There is Death in the Hane

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Difficulty: Beginner Keywords: Life & Death, Proverb

This proverb, "There is death in the hane", refers to the fact that the hane on the first line is a very common method of killing groups. The main purpose of the hane is to reduce the space for making eyes.

Definition: Hane -- A single stone that "reaches around" the outside of an opposing unit diagonally, adjacent but unconnected to an existing unit. ~~ Dr. John C. Dealey

This article assumes that readers know how to prevent escape on the first line.

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Example 1

The hane at kills the Black group with a bulky five dead shape. If Black tries to capture at a, this does not gain an eye, and White can block Black's escape at b.

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Example 2

For example, this Black group (an L+1-group) can be killed with the hanes at and . If Black blocks at a, it will turn Black's interior space into a dead bulky five. White can then kill Black with a placement tesuji at b.

Notice that in the above examples, the hane stone is not defended when put into atari. Instead another hane or a placement follows. That is because capturing the hane stone will result in a false eye.