n-alive
Definition
A player's group of stones is
- n-alive if the opponent starts and the player can make at most n passes before his first play and defends all the stones as alive,
- -n-alive if the player starts and needs at least n plays before the opponent's first play to defend all the stones as alive.
Besides *-alive refers to arbitrarily many passes of the player.
The terms have been invented in Joseki Volume 2 Strategy to assess the degree or quality of life, compare the life degrees of different moves and define general, theoretical models of influence and thickness.