Jfc 001

Jonathan Cano: This is a position from a three-stone handicap game I'm playing (I'm Black). Don't ask how/why Black played to get to this position -- I don't want to talk about it :^):

Discussing exactly how much White has gained by Black's awful play in the upper left is a different discussion. Here we are concerned with the simpler question of Black's status...

What is the status of Black's marked group?  

Does Black need to add another stone here (e.g. at a) to live or is it alive as it stands?

There are many interesting variations here. I've formed an opinion as to the answer but I'll let others have a go at it before I add more diagrams.

--Jonathan Cano

/Solution.

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