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Eternal Life
Path: KoFighting   · Prev: MolassesKo   · Next: KoMaster
Path: LifeAndDeath   · Prev: DoorGroup   · Next: ApproachingALifeAndDeathProblemTheRightWay

    Keywords: Life & Death

Eternal life is yet another situation where a draw game (neither player wins, but neither player loses) can occur. Several special rules, such as Ing Ko Rule, forbid the recurring sequence to occur.

However, enternal life is so rare in games that if one occurs, a Chinese Go text says that:

  You should buy fish, vegetables, meat and wine
  And have a good party to celebrate yourself

Of course, it's an exaggeration...

[Diagram]
Diag.: Eternal life

This is the situation to begin with.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Eternal life

Black 1 begins by sacrificing two stones (to prevent the formation of bulky five)...


[Diagram]
Diag.: Eternal life

Black 3 takes back two white stones...


[Diagram]
Diag.: Eternal life

White makes a throw in at 4 to destroy the eye, and the cycle repeats itself when black 5 sacrifices two stones again.



--unkx80


BillSpight:

White has the option of making seki:

[Diagram]
Diag.: Seki


But suppose white needs to kill black in order to win, and black would never let go of his group, then eternal life occurs.



Path: KoFighting   · Prev: MolassesKo   · Next: KoMaster
Path: LifeAndDeath   · Prev: DoorGroup   · Next: ApproachingALifeAndDeathProblemTheRightWay

This is a copy of the living page "Eternal Life" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.