Saturday, 20 June 2009

A simple lesson in the Art of War, part72

Your opponent has played his stone. Weiqi is like a dragon coiling its long talons around the holy grail. And so it is with each of your moves. Even a teahouse cannot disguise what is happening on and around the weiqi world that remains in a grindingly slow state of play.

You shift slightly in your seat before taking up a white stone. You place it down in a hopelessly placed situation three lines from the bottom and bound by black sentries. Your opponent openly wonders how can you save your trapped six stones?

But that is for one of the futures that will be born in the next major battle between ye.

It is he first possible stone in your opponent's suffocation over the weiqi board. The madam of the teahouse looks on briefly and then after a glance at each of us she moves on. A delightful teamaid is left to clean up our old teapot and bring us a new brew. Even my opponent remarks at her subtle sophistication.

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