(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.00] PW[White]PB[Black]C[Copyright Steve Fawthrop, 2002, 2013 =============================== Before the game starts W is 5.5 ahead because of komi. A good rule of thumb in the fuseki is to assume that the lead changes handson each move and that it alternates between B 5 ahead and W 5 ahead. This means that you must make each move worth about 10 points in the fuseki. ] (;B[qd]CR[qd]TR[pa][qa][ra][sa][pb][qb][rb][sb][qc][rc][sc]C[So this move has to be worth 10 points to stay level. In fact, general opinion is that it is worth about that. ] ;W[dc]CR[dc]C[Same here. ] ;B[pq]CR[pq] ;W[dp]CR[dp]C[This move can also be considered to be about 10 points, so the game is still even. ] ;B[oc]CR[oc]LB[od:A]C[The shimari in the corner is generally consider to be worth about 15 points. But that is in territory. There is no doubt that is has some influence on the outside. It is hard to evaluate the value of that thickness. It is less than a move at but it is at least 5 points, so it can be said that temporarily B is ahead. The same would be true of a move at 'A'] ;W[po]CR[po] ;B[qo]CR[qo] ;W[qn]CR[qn] ;B[qp]CR[qp] (;W[pm]CR[pm] ;B[nq]CR[nq] ;W[qi]CR[qi]C[Notice that up to now we have been counting in multiples of 5. In the opening this is a good idea. There are not enough stones on the board to be more accurate. So, evaluating the position after this joseki we can count as follows: Black has 15 pts UR, 20 pts LR, White has 10 pts UL and 10pts LL. W also has about 10 pts on the side plus 5 pts komi. So each side has about 35 points of definite territory. (Note that I did not count the UR shimari as 20 pts as previously stated because here I am only counting definite territroy, not the value of influence.) ] ;B[ce]CR[ce] ;W[dh]CR[dh] (;B[df]CR[df] ;W[fd]CR[fd] ;B[bc]CR[bc] ;W[jc]CR[jc]C[How do we evaluate this position. Remember that W was counting on 10 pts in the top left. Remember to count in multiples of 5. We can say that Black has about 5 points. W has potential for about 15 points at the top, but it is not solid territory. However, to offset this, White has some potential down the left side because he has a stone there. So it is about even still. Let's have a look at some other joseki here. By comparing the results of three different joseki in the UL we can see that to truly evaluate the fuseki we must visualize the joseki played out and determine the count after it is played. In this way we avoid joseki which leave us at a disadvantage.] ;B[qg]CR[qg]C[Black play here because both palyers have the potential to expand here. In addition Black threatens to invade.] ;W[oi]CR[oi] ;B[cn]CR[cn] ;W[ck]CR[ck] ;B[cq]CR[cq] ;W[cp]CR[cp] ;B[dq]CR[dq] ;W[ep]CR[ep] ;B[bp]CR[bp] ;W[bo]CR[bo] ;B[bq]CR[bq] ;W[co]CR[co] ;B[fq]CR[fq]C[Now let's evaluate, again counting in 5s. Black has 20 UR, 20 LR, 15 LL, 5 UR for a total of 60. White has 15 at top, 15 on right, about 20 on left, 5 komi, for a total of 55. So Black is ahead by 5. But Black has just played, so based on out initial comments, he should expect to be about 5 ahead. So this position is still fairly even. Note that we are only counting territory here. No account for the value of influence. Let's now look at another game. Go to the first variation of mvoe 1.]) (;B[fe]CR[fe] ;W[gc]CR[gc] ;B[dj]CR[dj] ;W[fg]CR[fg] ;B[dd]CR[dd] ;W[cc]CR[cc] ;B[ec]CR[ec] ;W[eb]CR[eb] ;B[fb]CR[fb] ;W[fc]CR[fc] ;B[ed]CR[ed] ;W[db]CR[db] ;B[he]CR[he] ;W[fi]CR[fi]C[How do we evaluate this? We can say that White has about 15 points of definite territory at the top. Black has no defintie territory, in fact, unless he can use the stones to attack something he ends up playing on dame. The three white stones on the left look stronger than