it.

static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . S X . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --- triangle: T square: S white: [S, T]

Continuing from the first figure, if black doesn't respond to white's touch and plays somewhere else like , how would white play?

White will keep attacking by giving black a slap in the face. Can you see that black is in trouble?

static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S O . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --- triangle: T square: S black: [S, T]

Finally, it's time to practice. White has just touched your stone. There are two right answers. Find both of them!

problem . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --- solutions: [A, B]

Isn't it just too easy?