//------------------------------// // The Chance of a Lifetime // Story: The Mark of Kosumi // by SilverStar7 //------------------------------// Chapter 1 – The Princess’ Castle As Kosumi approached the castle he stuck close to Mr. Komi. Never in all his life in Canterlot had he ventured into the grounds of royalty, but tonight he was going to not only do that, but also get to see how Princess Luna herself played go. “What is the Princess like? Is she nice?” Kosumi asked as they walked past two guards outside the gates. The guards clearly recognized Mr. Komi and they apparently saw no problem in letting a colt enter with him. “Princess Luna is very nice, yes. Some ponies have had trouble with some of her older manners, but I’ve never heard of anypony who got to know her and didn’t like her.” A large white staircase led up to a main chamber in the castle. Kosumi gawked at the giant columns and wonderful artwork that lined the walls. “This place is amazing!” Mr. Komi nodded. “When I was a young colt like you I never dreamed that I would even get to be in a place like this. Let alone work in one. I am very blessed that the princesses have been so generous to me.” “Does Princess Celestia have a go teacher?” Kosumi had been wondering that most of their walk over. “She used to. It was once a sign of status for unicorn leaders to have personal go instructors. But it has been a long time since Princess Celesita has had one. I actually offered to be an instructor for her when I was brought on here at the castle, but she said she didn’t have time. That is understandable, of course. However, she did come to one of my earlier lessons with Luna and so I did get to play a game with her.” Kosumi actually stopped walking and, when Mr. Komi realized this, he turned to see Kosumi agape. “Is everything alright?” “You played go with Princess Celestia?! The Princess Celestia!” Mr. Komi laughed. “Yes, yes. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you are wondering, she is a fantastic player. I was able to win, but it was clear to me that she had studied the game for a long time. Her moves were all solid and proper, just as you would expect from a Princess, but the moves had a fine edge to them. There was a deep power just below the surface of her play ready to take advantage of any mistakes I made.” The two paused for a moment, not saying anything. Then, “Are you ready to continue?” Kosumi gave a quick nod and hurried to catch up to his teacher. I’ve had the same teacher as Princess Luna. A teacher that’s even played Princess Celestia! How did I ever get so lucky? And then a thought came to the front of Kosumi’s mind.  A nagging thought that he had been keeping back, but that now reared its head. Has Mr. Komi been teaching me only because I’m an earth pony? Is it because he feels bad for me? While Kosumi had tried to not let his being an earth pony interfere with his play it was obvious at every club meeting. Every lesson from Mr. Komi. He was different. At times it didn’t bother him, but other times it was all he could think about when sitting at the go board. Thankfully everypony at the club had stopped poking fun at his method of placing stones, but he still felt like his way was wrong. He even subconsciously allowed their way of playing to impact his thoughts. Every time he thought about moves he didn’t read them as being played by hoofs but as being placed there by magic. Whenever he thought about an opponent across the board they always had a horn on their head. He’d even had a dream where he was playing go using magic. It had been one of those dreams where he didn’t realize that was impossible, but just went along with it. When he’d awoken he couldn’t help but cry quiet tears as he looked down at his hoofs and saw that he would be playing go with them for the rest of his life.   The room they would be meeting the Princess in was rather small considering how large the castle was. It also looked very old – and seemed to have been built for playing go. There was a go board in the center of the room that looked a lot like the one in Mr. Komi’s shop. Two wooden bowls were resting on top of it. A beautiful set of cushions had been placed on either side. There was also a small table off to the side of the room with three cushions on the side opposite the board as if somepony was going to be watching the game. The room was decorated with stunning green wallpaper and a set of pictures running along the wall opposite the table depicted classical unicorn symbols. “What is this place?” said an amazed Kosumi. “This is where the castle games used to be held several centuries ago. The best players from unicorn go houses would come here to play. Now it is a premiere location for the final rounds of important professional tournaments. The final match for the Horse’inbo title was played here last month.” Mr. Komi walked over to the board and took out one of his books. “ The Princess will be arriving in about 15 minutes. Would you like to try the problem I was going to give her to start off the