the single black stone so all-in-all, we can say that this this variation is better for W. So, based on evaluating the count after the joseki is played, we can say that this was probably the wrong choice for B.]) (;B[dd]CR[dd] ;W[ec]CR[ec] ;B[cc]CR[cc] ;W[cb]CR[cb] ;B[bc]CR[bc] ;W[hc]LB[qf:B][qg:A]TR[hc][oc]SQ[dh][qi][nq]C[How about this position? White has about 10 pts and Black has about 5 at the top left. So in terms of pure points, white has probably lost out in this exchange. (Remember, he started out wit h10 points.) But Black does not have a lot of potential to expand and White does. So we can say that this position is still equal. This raises an interesting question: how valuable is the abilty to expand? This is an impossible question to answer, as it depends on the situation, but let's try to define some guidelines. I will emphasize though, that these are only rough guidelines for use by low to mid kyu players. Stronger players will be able to evaluate more accuratly and won't need them. I am going to propose that in any position where one player has the potential to expand, but the other does not, that add 5 points to the count. Again, remember that this is nothing more than a rule of thumb for mid-kyus who are learning how to count. In the top right Black can extend to A and White can extend to B so there is nothing here. Same at the top, the two triangle stones can expand towards one another. The three square stones each have expansion potential. As far as the top left is concerned, the 5 points for the potential of the stone at D12 is enough to compensate white for the shift in the balance of territories. The stone at R11 can, in combination with the stone at Q7, expand to the center.])) (;W[pn]CR[pn] ;B[nq]CR[nq] ;W[qj]CR[qj]LB[qh:A]C[This is also joseki. Is this the same as far as points are concerned? Definitely White has about the same, so the points are the same. So why is this position considered inferior? The reason is that Black can extend to A in this game, whereas in the previous diagram he could only extend one point less. So the lesson to be learned here is that you must count future possibilties in the fuseki to get a true value of the game. However, for now let's just say that these two positions are about equal and in both Black and White each have about 35 points. ])) (;B[pd]CR[pd] ;W[cc]CR[cc] ;B[dp]CR[dp] ;W[qq]CR[qq] ;B[pn]CR[pn] ;W[np]CR[np] ;B[pj]CR[pj] ;W[fq]CR[fq] ;B[cn]CR[cn] ;W[dr]CR[dr] ;B[cq]CR[cq] ;W[iq]CR[iq] ;B[dd]CR[dd] ;W[cd]CR[cd] ;B[de]CR[de] ;W[eb]CR[eb] ;B[gd]CR[gd] ;W[bf]LB[pd:A]TR[gd][de][pj][cn]SQ[bf][np]C[Let's evaluate this. As each has played the same number of moves we should expect that score on the board be about equal. Definite territory first: Black has: UR - 10 pts, LL 5 pts, White has: UL 10 pts, LL, 10 pts How do we evaluate the potential in the LR? W has more potential so let';s say: W 15 pt, B 10 pts So the territory total is B: 25pts, W:35 pts. But we have not yet looked at the potential for expansion. All the marked stones have potential for development. Counting 5 for each on of these, brings the count to 45 pts each. This is an equal game. Note that the stone 'A' also has some potentiial to expand, in two directions. However, we do not count this because it is implicit in the 10 pts assigned to a single stone in the corner. Black cannot expect the corner AND the expansion, so we either count 10 points territory or 5 pts expansion in each of two directions. Either way, we have the 10 pts already coutned. Go to the next variation on move 