Temporary seki
In order for two or more groups to be in seki, the surrounding group(s) must be alive. Therefore, a temporary seki may refer to any of the following three meanings:
- An apparent seki but at least one of the surrounding group is dead. In this case, we say that the seki has collapsed, or that the seki is false.
- A seki where the surrounding group(s) are not unconditionally alive.
- A seki where a player decides to give it up as a ko-threat (e.g. an self-atari). Since this will then be a loss-making threat of quite serious proportions, it seldom occurs in games.
When a seki is not temporary in the first or second sense, we say that that it is permanent.
Example of temporary seki in the first sense
![[Diagram]](diagrams/36/a5b031081d2446854fc6723781aa3697.png)
Although the 
and 
stones appears to be engaged in a seki, however, the 
stones are dead. Hence, this seki is said to be false or collapsed.
![[Diagram]](diagrams/34/a6ad885c056296890fc873842721fc20.png)
To see why this seki is false, we see that White can play 
, 
, 
and 
. Black can do nothing to prevent White from playing these moves and removing the group off the board.
![[Diagram]](diagrams/18/15b075425e2a78a2d15c03ec245c9873.png)
With the stones taken off, it is now obvious that the remaining stones are plainly dead.
Example of temporary seki in the second sense
![[Diagram]](diagrams/27/c084a54ab26c3f762027d043f1d76730.png)
Although the and groups are currently engaged in a seki, the stones are not yet unconditionally alive. So there is always a distinct possibility that the stones get captured later in the game. (A similar comment may be made for the 
stones.) We say that this is a temporary seki in the second sense, and this seki may collapse.
Example of temporary seki in the third sense
![[Diagram]](diagrams/35/2ae8936e4f5f021099900c558b32f67f.png)
![[Diagram]](diagrams/34/f8b7ffd2a77b6f352a2ac88d32593769.png)
If both Black and White is out of ko-threats elsewhere, Black may choose to play a loss-making threat at 
and take the ko at 
. In this case, the seki in the corner was only temporary in the third sense.
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