AFew Words on Greed

Beomgeun(Evan)Cho 7dan

 Greedis natural. Who wouldn't want to gobble up as many of the enemy stones, and tosurround as much territory, as possible? And isn't that the point of the game?To score points by surrounding territory and capturing enemy stones?

 Ofcourse it is. But when you want everything, you often wind up with nothing.

 Yourgoal is to win the game, not sweep every opposing stone off the board. Yourstrategy is to surround solid chunks of territory, not spread yourself thinlyover the board in a vain attempt to claim to it all. Your tactic is to attackyour opponent's weak groups in such a way as to strengthen your own position,not swallow every opposing stone you see.

 Greedis dangerous in Baduk. It distorts your vision, making your opponent's arealooks larger than it is, and yours so much smaller than it is. Greed pushes youto attack when you should shore up your groups, extend your position, or plantyour flag in open territory. Greed makes you fearful, screaming that you shoulddefend useless stones that are best left to survive, or die, on their own.

 Greedtells you to constantly be on the offensive. You certainly need to attack atappropriate points in the game, but if letting an opposing group live allows youfinish building a strong wall, or create some other powerful position, let theopposing group live! And if leaving some opposing stones to wither on the vinegives you the opportunity to take sente, ignore them! Or better yet, let youropponent flail around trying to save those useless stones, because he's toogreedy to let even a single stone go. This is a critical concept that will helpyou accelerate your rate of improvements in the game of Baduk.