However, at the start of this year these titles are held by 19 different pros. The prize money is also shared fairly evenly, with top prize earner Cho U making 45.5 million yen, followed by Norimoto Yoda with 44.77 million yen and Keigo Yamashita with 42 million yen. These earnings do not include income from such sources as other matches, books, appearances and teaching. These numbers mean competition is increasing at the top as the level of skill rises.

The only reason Yamashita did not become the top prize earner is because he lost to title defender Naoki Hane in the final game of the Tengen title match, worth 14 million yen. We started looking at this match last week. Let's see how it turned out.

A contentious ko

Diagram 1 (1-26 represent moves 83-108): Looking at this, most people familiar with the style of the players would think Black is played by Hane. However, it is Yamashita who holds the black stones. Having to live with a move like 1 is painful after White has cut a few moves earlier with the marked stone. This gives White free rein in the center with 2, leading to the sequence through 20 and 22 to make a huge ko, which Black can start by playing at A. However, White's dead group in the top left is a source of huge ko threats so Black cannot expect to win the ko at this stage (see Reference 1).

Reference 1: Black could start the ko with 1 or by playing at 25. After 1, he has some ko threats at 3, 9, and 15. However, White has an almost endless number of ko threats in the upper left, starting with 6 and 12. Although, the exchange black 21 for white 22 involves a huge loss on Black's part, for the sake of argument, if Black wants to win the ko, he can then capture with 25 after ignoring white 24. The latter seems an innocent enough move, but the venom is in white 26. This forces Black to waste an extra move on capturing two white stones with 27 and 29, before finally being able to play at 33. This allows White to play at 34, which sets his corner free and puts 10 black stones in atari. If Black really wants to win the ko and not give up the upper left, he should count the number of ko threats White has there, which amount to at least nine--all of the white moves played in this area plus he can exchange A for B. Black does not have close to this number of ko threats so he cannot win the ko.

Diagram 2 (27-92 represent 109-174): Moves in ko: black 43, 59, 69, 75, 81 where the marked black stone is; white 54, 66, 72, 78, 84 at 36 and 86 connects at the marked black stone.

This diagram represents the ko fight. The only way to understand it is to put the situation on the go board and play through the game. To put things in perspective, White could have connected where the marked stone is instead of playing at 28. However, White cuts with 30 through 34 then captures the ko. In the end, Hane wins by 6! points to defend his title.

Solution to last week's problem

Solution 1: Since White's marked stones are in a good position, Black should forget about his marked stone. The best way to sacrifice it is to play 1 and 3. Extending once with 5 picks up tempo--White has to spend 6, 8 and later 10 to render these black stones worthless. In the meanwhile, Black can extend to 9 and switch elsewhere with his next move. Yamashita did not like this.

Reference 2: An alternative would be for Black to exchange 9 for 10, then extend along the right side. Black 11 springs to mind. However, since he is strong in the center, White might invade at A. Black should therefore be more realistic and extend to B or C but those moves have little impact on White's marked stone, while the exchange 9 for 10 may be viewed as aji-keshi, elimination of potential threats.

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.