1. ]) (;B[qc]CR[qc] ;W[dc]CR[dc] ;B[qq]CR[qq] ;W[cp]CR[cp] ;B[np]CR[np] ;W[fq]CR[fq] ;B[ce]CR[ce] ;W[ci]CR[ci] ;B[cc]CR[cc] ;W[cb]CR[cb] ;B[dd]CR[dd] ;W[bc]CR[bc] ;B[ec]CR[ec] ;W[cd]CR[cd] ;B[bd]CR[bd] ;W[cc]CR[cc] ;B[ee]CR[ee] ;W[eb]CR[eb] ;B[fc]CR[fc] ;W[pf]CR[pf] ;B[nc]CR[nc] ;W[qk]CR[qk] ;B[fb]CR[fb] ;W[qo]CR[qo] ;B[pp]CR[pp] ;W[jq]CR[jq] ;B[ea]CR[ea] ;W[be]CR[be] ;B[bf]CR[bf] ;W[ad]CR[ad] ;B[cf]CR[cf] ;W[fo]CR[fo]C[This is a deliberately bad fuseki for B. Let's evaluated it. B: UR 10 pts, LR, 15 pts , top about 20 pts of potential., total 45 W: UL 5pts: LL maybe 40 pts, right 10 pts, total 55 It is also clear that W has more stones which have the potential for expansion so W is well ahead.] ;B[]C[Let's try to summarize what we have learnt so far. 1. A single stone in a corner is worth about 10 pts 2. A shimari is worth about 15 pts in territory plus about 5 points of influence (notice the extra 5 pts in this are not territory and may disappear later. But in the fuseki we can add this to the count) 3. A two stone position on the side is worth about 5 points. 4. A three stone position on the side is worth 10-15 points, depending on the position. 5. Each group which has the potential for expansion contributes 5 points to the count for each direction. (note that you can add 5pts for possible expansion in one or two directions -- parallel or perpendicualr to the sides. No more than this.) So now we look at some positions and try to apply this.]) (;B[pc]CR[pc] ;W[pp]CR[pp] ;B[cd]CR[cd] ;W[dp]CR[dp] ;B[qe]CR[qe] ;W[ed]CR[ed] ;B[ec]CR[ec] ;W[dd]CR[dd] ;B[dc]CR[dc] ;W[ce]CR[ce] ;B[bd]CR[bd] ;W[fd]CR[fd] ;B[fq]CR[fq] ;W[cm]CR[cm] ;B[jp]CR[jp] ;W[mq]CR[mq] ;B[kq]CR[kq] ;W[qo]CR[qo]LB[fd:F][ce:E][cm:D][jp:C][fq:B][oq:A]C[1. A shimari is worth about 15 pts in territory plus about 5 points of influence, so B gets 20 pts for the UR. 2. Because B can invade at A the lower right can be consider as no more than a 2 stone position, so count it as 20 for W 3. B's three stone position at the bottom is worth 10 pts. We cannot give it 15 with strong W stones on either side. 4. UL is at least 15 for B 5. LL is harder to evaluate because the 4-4 point is undercut by B, but let's assign 10 pts to W. 6. the W position at the top has no clear territory but has a lot of potential, so lets assign 10 pts. So counting territory we have, including komi, an even game. As far a potential for expansion is concerned, the right side is a wash, Black has potential along to top from his shimari and potential towards the center from C. W has potential from D, E and F. As White has potential for expansion from more positions than Black we can say that W is ahead by about 5 points. ]) (;C[CONCLUSION: In the fuseki we can only count in multuples of 5 points. Anything more detailed is note practical. In order to get a rough count we assign various points to positions as follows: 1. A single stone in a corner is worth about 10 pts 2. A shimari is worth about 20 pts 3. A two stone position on the side is worth about 5 points. 4. A three stone position on the side is worth 10-15 points, depending on the position. In addition, we have to add to the count the potential for expansion. Each group which has the potential for expansion contributes 5 points to the count for each direction. If adding all of this together gives a difference of 5pts or less then is is probably a fairly even game. If it is more than 5 pts then one player is ahead. Each should adjust their strategy accordingly. Again, it must be stressed that these are guidelines for low- to mid-kyu players only. As you reach the higher kyu levels you will be able to assess a position more reliably and will not need the rules to guide you. Remember, they are only rules of thumb to help you evaluate a position. They do not guarentee that number of points stated. Only that, on average, you can expect about this number of points from the position over a large number of games.]))