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V. Life and Death (continued)
 
It is not always easy to tell whether a group of stones is alive, dead, or unsettled. Sometimes even a beginner can see the answer, and sometimes it is so difficult that even a professional can be fooled. There is one famous problem that some of the best players in the world could not solve. If you are not sure whether or not a group of stones is alive or dead, then go ahead and try to save them or kill them. This is how you will learn to play Go. But if you can see that a group is already alive or dead, then you should not waste a move trying to kill a group that is alive, or save one that is dead. Instead, you should play somewhere else on the board where you can gain some points.

Here are three simple life-and-death problems. In Figure 29, one of the black groups is alive, one is dead, and one is unsettled. Can you tell which is which?

Figure 29: Life and Death Problems
You can click here to check your answers, but please try to figure it out for yourself first. Go is a game for people who like to solve this kind of puzzle. Remember that the only important thing is whether or not two eyes can be made.

Figure 30: Must Black Connect?

The stones which are surrounding some territory are often not connected together into a single string of stones. It is important to make sure that none of these stones can be cut off and captured. The black group in Figure 30 will be in trouble if White plays A and says "atari", since that will cut off and capture 3 black stones, and the rest will not be able to make two eyes. So Black should play A to connect the stones together. Then they will be alive because they will have enough room to make two eyes.

Figure 31: Must Black Connect?
In Figure 31, Black is in no danger. The black stones are alive, and they have surrounded 7 points of territory. Black should not play here, since that would cost one point (the territory would shrink to only 6 points). If White plays 1 at A to try to cut the black stones apart, then Black will play 2 at B and this time it will be the white stone that will be in atari. The white stone cannot escape, and the black stones can easily make two eyes. Also notice that Black still has 7 points (one dead white stone and six points of territory) since both players played inside the same territory. So this is a good move for White to save as a ko threat. It doesn't cost White any points to play it, and Black must play a move here, too, or the whole black group will die.
There is no magic way to tell when you have to connect your stones together, and when you do not. You should watch out for moves that your opponent can use to separate your stones and capture them, and you should look for ways to cut off and capture your opponent's stones, too!

There are ways for stones to be alive without making two eyes, but they do not happen too often. Sometimes, two groups of stones will get into a race to see which one can capture the other first. If the race is close enough, it is possible that neither one will be able to capture the other.

Figure 32: A Seki

In Figure 32, the four marked black stones are cut off and surrounded, but so are the three marked white ones. Each of these two strings of stones has two liberties left -- the points marked A. But neither player can play there without putting both strings of stones into atari at the same time. This is called a seki (seh-kee) or "mutual life". Neither player can ever capture the other's stones, and so all of these stones are alive. The two points in between (A) are dame (neutral) points which will not count as territory for either player at the end of the game. Seki positions can be very complicated, but it doesn't happen too often. Most of the time, at the end of the game, the stones that belong to groups with two eyes are alive, and the rest are dead. It is very important to plan ahead and make sure that all of your stones will have room to make two eyes before the end of the game.

 

 

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