Shusaku Game #23

In the game, Shusaku again showed his superb skill in trade / exchange especially in the face of KOs. The first KO happened over the right edge, by allowing White to win the KO, Shusaku's Black go the Right top corner under its "gun-sight", White would gain less than lost if White dodn't follow up with the second KO down Right bottom corner-as the influence White pretty much absorbed by the Black Group over lower Right. So White started the second KO and won it, in exchange Black broke White center influence and turn center into a black stronghold, nevertheless if that ws all Black got, Black would be in big dis-advantage because the Black group lower Right edge was pretty much dead and White used the third KO over the top Right, expanded its lower Left corner....

Not a good situation to be in unless you were Shusaku...He basically used the central influence AND his "dead stones" down the lower Right to maximum: he first threated to make a big center, this induced White 's attempt to invade the Black center, then using this dead stones, he skillfully cut off White's invasion group from its base and for this eye-less group to run all the way to Left was impossible under Shusaku's watch-so White reigned.

Shusaku Game #22

In this game Shusaku played his later-on-arch-rival, Shusaku's pace seemed to be slow at the beginning but when White decided to take territory down the lower Right corner, Black got the opportunity to build influence/moyo on the right side. Shusaku also didn't hesitate starting a ko and kept that ko going through the middle game-in the end White escalated the ko and got the lower Right side in exchange Black broke in top Left. When White settle down along the top, Black expanded its top right and center territory to the maximum.

During end game White dragged out the group surrounded in the left top corner along the edge, but Shusake(black) had whole situation under control and didn't give White chance to over-turn the result.

Shusaku Game #21

During the beginning of this game, White allowed Black to place stubs between its walls, and that in the days when no komi from Black could be a losing strategy. But in the middle game, White drove the black top center group and the bottom center group both towards the center and break them before they linking up...very good example of leaning on one group and attack another. Black had to settle down the top group leaving the bottom group under attack, to make it worse for Black the left bottom corner was not that secure either. White did a good job working on these two groups together-made a seki in the bottom and created a serious Ko over right bottom corner. Lucky for Black through, White ran out of Ko threat and the demage was limited...Shusaku managed to pull off a tough game.