evening?” “Sure,” Kosumi walked to the board and Mr. Komi set up the problem. It involved a lot of stones, more than any of the problems Mr. Komi had done with him in their lessons, and at the end he said. “Okay, this problem is rated for dan players. Let’s see how you do.” The little pony looked at the stones on the board. A large chain of white stones was connected to base at the edge, but black had them all surrounded. It was clearly a “live or resign” type of situation. The kind that Kosumi never liked to get into. At first, the solution seemed easy – if he gave up the chain of stones. He realized that would be unacceptable in a game and so knew the problem involved saving them all. He read deeper. One move kept coming back to him. “What about this move?” Picking up a stone, Kosumi put it down on the board. It looked like it was the correct shape point. Mr. Komi smiled, but Kosumi frowned. It was his “Aw, but you didn’t consider this” smile and so Kosumi knew he’d gotten the problem wrong. “Do you see why that’s a mistake?” Mr. Komi brought a stone down that removed one of white’s potential eyes. That would have been okay,  but Kosumi saw that the threat was double-purpose. It also threatened to push in again and further reduce that valuable eyespace down to a dead shape. By defending that threat he would miss a key move to defend on the other side of his group. In a few moves his whole group would be dead. “Let me try again.” Kosumi read more. He tried reading for some of the non-obvious moves, but those all failed miserably. In the end, he’d narrowed it down to just 3 – the first 3 that he had considered. One by one he read them until he saw the correct solution. “Here.” he said with great confidence. Looking to Mr. Komi, the unicorn was smiling with his “well done” smile and Kosumi beamed. “Let’s see if you can show your work.” The two played out the rest of the problem and Kosumi managed to correctly save his group with a throw-in. When Kosumi played that move Mr. Komi smiled and nodded. “You’ve done it. That was only about five minutes. It would require at least 30 seconds for me to read a problem of this difficulty in one of my games and I suspect it will take Princess Luna a little over a minute herself. You are fast approaching a dan level of play.” “Do you know what rank the Princess is?” Kosumi didn’t want to be presumptuous, but he had been wondering that since first discovering the Princess played. “They did not have a dan/kyu ranking system 1000 years ago and the Princess has not taken the time to be formally rated since her return, but from my games with her I would put her at a mid-dan level. Probably 5 dan.” Kosumi nodded, his ears falling slightly. “Oh, okay.” “What’s the matter?” Mr. Komi asked. “It’s just. If she wasn’t so strong she might want to play a game with me. But I’d probably just be a waste of her time.” “How about we let the Princess decide that?” The two then waited in silence. Mr. Komi handed Kosumi a life and death book and the colt took it to the table on the side of the room, going through the problems starting with the easier ones. He had completed about eight of them when Princess Luna entered the room. The alicorn princess’s deep blue coat and literally flowing mane were astonishing and Kosumi almost forgot to bow in her presence because he was staring at her. “Fair Komi,” she said, a regal air in her voice. “Thank you for coming again tonight. I am most pleased that you could make it.” When the Princess was fully in the room, her eyes turned to the yellow colt behind the recorder’s table. “And I see you’ve brought a friend.” Slowly, Kosumi raised his head. “My name is Kosumi, Your Highness.” A look of recognition fell on Luna’s face. She turned to Mr. Komi. “Ah, so this is the student that you told me about?” Mr. Komi has been telling Princess Luna about me? “Yes, Princess,” Mr. Komi said. “I invited Kosumi to come here tonight. I know I said I wasn’t planning on bringing him for a few weeks, but I mentioned that I was your teacher and he was interested in coming. I hope you don’t mind.” “Of course not.” Princess Luna smiled and looked back to Kosumi. “I have been looking forward to meeting you.” Kosumi’s mouth fell open. “You’ve been looking forward to meeting me?!” The Princess nodded. “It is not often that I may personally meet one of my subjects. When I heard about an earth pony who not only decided to learn go, but who had earned his cutie mark playing the game, I wanted to meet him. Fair Komi has told me that you overcame obstacles on your path to earning that mark. Rarely does one so young show such determination. It is an honor that you would join us this evening.” To that, Kosumi didn’t know what to say, so he just said the first thing he could think of. “The honor is all mine, Princess Luna. I never would’ve hoped to meet a Princess like you.” Again, the Princess nodded and smiled. Then she turned to Mr. Komi. “Shall we begin the lesson?” “By all means, I set up a life and death problem for you. Dan level, of course.” Princess Luna approached the board.   