Smallest Group with Two Eyes
Introduction
This is a list of the smallest groups with two eyes. They do not need a single further stone to defend them, no matter how many stones may be played to attack them.
Note by aLegendWai: Some have arguments relating to the smallest groups with two eyes.
- These special (though maybe arguable, you decide!) smallest groups are somewhat alive by means of special conditions like seki (mutual life) {some of them occur in rare situations (or theoretically)}.
- The 12 smallest groups (See [1] for all 12 groups) in the following are alive as normal.
See also: Basic Living Eye Shapes, Unconditional Life.
Smallest groups in the corner
In the corner, six stones are the minimum needed to complete a group with two eyes.
- This is similar to the second corner group. The eyes are the same, the stones are slightly different.
Smallest groups on the side
On the side, the smallest groups with two eyes have eight stones.
Smallest groups in the center
In the center, 10 stones are required to make a group with two eyes.
[1]
All Smallest Groups in One Sight
Here's a board containing all of the above groups:
aLegendWai: Excellent!! The best summary by a go-board I have ever seen!!
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/25/307e2840238ed44935662df2d8783999.png)
Smallest groups with two eyes
On a side note, this diagram also illustrates a drawback of living small: very few points are gained, but relatively many stones are used up.
Here, the comparison isn't quite fair because, in this artificial setup, the move count is not balanced: 119 white vs. 96 black stones. Nevertheless, White's wider formation (241 zi) is far more efficient than Black's cramped groups (120 zi). White owns two thirds of the whole board, whilst Black's area is barely half that size.
The no. of stones of smallest groups should be...
aLegendWai (Contest Sponsor & Organizer): Good news! There are a lot of submissions relating to the contest of "Unbelievable! The super-smallest group that lives!)". The final result is released, arranging from the lowest to highest ranking. Although this contest is of little (not to say no) help with your Go skills, it is surely interesting to read. :P Enjoy!!
For the final result, please read The no. of stones of smallest groups should be....