Beginner Exercise 123 / Solution

Black first  

is killing: prevents the connection, but then is atari.

Black first variant?  

What about this alternative for Black first? It seems to leave Black in a stronger position (though perhaps insignificantly so).

Moosky: This doesn't work. White would play at , creating a ko. You should always avoid ko if you have a sure way to kill. (The diagram at the bottom of the page shows this).

White first  

White must play a or b to live, At a is better, by 3 points, than b.

White first at b  

Kaiou: wow, my first page :)

unkx80: Excellent, you are right! =)

Wrong  

There is a small trap in this problem. Definitely the ko created by and below is not the solution.