Chapter 2 – The Game   After solving the problem in only a few minutes, and giving the correct answer immediately instead of making a mistake with her first guess, Mr. Komi and the Princess studied more problems. All of them were life and death and Princess Luna was able to answer them all before Kosumi had finished reading them out. Sometimes Kosumi's answer would have been correct, but he was never able to read out all the possibilities before Luna had the problem totally solved. She was definitely a strong player. Then Mr. Komi cleared the problem off the board and put the stones away. He said, “I know we usually play a teaching game, but I was wondering if you would be interested in playing Kosumi this evening.” The colt's ears bolted upright. Shaking, he quickly blurted out. “Oh, I wouldn't want to get in the way of your studies, Your Highness.” But the Princess turned to the yellow colt with a warm smile. “Not at all, young Kosumi. I was going to suggest the same thing.” Normally Kosumi's reaction would have been something akin to fear. Instead, the smile on Luna's dark face softened his heart enough for him to say, “Thank you, Princess. It would be the chance of a lifetime for me to play you. What handicap do you want me to take?” “I usually don’t give a handicap against somepony I’ve never played with. Handicaps are between ponies – a rank may give you an idea for a handicap, but it is rarely precise.” Walking over to the other cushion, Kosumi seated himself at the board. He looked at the grid before him and it seemed to be impossibly large. I won’t have a chance against a 5 dan without some stones. “Princess Luna, I know we’ve never played before. It’s just that you’ve got a lot more experience. I just don’t want you to be disappointed in the game – I don’t think I could be much of a challenge without a handicap.” Luna looked over to Mr. Komi, who thought for a moment. “I would suggest two or three, considering that you two have never played before. More might be necessary, but I don’t think either of you would be disappointed with just a few stones.” Looking back across the board, Luna said, “Alright, Kosumi. You will have two stones against me.” Kosumi nodded. “Thank you, Princess.” The Princess smiled. “When we are seated across a go board, you may refer to me as Luna.” For a moment, Kosumi didn’t know how to respond. He was going to say, “As you wish, Luna” immediately, but that seemed to still be too formal for what Princess Luna was looking for. On top of that, Kosumi didn’t want to simply call her Luna. Instead, he said, “Okay. I’ll treat you as I would any opponent.” “I hope my play is good enough that you will see me as more than just another opponent, Kosumi.” “And I hope mine is good enough for you, Luna.” There was a slight hesitation before he used the Princess’ name like that, but Kosumi was able to say it. “Of course. You may place your handicap stones.” Kosumi saw that Luna was observing him now, as anyone he played for the first time did, but this time there was something more. She was observing him beyond the curiosity of how an earth pony could place stones. It was like she was looking for something in him. Something in his play beyond the unusual nature of setting down stones with hooves. Let’s hope I can show you what you want to see, Princess. Reaching into the bowl with his hoof, Kosumi removed a stone at a time, placing one onto the top right star point and one onto the lower left. Princess Luna wasted no time. She immediately raised a stone with her magic and set it as a low approach to Kosumi’s lower left stone. She’s not taking a corner... Kosumi had of course expected Luna to take the upper left corner. That was how every two and three stone handicap game he’d played had begun. Instead, the Princess had approached. I should go take my own corner. No, I need to respond. Or do I? Kosumi considered the double approach variations he knew for a star point stone. He had never liked the results for the one on the inside. Obviously someone who got two moves was at an advantage, but it always seemed like the one on the outside got too much when black forced his way out to the center on an open board like this. So he was going to respond. How? A part of him liked the simple low pull back. It was solid and would help secure the corner. But as Kosumi prepared his stone he glanced up at the Princess and again saw her observing him. What does she want from me? From this game? Why is she looking at an amateur player like that? Kosumi looked back at the board. It looked so large with only his two corners taken. I can’t just play solidly here. The Princess needs to see that I am not afraid of more complicated moves. Raising a stone, he played the long-knight’s response and then looked up at Luna. She was nodding. Then she observed the board herself and debated for a moment. Raising her own stone, she approached Kosumi’s other corner. Mr. Komi nodded to himself. This is exactly what I have come to expect from Luna. Her style is direct