Sunday Problem #22
While on the topic of endgame problems, it would be remiss of me not to bring up Kanō Yoshinori 9p’s excellent ヨセ辞典 (Yose-Jiten), or Endgame Dictionary.
When I was insei, this book single-handedly had the biggest influence on my endgame improvement. The book explains how to count values of moves (by swing counting), showcases many kinds of endgame tesuji, and also includes a good number of whole-board problems. Unfortunately, the book is quite wordy and has no English translation, so it is the most useful for players who can read Japanese.
This is one of the whole-board problems in the Endgame Dictionary, very slightly edited by me (I have removed a black stone at h1, increasing Black’s territory by one point and making the players’ stone counts equal).
No komi or captures, Black to play. What is the best outcome for both players?
Solution
Black’s endgame tesuji of 1 is the key to this problem. If Black starts with the commonplace hane of 7 instead, White answers with 1 and Black cannot win the game.
Somewhere along the way, White should make sure that he gets to force 2 and 4 in sente before Black finds the time to play 4.
Black’s endgame move of 11 should not be overlooked, either. This prevents White from playing the big move of 11 while simultaneously creating a Black sente followup at a. White is essentially forced to respond with 12, after which Black can claim the tedomari of 13.
Finally, Black wins by one point.
Comments (3)
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Thank you very much ^^ Could not find this book when I was in Japan but get strong at endgame has a lot of problems from this book. Please keep this sunday-endgame problems ^^^
Thank you!
The book was published in 1974 and, as far as I know, has been out of print for a good while (the last printing was probably in 1978). If you want a copy, you’ll need to search for it either online or in second-hand bookstores such as the Akashiya Shoten (http://www.akasiya-shoten.com/).
Solution added.