Capturing race

Path: GiveMeLiberties   · Prev: GunEight   · Next: OutsideLiberties
  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: Tactics

Chinese: 对杀 (dui4 sha1)
Japanese: 攻め合い (semeai)
Korean:

A capturing race is a mutual capturing contest: The first player to put the opponent into atari and then capture their stones wins the race. Usually the winner of the race (the player who makes the capture) makes life for their group. Both groups in the race are enclosed, have at most one eye and are reducing each other's liberties.

[Diagram]

A Simplified Capturing Race

In this simple race, white is cut (See the marked stones?) and black is also cut.

Each group has five liberties.

Types

There are several standard types of capturing races and it is useful to know them.

  1. A no eye versus no eye capturing race
  2. An eye versus no eye capturing race
  3. An eye versus eye capturing race


In all cases there are inside liberties and outside liberties. When attacking your opponent's group, you should play the inside liberties last. Otherwise, you take away one of your own liberties as well as the opponent's, and give them sente.

To count the outside liberties, include approach moves: sometimes it is necessary to play more than just on the actual liberties to capture the group.

The range of possible outcomes in a capturing race is extensive: besides victory for one or other side, you can get seki, a direct ko and most types of indirect ko.

See also


Path: GiveMeLiberties   · Prev: GunEight   · Next: OutsideLiberties
This is a copy of the living page "Capturing race" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2005 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]
StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About