and she isn’t afraid of making moves that go against what everyone else does. Yet there are few flaws in her play. But that response from Kosumi... that’s new. I know his move is proper – at one time it was the only response to an approach – but he usually favors the more solid play. He seems determined to prove his ability. And Mr. Komi smiled. Let’s see if the Princess can match his determination with her skill. Again, Kosumi responded with the long-knight pull-back. Finally, Luna took one of the corners with a 3-4 stone. And now her approach moves made sense. She wanted to play a 3-4 stone, but didn’t want it facing away from either of my star point stones, so she played the approach moves for extra support. Now an approach of my own isn’t as strong. Kosumi pondered over how to take the last corner now. A part of him wanted to play a star point stone. That would have been the most obvious move. But he still preferred the 3-4 point and, on top of that, he wanted to see how Luna would respond to his threat of making an enclosure facing one of his extensions. The Princess did respond. As soon as she saw that he played a 3-4 stone she raised one of her own and approached him low. Kosumi smiled at that. Ever since he’d earned his cutie mark he had fallen in love with the diagonal response to this approach and, without hesitation, he played it. It wasn’t necessarily the best in this situation. A high pincer or a knight’s move would have probably been stronger, but this move was fine. Then something that Kosumi hadn’t expected happened. He heard the Princess laughing. Looking up from the board, he saw the Princess with a hoof over her mouth giving a strong laugh. “Is everything okay Prin... I mean, Luna?” “I apologize, dear Kosumi,” the Princess was still smiling as she lightly cleared her throat and stopped. “Forgive me. It is rare that I see a move played on the board and also represented on a cutie mark only a few feet away.” Kosumi looked back at his flank and then to the board. He realized that, from the Princess’ angle, the move and his cutie mark were even had the same orientation. And he starting laughing as well. Then Mr. Komi started laughing and Luna started up again. It took a few moments, but eventually the three calmed down enough for Luna to continue. Kosumi was still smiling. He could feel some of his tension had left him through the laughter. The Princess really is another pony, just like anypony else. Then Kosumi re-evaluated his own thought. Okay, perhaps not anypony else. But she isn’t a stuck up royal figurehead like I’d imagined. Instead of responding locally, Luna played a high enclosure for her 3-4 stone. This was actually what Kosumi liked best about the diagonal move – his opponents were discouraged from responding. It was too slow on a mostly open board. So he played the usual follow up to press Luna’s stone down. A shoulder hit. After thinking for a bit, Luna responded with a one space jump. Now Kosumi took time to examine the whole board. Luna’s enclosure was facing the left side, but it was a high enclosure. That meant that the top also had good potential. There was obviously no way he could break up both in one move, so he decided to work on the top first. A pincer would encourage Luna to come out if she wanted to battle for the top, but her stone would be headed toward the group Kosumi had just made toward the bottom and it would allow Kosumi to grab a large corner and/or influence toward the left side of the board. He played a low two-space pincer. Just firm enough that Luna would need to respond locally, but not so tight that he couldn’t still play an extension as a strong approach move to Luna’s enclosure. On the next move, Luna thought for a while. While thinking she even smiled and said aloud to them, “Yes, I am either going to go into the corner or jump out. I simply need to decide how I wish the next 15 moves to go.” In the end, she dove the corner, which Kosumi had not expected. However, he welcomed the prospect of getting influence while Luna took the corner. Kosumi blocked to split the stones. The two played a joseki and then settled their groups. “Luna,” Kosumi said as they were playing out the sequence. “Yes, Kosumi?” “I’m curious... was this a joseki when you played go 1000 years ago?” The Princess shook her head. “We did not have the modern concept of joseki back then. There were proper responses and some move sequences that would be called joseki today, but none for a situation this specific. If there were any low-approach, long-knight response, tenuki, two-space low pincer joseki from those days, I was not aware of them. And, to be truthful, I do not know any now.” Kosumi played the next move in the sequence. “Do you study joseki today? Now that they exist?” Again, Luna shook her head. “My instructors used to teach me only technique. Our focus of study was on either life and death or proper responses. Those have served me well enough and Fair Komi has still taught me in this fashion.” Luna came away with sente and took the time to