After a slump, Cho apparently is back on the scene--and how! International tournaments are difficult for Japanese pros as young South Korean and Chinese talents tend to outshine them.

Though born in South Korea, Cho was brought up in Japan, speaks Japanese fluently and is a product of the Japanese go world. At age 47, he also represents the older generation that has lost most of its titles to the younger generation.

Crosscut in action

Diagram 1 (1-41): This is the final game of the 13th TV Asia Cup between Cho Hun Hyeon (Black), and Mok Chin Seok (White), both from South Korea. As it involves a crosscut but is also spectacular in many other ways, this game shows what happens in fast games. The players have 30 seconds per move, which they can extend by one minute 10 times.

At the time of the game, Cho was almost 50 years old while Mok had just turned 20.

Moves through 18 follow a popular pattern. Black then plays 19 and 21, provoking a white crosscut at 22. Black wastes no time in sacrificing two stones (11 and 19) and forces the sequence 23 through 27.

Exchanging white 28 for black 29 is clever. If White played at 30 right away, Black would connect at 28, leaving no weaknesses. After black 31, White threatens to pull out with A if the ladder is good. Instead of 36, White can play at A and save 28. See Reference 2 to see what happens then.

Reference 1: Black 23 in Diagram 1 initiated a sacrifice with the result shown here. After White has captured A and B, he would not make the exchange of the marked white for the marked black stones because they all constitute a loss. On the other hand, black C is very well placed now. Black gets a lot of thickness and territory, while White only gets a strong group without many points.

Reference 2: When Black plays at 1 (35 in the game), White could escape with 2, but Black would sacrifice the marked stones with the sequence through 10, then build more strength with 11. Incidentally, instead of white 10, a move at A would only be followed by black B. After black 11, White may cut at C, but Black will sacrifice two more stones with the sequence white D, black E, white F and black G, then switch elsewhere.

Diagram 2: (42-64): White 42 is an attempt to lure Black into a fight that will create ko threats in order to start a ko at A. Black ignores white 42 to capture the upper edge with 43 and 45 to build a huge territory. However, white 48 through 64 is severe--Black is on the verge of collapsing.

Diagram 3 (65-105): (black 105 captures five stones at 101) Black tries to escape while threatening to capture one of White's surrounding stones or groups. However, White cleverly keeps alive with 74 through 80, but makes a serious mistake with 82. Mok probably didn't expect black 91, a splendid tesuji (locally clever move). Remember the players have only 30 seconds per move. Black is ahead when he captures five stones by playing at 105, where black 101 was captured earlier. The game went on for more than 100 moves after this, but in the end White was forced to resign.

Reference 3: Instead of white 82 in Diagram 3, White should have played at 1. In response to 2 and 4, white 3 and 5 work just fine--Black has 6 liberties while White has 8, so White wins the capturing race and the marked black stones will die.

Solution to last week's problem
Look at Diagram 1--the moves 23 through 31 are the answer.

Reference 4: In response to black 1, white 2 is sometimes a good move. However, here it does not work very well. After white 4, Black can start a ko at A whenever he feels like it. Therefore, the outcome is unavoidable.

Reference 5: Black could have avoided being crosscut (black A, white B) by playing at 1. White will probably play at 2, giving Black the chance to make a good shape with 3. Although the result is not bad for Black, this approach is a little passive.

Want to find out more? Come to Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba, Tokyo (03-3202-2445 or www.benscafe.com), where the English speaking go community congregates every Sunday. You can enjoy free lessons, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Van Zeijst is a four-time European go champion and European representative at the Fujitsu World Championship.