Joe Patzer: "I would like to teach those devils of spite incarnate, Mr. Chaos and young Master Carnage, a lesson by using trick plays to give them a rough time. Dogaku Sensei, please furnish me with good moves that I can learn quickly and put to use right away."
Sensei: "I understand. However, before I begin my discourse I must exhort you to caution, Joe. That is, explain the boundaries of trick play study. Is that alright with you?"
Joe Patzer: "Oh, I see. A kind of a sermon, huh? I guess I can hold my tongue for a while, but please make it quick and to the point."
Sensei: "Perhaps you've heard the famous saying that the essence of warfare is the art of deceit. The particulars are given in Sun-tzu's first chapter 'On Assessments', but the gist of it is that when one goes into battle, one's principal efforts should be directed towards deception.
When able, seem to be unable; when nearby, seem to be far away; if the enemy seeks an advan-tage, use it as an enticement; induce arrogance and a letting down of the enemy's guard; attack where the enemy is unprepared; go by way of places the enemy would never think that one is going; in such a manner victory is gained, it has been handed down."
Joe Patzer: "In other words, take the path that angels fear to tread."
Sensei: "Such is not the case. At times when diplomatic relations have broken down, and the social contract among the members of society is an empty charade, one speaks not of sages or of angels, one questions not the means that one uses to smite evil doers, but setting all of these considerations aside, the one thing that one must bear in mind above everything else is to keep wholeheartedly focused on what machinations the opponent is designing, and by abandoning strictly proper forms and becoming open to respond to changes at any moment, one is able to perform the necessary preparations to reconstruct one's battle array. In concrete terms, if one's strategy is revealed by the opponent and one thereby instantly incurs a disadvantage, the trick play that one has used is not a superior one, while in cases where the opponent is left with a 50/
50 result even without making a misstep but that one can profit greatly at one fell swoop if the trap works, this is the kind of high level trick play that one should study."
Joe Patzer: "The kind of situation that is filled with danger for the enemy but safe and sound for the friendly side, huh? Sounds like it can't be beat."
Sensei: "Those who are expert at employing the military are like the 'sudden striker', a snake indigenous to Mount Heng. This is from another passage by Sun-tzu. If you strike its head, its tail comes to its aid; if you strike its tail, its head comes to its aid; if you strike its middle, both head and tail come to its aid. With trick plays as well, having only one string to one's bow is no good. If the first wave of the attack is parried, one launches a second attack, and if that is turned
Trick Moves: Intrinsic Values
with 35 games in the praxis that have been passed down to us. At the time, he was the opponent with whom Dosaku was most evenly matched."
Joe Patzer: "In Diagram 1, Dosaku is playing white and Chitetsu is playing black, right?"
Sensei: "This was in 1668, so Dosaku was only 22 years old and ranked 7 dan. The moves from white 1 through 13 comprise a technique that Dosaku made common use of, and in games with Chitetsu he very of-ten played this way, making this shape. Out of stubbornness, Chitetsu would also always answer in this way."
Joe Patzer: "But surely he hasn't been tricked here?"
Sensei: "Of course, just this in itself, the joseki in the local area, is played at the present time as well, and the result that is produced is a 50/50 division of profit and influence. However, following this, the way black played in the lower left corner was how black ended up getting tricked. Six-teen moves after the board position in Dia-gram 1, we have DiaDia-gram 2, where after white plays at 2 and throws in the cut of white 5, black's response with 6 & 8 is the misstep that causes black to get tricked."
Joe Patzer: "I see. After having it pointed out and considering the implications, it seems like black's influence on the lower side represents a duplication of effort, doesn't it?"
Sensei: "Even though the position in the lower right is solid and strong, black's moves at 6 & 8 are at a distance that is only two points away, and this is terrible. At that time, research on theory in the game of go had not progressed very far, so black was not even aware of the loss that had been in-curred. Since that was the case, Dosaku was always making use of this kind of play. The outcome of this game was that white won by 4 points."
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Joe Patzer: "Hey! Diagram 3 looks just like the last one!"
Sensei: "This was in the year 1674, mak-ing it six years after the previous game.
However, the technique used here is the same, and in this game Dosaku won by 5 points."
Joe Patzer: "Likewise here, black 22 &
24 make an overlapping of influence, and represent getting tricked, right? After mak-ing the exchange of white 1 for black 2, white plays 3 through 15 in the lower right, which is the normal course of development, and then after that, Dosaku throws in the cut of white 21, etc., and the move order used here may be characterized as a mani-festation of Dosaku's brilliant skill, isn't that true?"
Sensei: "In this six year period since the previous game, Chitetsu did not seem to have progressed at all. During this year of 1674, Dosaku and Chitetsu played eight games against each other, with Chitetsu be-ing beaten down in the series to the point of having to take a two stone handicap, but Diagram 4 shows a position from a game which featured the unusual result in which Chitetsu won playing with only the first move advantage."
Joe Patzer: "The position on the lower side is exactly the same as in the last game, isn't it?"
Sensei: "Here again black responded with 22 & 24, once more falling in line with
Trick Moves: Intrinsic Values
Joe Patzer: "It seems like the House of Yasui continued in the dark regarding this kind of duplication of influence for a long period, didn't it?"
Sensei: "About one hundred and seventy years after this, Shusaku loved to use the move at black 1 in Diagram 5, which pre-vents white from making the fencing in move at 1, sealing black in. Once this di-agonal move is in place, then, for example, even if the development in Diagram 6 takes place, this time the distance between the two positions is five points, and black can feel satisfied with the situation. This is the in-terpretation that one should arrive at. Of course, you are familiar with the Shusaku style of playing black's moves of 1, 3 & 5 in a set opening pattern, and continuing from that point on, this diagonal move comprises move number 7, with the intention being to prevent white's fencing in move at the same point."
Joe Patzer: "Despite this, it seems like the House of Yasui at the time did not to view this as a loss."
Sensei: "They still were not aware of the truth of the matter. If the truth had dawned upon them, in any number of games, they might have played for a variation like the one in Diagram 7, answering white's marked stone with black 1, and if white plays at 2, black answers with 3, and then next, if white plays 4, black can put up resistance by answering at 5. Also, there is Diagram 8, where, when white plays the marked stone, you can see that if black extends up-ward into the center, and if white continues by playing at 2, black can opt for the varia-tion with 3, and has ample scope for put-ting up resistance. In Diagram 8, black's po-sition in the lower right is strong and solid, so even if white turns outward with 2, it will not affect black in the slightest."
Joe Patzer: "One must first take care to avoid the duplication of effort, huh?"