strengthen her group on the right with a base. After that, Kosumi made a three space extension for his own group on the top in order to more severely threaten Luna’s corner. However, Luna then jumped out from her approach stone and a fight began as Kosumi worked to attack Luna’s group with his wall and then, suddenly, Kosumi was working to help his wall escape toward the center. The game then moved around the board as Luna first invaded the bottom and then built up the left. Throughout the game Kosumi asked the Princess more about what go was like 1000 years before. Apparently most of the game’s etiquette and strategy did not exist, but the rules were basically the same. “Apart from the komi rule,” the Princess said. “I was surprised by how little had changed in a thousand years. The board, the stones, and even the players are not all that different.” “But you didn’t have pros back then, or did you?” Kosumi asked. “We had no professional players. There were players paid to be teachers and there was money to be won from winning tournaments or gambling, but no. The idea of a professional player did not exist. Even with that, the strong players of a thousand years ago had the same level of dedication that any professional has today. Society has changed much, but ponies themselves have changed very little in all this time.”   Chapter 3 – A Discussion Overheard   The game went on. Try as he might, Kosumi was not able to build much for himself in the center and, after about 170 moves, Kosumi saw that he could not win the game. Luna would win by at least a dozen points. “Luna,” Kosumi said. He had gotten more comfortable saying her name as the game had gone on. “I don’t think I can win from here. I resign.” Princess Luna bowed her head to Kosumi. “Agreed. You have played a good game today, Kosumi. For one so young, one who has only recently been shown this game, you have impressed me.” Kosumi blushed. “It was an honor playing you, Luna. You’re really good. I had no idea our Princess of the Night was such a strong go player.” “You both played a splendid game,” said Mr. Komi, coming over to the board. “Princess, would you have time to review the game with us?” “Of course, Fair Komi. As my instructors have always told me, one must review every game if one is to be successful.” “Um, could that wait a minute,” said Kosumi, standing up and frowning. “What is the matter, Kosumi?” asked Mr. Komi. “I need to use the little colt’s room...”   ---   On his way back from the bathroom, which was honestly the nicest bathroom the young filly had ever been in, complete with a stallion waiting with towels to dry his hoofs, Kosumi did take a few minutes to locate the go room again. The palace was enormous. He needed to ask one of the guards where the go playing room was and it took the guard a moment to remember what room he was referring to. This somewhat surprised Kosumi, especially considering that the palace guard was a unicorn, but he knew that not every unicorn was familiar with go. The whole while walking back Kosumi felt as happy as a pegasus walking on fresh clouds. I got to play go with a Princess. A Princess told me to call her by name, even! This was surely a game and an evening he would never forget. Oh, most glorious of nights. When he finally approached the room, Kosumi realized the door had been left open a crack and he could hear the Princess and Mr. Komi talking. Just as he was about to enter, he stopped because he heard his name. “...you brought Kosumi to me tonight. He is a remarkable colt. And he does remind me of Slate Placer.” Princess Luna said. “I have been curious for some time now as to whether there might be a connection between the two. Kosumi has said nothing about his family’s history, but I find it uncanny that a yellow Canterlot earth pony would play go just as Slate Placer did.” Mr. Komi was speaking. “Of course, I had never even heard of Slate Placer until you told me of him and when Kosumi entered my shop months ago I had no idea that he would be interested in the game. I love go, so of course I showed it to him, but to be honest I thought he would be like all the other fillies and colts I show the game to – and the fact that he was an earth pony just made it less likely that he would play.” “It is true that earth ponies and pegusi were virtually unheard of even a thousand years ago, but Slate Placer was one of the best go players. It is also true that he was resented by some of the older unicorns that still felt the division of the three tribes even after all those years, but many of the younger players in my day studied his games. I still find it hard to believe that only a few of his records remain. I searched the Canterlot Archives a few weeks ago and found five games – only two of them complete.” The Princess continued. “Slate Placer was impressive. I only saw him play once in person. It was in a room in the old palace, the one that now lies in ruin within the Everfree Forest. There I was in charge of overseeing a tournament and Slate Placer entered despite threats from