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  • Being laddered is an easy mistake for beginners to make.

  • But don't worry,

  • top players also made this mistake.

  • Let's have look at this game,

  • Wang Mingwan vs Cho Sonjin.

  • They are fighting for the Honinbo title.

  • It's a very important game,

  • and Wang Mingwan made a mistake

  • which are usually make by beginners,

  • didn't see the ladder.

  • Wang Mingwan is also known as O Meien.

  • He is a Taiwanese,

  • so I just use the Chinese name, Wang Mingwan.

  • OK, let's have a look at this game.

  • Cho Sonjin took B.

  • Wang Mingwan took W.

  • W two-space high kakari.

  • It's Go Seigen's style.

  • B keima.

  • This stone is light.

  • So W can tenuki.

  • Locally, if B nobi,

  • W jumps.

  • B wedges.

  • W kakari.

  • B connects.

  • W connects.

  • In the future,

  • B can keima or extend.

  • If B nobi here,

  • W can jump here.

  • B wedges.

  • W atari.

  • B connects.

  • W connects.

  • In actual game,

  • W tenuki and takes this corner.

  • B shimari.

  • Then W presses.

  • B can't retreat.

  • W will not play like this.

  • W will attach.

  • B hane.

  • W angle wedges.

  • B kosumi.

  • W nobi.

  • B nobi.

  • W jumps.

  • B's position is too low.

  • It's bad for B.

  • If B nobi,

  • W bumps.

  • B blocks.

  • W hane.

  • B hane.

  • It's a large avalanche joseki,

  • It's playable but not popular now.

  • In actual game,

  • B bumps.

  • W turns.

  • B descents.

  • W jumps.

  • Now B can tenuki.

  • This point,

  • and this one,

  • are miai for B.

  • In actual game,

  • B turns to get territory.

  • This move is very big.

  • Then W jumps.

  • The W stone is also very useful.

  • It's hard to say

  • this exchange is good or bad.

  • Now B can't kakari here.

  • If B kakari here,

  • W pincers.

  • With W's influence,

  • there will be no good for B.

  • B can kakari here.

  • If W shimari.

  • B blocks.

  • W descents.

  • Then B jumps.

  • It's normal.

  • In actual game,

  • B kakari here.

  • It's also Go Seigen's style.

  • Next

  • this move

  • and this move

  • are miai for B.

  • If W jumps san-san,

  • B extends.

  • W's influence will be useless.

  • In actual game,

  • W pincers.

  • If B jumps,

  • W jumps.

  • After this exchange,

  • B can't extend.

  • So

  • B must jump san-san.

  • W seals B in.

  • B takes sente to play a splitting move.

  • Now B has many territory,

  • and gets the splitting move here.

  • I think most of players would like to choose B.

  • W shimari.

  • If B extends,

  • W caps.

  • B jumps.

  • W peeps.

  • B connects.

  • Keima.

  • B is very heavy.

  • B can simply jump.

  • B has already got a lot of territory.

  • B can give up some territory

  • just jump to the center.

  • If W extends,

  • B caps.

  • Next B can play here or kakari here.

  • In actual game,

  • B keima.

  • W can extend.

  • It's too slow.

  • B jumps.

  • B's shape is good and B's speed is fast.

  • So W caps.

  • It's the vital point.

  • B keima to get out.

  • W jumps.

  • B peeps.

  • W connects.

  • In actual game,

  • B keima.

  • It's too greedy.

  • The corner is already a living group,

  • the keima is just for territory,

  • not for life.

  • B should attach directly.

  • W can't hane here.

  • B nobi.

  • W bumps.

  • B nobi.

  • Now you see,

  • This stone is just at a very good position.

  • If W connects,

  • B turns.

  • B is comfortable,

  • and W has a cutting point here.

  • If W presses,

  • B nobi.

  • W is hard to reinforce.

  • If W connects,

  • B turns.

  • W's shape is bad.

  • In actual game,

  • when B attaches,

  • if W hane here,

  • B cuts.

  • W atari.

  • B nobi.

  • W nobi.

  • B turns.

  • W connects.

  • Compare to the actual game,

  • W doesn't have a stone here.

  • So B is much easier to fight.

  • B can simply nobi.

  • W connects.

  • B kosumi.

  • W jumps.

  • It's a fight and B will not be afraid.

  • W still has a weakness here.

  • All B can just double atari.

  • W nobi.

  • B captures.

  • W kosumi.

  • B is also not bad.

  • In actual game,

  • B keima.

  • This move is very big,

  • but not urgent.

  • B is too greedy.

