Tips tumbleweed

Concepts

A. Stacks a. Stacks have lines of sight b. Stacks block lines of sight c. Your territory is bounded by your stacks d. Stack height is defense – bigger stacks are more stable, but see less new areas. e. A brief introduction to groups, shapes, and networks f. A brief introduction to life and death g. What is strength and weakness of stacks, and what factors affect it.

B. Lines a. About friendly and enemy LOS b. Intersections of LOS c. Controlled LOS d. Contested LOS e. Lines “out of sight” f . The bigger the stack, the less new LOS it creates. But the more links it reinforces.

C. Control, spreading, access a. Score and controlling cells (owned plus controlled). You win by “seeing” more of the board. b. Goal – increase your own control, decrease opponent options.

       Block opponent LOS and don’t let them block you. 

c. Strategic differences between controlled, contended, and unseen areas.

       Difference between big versus small moves.  
       Play in hot and big areas to gain control. 

d. Controlling regions (territory), and difference between territory and zone. e. Controlling lines, choosing moves that offer more influence f. A brief word on invading and taking control (will be discussed later) g. Long-range versus short-range influence h. The dilemma of strength versus spreading i. Distance in terms of # of moves to reach a particular location , and number of moves to “see” it.

D. Life and death a. Safe/Alive/Living/Dying/Dead b. Requirements for life in the corner c. Requirements for life only on the edge d. Requirements for life only in the center e. Simple suicidal moves – don’t do them. 3-stacks will never be simple suicide moves. f. Stacks help each other live – differences between singleton and collective g. Convexity and concavity h. Sharp, blunt, and straight angles i. Instability of Tumbleweed positions

E. Networks a. fLOS make new stacks, new stacks make links, links make networks b. Network thinking in terms of attack and defense c. Distance and connectivity

       Weaken the enemy networks! 
       Connectivity is key: keep your own stacks strong and connected.   
       Redundancy 
       Endpoints are weak points. 

d. Clumps and groups e. Linear shapes

       Links – the unit of networks 
       Fences, gates and guards 
       Walls  
       Strengths and Weakness 

f. Meshes

       Triangle, Diamond, Trapezoid, progressions 
       Properties of 1-space , 2-space, 3-space, 4-space, 5-space mesh  
        Strengths and weaknesses of meshes in general 

g. Being on the corner, versus the edge, versus the center, and the relative ease for making territory and living shapes. h. The dilemma involving central control. i. Efficiency of network structure

        Move order dependency 
        Overshooting 
        Forcing moves 
 

F. Tempo and Initiative a. What is tempo/initiative b. Value of tempo in general c. Subjectivity of tempo / it is possible to play away d. Legal moves affected by each move e. Follow-ups determine tempo f. Shield tempos g. Reinforce tempos h. Capture tempos i. Futile invasions, and futile attacks, and futile defenses, strengthen opponent

G. Opening a. Pie rule

        Value of pie rule 
        Characteristics that make a pie better for red/white 
        Pies that allow for early attacks 
        Positioning the pie with respect to the neutral 
       Pie rules that have been considered, a word on pies and/or komi 

b. Neutral

        Neutral blocks line of sight 
        Neutral is like a capacitor 

c. Getting a strong position in the opening

        Play higher stacks early 
        Triangles are efficient way to make higher stacks 
       Playing inside the triangle can be dangerous 
        Playing next to the link can be dangerous 
        Meshes – advantages and disadvantages 

d. Observed strategies

        Frameworks – make a big wall 
        Capture the neutral 
        Line attack – blocking enemy triangle 
        Getting out early 
 

H. Endgame a. Calculating the size of a move b. Calculating life and death c. Closing off and sealing off d. Strong walls are sometimes needed e. Some walls need not be built at all f. Wings Life/Death puzzles with problems and detailed explanations of answers with variations and schematics

I. Fighting a. Knowing when to fight

       Some battles are surely lost 
       Some battles are surely won, but offer too little to be worth the time   
       Fight for big and hot areas 
       Attack enemy stacks that can be weakened.  
      Groups and networks can be “eaten away” from the edges. 
      Approach weak enemy stacks with stronger stacks.  
      Don’t let your weak stacks see the opponent's strong stacks unless you plan to use it temporarily or as sacrifice. 

b. Cut

      What is a crosscut? 
      Cutting links disconnects the enemy network. 
      Take control of cutting points.  
     Take control of multiple cutting points.  

     If you can shield after cutting you could take control of entire lines. 
      Think about if cutting is safe, and/or keeps tempo 
      Most cuts in opening are 2-stacks.  
      Most cuts by definition start with 2 eLOS, so they can immediately be attacked.  
      Make sure you can anticipate the likely enemy response to your cuts. 
      Larger cutting stacks are safer. 
      Cutting links between smaller stacks is good. 
      Cutting stacks that come with a direct attack are safer. 
      Cutting small links is more dangerous. 

 

c. Attack

      Put LOS on multiple enemy stacks.  
      If you have enough LOS to capture but the enemy has less LOS on a stack, it may be impossible for them to defend.   
       Single attacks are forcing moves – that can allow you to achieve some goal using the additional lines of sight from a move. 
      Double attacks have follow-up no matter what. Find the move that threatens to capture multiple stacks. 
       Clamps and short-range attacks cannot be shielded as effectively. Distance matters. 
 

d. Multi-purpose moves.

e. Capture

       Capture removes a stack and replaces it with yours.  
      Capture also replaces all enemy LOS with your LOS. 
       It is good to capture when it weakens enemy network and has follow-up attacks. 
      Sometimes it can be not so good to capture due to tempos and lack of follow-up.  
      Every capture must be carefully analyzed. 
      Suicidal moves are possible even when capturing 
      Sometimes, a capture can be recaptured inevitably, even if not immediately. 

f. Defenses

       Blocking 
      Shield to defend against attacks 
      Make stronger shields – make shield so that your next shield is a higher stack 
      Shields deprive enemy of LOS – extend your shield to push harder. 
       Increasing connectivity and fLOS to defend. 
       Redundancy of links makes cutting harder.   
      Multiple attacking and defending on the same stack can result in a pinwheel. 
      Attacker can use this pattern to get free moves on the outside, but usually cannot capture: 

J. Invasions and Reductions a. Attacking walls

        Apple picking 
        Getting underneath 
        Cut before it closes 
       Select moves that give you two lines of sight inside instead of just 1. 

b. Securing life in enemy sphere of influence

        Offering yourself whole-board support a priori.  
       "Don’t need to invade, I already have stacks here" 
        Using forcing moves 
        Using invasion points to make heavier stacks 
        Use temporary sacrificial shields when possible to increase your options  

c. Message in a bottle – gaining links in enemy territory