the unicorn elite that he should not. His games were amazing. Sometimes I felt like he was playing a different game from the rest. Only the very best ponies could match his ability. Some of his opponents would sit down at the table disgruntled that they had to play a ‘meager earth pony’ who used his hooves, but they stood up from the table in awe of him. I can see how reactions to Kosumi would be similar.” “When I first told you about Kosumi,” said Mr. Komi. “I was shocked to hear from you that there was once another earth pony who played go. Never in all the years I’ve played have I seen an earth pony or pegusi do more than handle a stone or two.” “Even all those years ago this was true,” Luna agreed. “I have heard that Princess Twilight is playing host to the Unicorn Cultural Festival this year. She will also want to hear about him, assuming he will be attending the tournament.” “Of course. I will make sure he is there.” Mr. Komi declared. “If his parents do not agree to it then I will sign him up. His case is too interesting for him not to be given this chance.” “You have taken a liking to this colt, Fair Komi,” said Princess Luna. “I have never seen you this passionate about any of your other students.” “Well, as you can see from tonight, Kosumi is very special.” “If his parents do not support him, then how does he afford your lessons?” Mr. Komi laughed. “It may be crazy of me, but I haven’t even charged him a single bit to this day. I’ve been teaching him all of these things simply out of the goodness of my heart and my love of go.” The Princess laughed a bit as well. “I can imagine what some of your past students would think if they knew a young earth pony was getting free lessons from you. Don’t most 9 dans charge dozens of bits for a single personal lesson?” “All I care about is building in him a love of the game and the strategy to put that love to good use. Charging Kosumi for lessons would only hinder his progress at this point,” then Mr. Komi’s voice was dipped with a touch of anger, “especially considering his parent’s attitude. Can you believe that they haven’t even bought him a board?” “This colt has been studying exclusively at your shop?” Luna seemed surprised. “I think I may invest in giving him a board and some of my old books before long, so that will no longer be an issue.” There was a moment of silence, then Mr. Komi changed subjects. “But enough on that topic, how are things going with the Crystal Empire? I’ve heard that you have been working more closely with Princess Cadence as of late.” Kosumi didn’t wait for Luna’s response, but backed away from the door and walked down the hall a ways. The colt didn’t know what to think. He had overheard a lot of information. So I’m not alone. There have been other earth ponies who played go. He made a mental note to find out more about Slate Placer. And Mr. Komi does sound really determined to help me now. But... One nagging thought kept coming back to him. Do they only like me because I’m an earth pony?   Epilogue   Pointing to an intersection on the board, Kosumi looked up to see Mr. Komi smiling his "well done" smile. The two were seated in Mr. Komi's shop and it had been less than 24 hours since Kosumi had been playing on the board in the Princess' Castle. “You are exactly right. This point is going to be vital for the success of black’s moyo. By taking it now white will be able to reduce him enough to win.” At that, Mr. Komi began removing the stones from the board and placing them in their respective bowls. “I think that’s enough for our lesson today. ” Kosumi nodded and stood to leave. He found that he had enjoyed this practice less than any other. Not that the material wasn’t interesting, but because the bitterness in his heart had grown overnight. With every lesson he was given, Kosumi remembered that they would have cost him several bits if he wasn’t an earth pony. With every move placed on the board, he felt ashamed that it was his hoof placing the stone. Still he had been polite and would be now. “Thank you again, Mr. Komi.” “Wait a moment,” Mr. Komi stood up as well and cantered toward the back of his shop. “I want to give you something.” Kosumi already knew what this was. It took a moment, but Mr. Komi returned with a go board and two bowls of stones. It was a table board, just a piece of wood with lines on it, not like the fancier floor boards that could cost hundreds of bits, but it was nice nonetheless. “I know your parents haven’t done much to invest in your go playing, but I want you to know that you have my full support.” Since their conversation the night before, Kosumi had been considering his response to this gift. On the one hoof, the board was clearly something he wanted. Having a board to play on at home would no doubt help him both in passion and ability. He could hardly count how many times he had thought about owning one. But still, this was a gift given in pity. If I wasn’t an earth pony Mr. Komi wouldn’t even consider giving me this. And then there was a part of Kosumi that he didn’t