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Endgame Test Two - Black Solution 1
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: EndGame, Problem

[Diagram]
Diagram 1

B1 is a nice tesuji. After W6, B7 seems to be the largest move, but...


[Diagram]
Diagram 2

...after that, W1 and W3 are sente. After W5, White is going to win by about one point.



--TuRen?

JanDeWit asks: In diagram 1, why doesn't White play her second move at B5? The way I see it, Black is going to have a hard time making life!

[Diagram]
White 2 - Jan's suggestion

Black could just play atari with B3. If White connects at a, Black captures at b (atari) or vice-versa. In any case, White's group has been 'punctured' by B1 and White will have to pull way back, e.g. to the circled point to defend. White may be better off answering B3 with d (Black captures at a) and b (Black connects at W2 - he could play a ko), then play e in sente (Black connects at f) and connect at the circled point in gote.



By the way - notice that if, after B1, White plays at a he is caught in shortage of liberties by Black b. Black could (if I have read correctly) also play B1 at d, but would end in gote (as opposed to the right answer).

--MortenPahle (10 kyu)

Thanks for the explanation! I'm only just beginning to get a grasp of situations like this around the edge (am I running short of liberties? who has sente/gote?) and this a typical situation I'll have to learn to avoid/read correctly.

-- JanDeWit


[Diagram]
Diagram A

B1 is a good move because...


[Diagram]
Diagram B

Black can reduce White on the right in sente.


[Diagram]
Diagram C - ko

Black can then win by 1 point if he wins this ko. But...


[Diagram]
Diagram D

Instead, White should play like this. The result is a tie.

--Eyesore (8kyu)



This is a copy of the living page "Endgame Test Two - Black Solution 1" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.