Hanami Ko
Lit. flower-viewing ko. A unilaterally favorable ko fight. Winning this fight will inflict major damage on the other side, whereas losing will result in only a tiny loss for your side, often half a point.
In general, your gain from a hanami ko is either the large follow-up from the ko, or, more commonly, the follow-up from a ko threat which your opponent has no choice but to ignore.
Sometimes rendered as picnic ko, hanami ko evokes the carefree nature of the Japanese tradition of
hanami (lit. flower viewing), the viewing of the spring blossoms, often involving food, drink, and partying.
Example 1
After ,
would live, but
and then
risk everything in a two stage hanami ko.
Example 2
In the diagram, starts a hanami ko for White. Black will capture at a, but even if he wins the ko the best he can do is connect that stone one line to the left. White, on the other hand, will resolve the ko by capturing with b, destroying Black's corner. In this example, White's follow-up gain is relatively small; in other hanami kos, it could be dozens of points or involve the life and death of major groups.
Examples:
See also:
More on the /Discussion page.
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