Go is a mind sport, possibly the greatest mind sport ever invented. Improvement in any sporting arena requires practice, dedication and in some cases blood, sweat and tears. Mind sports do not normally include the blood and sweat but do require practice, dedication and may result in tears of frustration.
Diabolical life and death problems along with normal life and death problems are a training tool for people seeking to improve their mind skills. Solving problems is an essential tool for people to improve reading skills in much the same way as lifting weights is important for most physical sports.
Each problem is presented on a full board with multiple positions. Those positions combine to make a single problem. Black to play first, after that moves alternate as they would in a normal game.
The task is for Black to win in all positions. Sometimes Black’s stones are under attack and need to live, sometimes White’s stones should die. The result in every problem is clear, no ko fights – do, or not do, there is no ko. Killing a dead group is just as bad as dying in gote.
Why ‘diabolical’? The reason is simple. When faced with a normal life and death problem you know there is an answer – live or die, sometimes ko. In a game nobody tells you that and so you overlook possibilities. In these problems one position is unsettled, you need to find that position and solve the problem.
As with many training texts there are no answers in the book. This is in line with the material provided to students studying to become Go professionals. There are answers which have been validated by An Younggil 8P so the task is not impossible, it will just seem that way.
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