Short Game - Same Trick

twoeye (now 7d) is often using surprising tricks that seem to work even against very strong players. His trademark is the sequence of Black 19 (P8) + Black 21 (O5). You can find more examples of this trick in the GoSensations archive. In the game above twoeye tricked benandiand 6d easily and won the game in under 50 moves!

I added the right way to punish this trick in the game file. Please don't tell twoeye's opponents! :)

---//---

Levon Aronian, a well-known chess Grandmaster (who is currently no. 2 in the World), is famous for using many tricks in his games (especially in blitz). When asked if that "approach" would be more or less advisable for players at lower rating levels, he replied:

It's difficult to call that an approach, as against an attentive opponent it's always doomed to failure. If you're going to use such ideas when playing against an experienced player then I recommend you wear a colorful outfit and learn to juggle, so as to distract your opponent from your moves!

But some trick plays (at least in Go) can be very effective, as twoeye can tell you. :)

In the preface of "Shin Hayawakari Hamete Kojiten" (published by the Nihon-Kiin), it reads:

If you think it's enough to just learn the official moves of established joseki, you may, as the proverb has it, learn joseki and drop two stones. Learning hamete is a thing of unalloyed goodness--it stretches your powers of reading and sharpens your judgment and attention, while also teaching you the true meaning of joseki. It's much like a good driver who in addition to the main streets also is familiar with the back roads.