Nakade / Version 20061016

This is the version of the page on 2006 October 16.

A nakade (ナカデ or 中手) is a play inside an opponent's eye.

(Written in katakana or kanji in Japanese. Hiragana is wrong. Borrowing is not the only criterion for katakana. Italicisation and replacement for kanji are other uses.)

Examples

Three points.  

Black can kill this group by playing nakade at .

Seki  

The nakade sequence, - , makes seki.

Semeai seki  

The nakade, , makes the result of the semeai a seki^[1].

Unsettled eyeshapes are those eyeshapes where a killing nakade is possible.
Basic living eye shapes are those where a killing nakade (in one move) is not possible.
Dead eyeshapes are those where a nakade is not needed to kill: the group is already dead.

Be aware however that these basic shapes ignore two major effects:

• Eye shapes in the corner or on the side: see rectangular six in the corner and bent four in the corner.
• The presence of cutting points and shortage of liberties: see Nakade example 1 and Nakade example 2.

For several possible reasons, the eye shape may contain more enemy stones. Any eye shape which is filled with stones so that almost filling it with a killing shape is inevitable, is dead. These patterns are listed at killable eyeshapes.

A combination of both circumstances can be found at Biggest known eye space for which there is a nakade

See also

• Nakade Example 3
• Nakade Liberties
• Almost Fill
• Oshitsubushi (a way to counter nakade)
• Killable eye shapes

• /Discussion

Authors include:

• Andre Engels
• jvt
• Stevertigo

[1]

Seki  

At the end of the game, White can (and should, under Japanese rules), take the stone. That leaves

Seki (final)  

Now neither group can approach at a without putting itself in atari.