like, yet had won out in the end. Who cared if it was a pity gift? This was a board like the dozens that Mr. Komi owned. It wasn’t worth much to him and it was worth a lot to Kosumi. Selfishly, bitterly, he had decided he would accept it. The board was placed on top of the floor board the two had finished using and Mr. Komi continued. “I know it may not look like much, but this set is special to me. There are few things as precious to a player as their first board. And this one here was the very first board I ever bought with my own money.” Mouth falling open, Kosumi gazed down at the board. He could see the marks on it – the small dents and scratches signifying years of use. Records of stones placed by Mr. Komi’s magic Celestia knew how long ago. This was indeed a hand-me-down board. “I saved up bits from chores and odd jobs around town for weeks to afford it. Even to this day I kept this one in my room. I still took time to set up problems on it and replay games. I’ve studied on this board for more hours than I could count. But now, I want you to have it.” By the time he had finished, Kosumi was shaking. Why? Why did it have to be this board? Why couldn’t it just be a board off the shelf? “I couldn’t, Mr. Komi. This board is important to you. If you want to give me a board, why not just give me one of the ones here in the shop? You have plenty of table boards.” And Mr. Komi smiled. A wide happy smile that churned Kosumi’s stomach. “I had considered that. But Kosumi, you are my favorite and most faithful student.” Kosumi couldn’t help visibly flinching at those words. “I wouldn’t want anypony else to—” Mr. Komi stopped smiling, his words trailing off. He had noticed Kosumi’s reaction. “What’s wrong?” Kosumi’s muzzle crunched and tears formed at the edge of his eyes. “I don’t deserve this. I haven’t done anything. This is just because I’m an earth pony.” Mr. Komi’s brow rose. “What do you mean it’s ‘just because you’re an earth pony?’” “I overheard you and Princess Luna talking. You think I’m special because I’m an earth pony that plays go. You want me to be like Slate Placer and be a great go player just so you can show me off and have people be surprised by me. If I was a unicorn you wouldn’t even care about me. And you wouldn’t give me this board.” “Kosumi! How could you think that? I haven’t—” “Because its true!” Kosumi yelled at his teacher. For the first time he raised his voice to the old shop keeper. Mr. Komi went silent and listened. “I know that other ponies – unicorn ponies – would pay dozens of bits to get the kind of lessons you give me. You’re a pro. You teach the Princess how to play! I get all this for free and then you give me more stuff and now I know that the only reason is because I’m a Canterlot earth pony and you want to impress people with me. ‘Come and see the amazing earth pony who can pick up stones with his hooves!’” Tears streamed down his face. Kosumi wanted to say something else. He felt so much more inside than what he was able to say. Lacking words, the young colt took his hoof and punched one of the wooden bowls holding the stones they had used earlier. The bowl slid off the floor board and fell to the ground, falling open and spilling black stones onto the ground. He then raised his hoof again to hit the white stones and glanced up at Mr. Komi. The stallion was quietly watching him. This reaction angered Kosumi even more – how could this old pony not care how he felt? Why was he just standing there as his student cried and screamed and trashed his shop? But there was something else going on. There was also a tear sliding down Mr. Komi’s face. And this single drop of water stopped the colt’s hoof midair. The two stood silently. Each looking into the other’s eyes. Kosumi’s face messed up with snot and tears from his tantrum and Mr. Komi’s face looking sullen with the lone tear. And it was Mr. Komi who ended the scene by walking over to his student and placing a hoof around him. The embrace was a surprise to Kosumi, but it was not unwelcome. He wrapped hoofs around the old shopkeeper and started to cry more. And it was Mr. Komi who ended the silence as well, “It’s alright Kosumi. I understand how you feel. Truly, I do.” And it was then that Mr. Komi told Kosumi the story of why he left the world of professional go.   ---   Chapter Go Problem   First, the answer to the last problem:   1-2 is an important shape point to remember in these types of situations and, often in life and death, the 1-2 points should be examined. An old go proverb states “Strange things happen at the 1-2 point” and so it is often good to look at the possibilities of this move in corner situations.   This go problem is harder and comes from this story. It is the dan level problem that Kosumi and Princess Luna look at. I’ve narrowed down the choices to make it a bit easier. It is White to play and save ALL of his stones. Black has many possible responses that need to be accounted for, so think carefully. Remember – in a real game, you only get one chance to make the right move.