  • W will not respond,

  • and W also doesn't have a proper move to respond.

  • If W attaches,

  • B bumps.

  • W has too many cutting points.

  • So W certainly tenuki.

  • W caps again.

  • B contacts. It's a probe.

  • If W kosumi to protect the corner,

  • B descents.

  • W hane.

  • B turns.

  • Now B is a living group.

  • W's center is too thin,

  • if B is a living group.

  • In actual game,

  • W nobi.

  • In the future,

  • if W reinforces here,

  • the exchange would be very bad for B.

  • But if B plays in the future,

  • B hane.

  • W hane.

  • B kosumi.

  • W atari.

  • B connects.

  • W connects.

  • B can get the corner.

  • B can also consider to attach.

  • W hane.

  • B budges.

  • If W atari,

  • B just makes the ko.

  • The ko is very, very heavy to W.

  • So B played a probe here,

  • and B got some aji.

  • Then B attaches.

  • You see now W has a stone here.

  • If B attached directly before the keima,

  • B would be much better.

  • W hane.

  • B cuts.

  • Now W can't nobi.

  • If W nobi.

  • B nobi.

  • W nobi.

  • B kosumi.

  • W reinforces.

  • B presses.

  • W turns.

  • B keima.

  • B can push here,

  • and the kosumi is also B's sente.

  • So B is a living group.

  • W is a floating group and very heavy.

  • This diagram is bad for W.

  • In actual game, W atari.

  • B nobi.

  • The sequence is very good.

  • B can't push.

  • W atari.

  • And atari here.

  • B will be killed.

  • In actual game,

  • B turns.

  • Then W connects.

  • This exchange is bad for B.

  • It's B's absolute sente.

  • B should reserve.

  • If B didn't make this exchange,

  • just played like the actual game,

  • B atari here.

  • W connects.

  • Then B pushes.

  • W still can't hane.

  • Because,

  • this is B's absolute sente.

  • W still has to jump.

  • Then B attaches.

  • W hane.

  • B connects.

  • W still has to reinforce here.

  • Because this B's sente.

  • So if W still has to play in this way,

  • why made this exchange?

  • If B didn't make this exchange,

  • this move will be B's sente.

  • B will be easy to make a life.

  • And B also has this technique.

  • B can attach.

  • If W atari,

  • W nobi.

  • W connects.

  • This result is good for B.

  • W's moyo is gone.

  • In actual game,

  • this exchange has been made,

  • so the kosumi is not B's sente.

  • Of course, B also doesn't have this technique.

  • In actual game,

  • B just hane.

  • B plays like this,

  • because B wants to make use of this stone

  • and play this technique.

  • If W nobi,

  • B will use this technique.

  • So W double hane,

  • and tries to get a sente.

  • B atari.

  • W connects.

  • B nobi.

  • Now it's honte for W to nobi.

  • Wang Mingwan didn't notice the ladder.

  • So W presses.

  • W may think, B would hane.

  • If B hane,

  • W atari.

  • B connects.

  • Then W turns.

  • B made a very bad exchange here,

  • then W still gets the corner.

  • This diagram is very good for W.

  • In actual game,

  • B nobi.

  • Now W should have realized the ladder.

  • It's honte for W to hane.

  • B hane.

  • W nobi.

  • B jumps.

  • Though this move becomes a bad move,

  • W has to play in this way.

  • In actual game,

  • W didn't even think of the ladder.

  • W still nobi.

  • B atari.

  • W atari.

  • B counter atari.

  • Now the ladder appears on the board,

  • W still responds.

  • That's very funny.

  • Till the last moment,

  • W still doesn't think about it.

  • It's true, W has many stones here,

  • there's no reason that B can ladder W.

  • But unexpectedly,

  • B really can.

  • W plays here,

  • and thinks B will net.

  • But B just atari.

  • W suddenly realized it's a ladder.

  • W has nothing to do other than resign.

  • It's only the move 59

  • and Wang Mingwan resigned.

  • Let's see what will happen.

  • If W escapes,

  • W is connected.

  • But B will atari here,

  • then atari here,

  • then atari here.

  • Now it's very clear.

  • Wang Mingwan made a huge mistake,

  • didn't see the ladder.

  • It's an interesting story.

  • I fully respect Wang Mingwan

  • and I like his playing style very much.

  • A single mistake doesn't mean anything.

  • He lost this game,

  • but finally he got the Honinbo title.

  • He was a top player at his age.

  • OK, here is the commentary.

  • See you next time.

  • Subtitled by: Small Qing.^_^

Being laddered is an easy mistake for beginners to make.

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