[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]

StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About


Aliases (info)
InternalKoThreat
InternalKoThreats
LocalKoThreats
LocalThreat

Referenced by
StupidMoves
ChineseGoTerms
KoThreat
BQM31
LossMakingThreats
TFG9BlackUpperLeft2

 

Local Ko Threat
    Keywords: Ko

A local ko threat (or internal ko threat) is a ko threat that cannot be ignored, because ignoring it makes winning the ko useless. This kind of threat should therefore be played before any other kind.

[Diagram]
Diag.: Example

In this diagram, Black is playing ko for the life of his group in the corner. Black has just captured the ko with the marked stone. The point a is now a local ko threat for White. If Black ignores this and connects the ko, White will play b, killing the black group. So Black must play at b himself to avoid this. White can now retake the ko.



Charles Matthews I prefer 'local ko threat' - there are certainly cases in capturing races where internal ko threats would be external, which is pretty confusing.


I have put a clear-cut example of why you sometimes delay local threats at loss-making threats.



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