This article briefly introduces the brilliant move made by Byun Sang-il (9-dan) during the winners' group quarterfinals of the 47th Korean Meijin Tournament, against Kim Eun-ji (9-dan). https://kifudepot.net/kifucontents.php?id=es3679TH4w6w8ZWCyPl7GA%3D%3D
Both players are very famous, so we won't go into detailed introductions here. Byun Sang-il is one of the top three world champions in South Korea and often comes up with unexpected ideas and brilliant moves during his games. Kim Eun-ji is a girl genius from South Korea, and her debut to stardom was discussed in another article: Korean new super star: Kim Eunji destroyed legend Lee Changho! https://www.1200igosharing.blog/en/post/koreannewsuperstarkimeunji
Let's analyze this board position. The focus now is clearly on the unsettled group of White stones on the lower right corner.
If Black chooses a direct attack, it would cut off White’s group at 1.
But can Black completely seal off White's stones?
White’s liberties are too numerous, and Black cannot manage that without putting his stones in danger.
Increasing its liberties and strengthening the center before blocking at 11 is one considerable strategy for Black to consider.
However, due to White group’s liberties and the inability of Black’s group to break through white’s surrounding, Black still doesn't have a clear solution.
So, even if Black takes the initiative with a direct disconnection, it’s uncertain whether Black has made any significant gains.
At this point, can Black prepare a more sophisticated attack?
How about a peep and attach? This is a typical attacking method, and in this case, it forms an indirect attack on the lower side based on one of the stratagems from the Art of War - Clamor in the East, then Attack in the West.
When dealing with a two-space extension after the splitting move, this peep and attach is a classic technique to apply pressure on the opponent’s stones on the third line. But when used on the fourth line, it’s usually not a good move because the opponent (White in this case) would gain more territory.
However, the situation is different here. Since Black made some preparatory moves at the top, the cut at move 7 becomes very powerful!
White would completely fall into Black's trap and suffer a great defeat!
So, the combination of peep and attach on the fourth line is actually a good move by Black, which also happens to be an AI-suggested move!
White then has to fix the weakness with 4...
which gives Black the ability to press on White’s position at the top, which is also recommended by AI. While Black's result isn’t bad, Black didn’t gain any significant advantage either.
In the actual game, rather than a peep and attach, Byun Sang-il directly jumps in at K16! A very bold move!
Facing White’s hane at 1, Black also hane with 2!
If White tries to cut at 3, Black can sacrifice some stones to sever White’s connection.
With Black’s 2 and 4 in place, Black can seal White in the center and White’s group can be captured.
Realizing Black’s intention, Kim Eun-ji…
decides to prioritize the center area by playing double hane, maintaining tension in the local fight while providing distant reinforcement to the disconnection on the lower side.
Alternatively, White could have mended the cut point, but the upper area would have been completely ruined.
Although Kim Eun-ji’s double hane seems to be a very clever strategy, from the AI’s perspective, Black has a large sacrificial variation that would make White unable to handle both the upper and lower groups satisfactorily. But this variation was very complicated and Byun Sang-il likely did not see this during the game.
This was AI’s suggested large-scale sacrificial tactic.
In the actual game, White decided to reinforce the center, and Black was able to break through the upper area and separated White’s stones on the upper left.
Both sides demonstrated a brilliant series of attack and defense. Although Byun Sang-il didn’t achieve a dramatic result with a large dragon capture in the end, this surrounding attack was far more daring than the AI’s recommended peep and attach! In fact, AI even missed such an unexpected move and gave it a higher evaluation!
56% > 64% !!
Games Mentioned (Source):
Korean new super star: Kim Eunji destroyed legend Lee Changho!: https://www.1200igosharing.blog/post/kimkillleedragon
written by Michael Cheung and edited by Dan J (danjjman@gmail.com)
I think the Korean AI during the stream also gave it the same evaluation: https://youtu.be/u_L8xFnKbKQ?t=10263