Bildstein: Re: Miai counting question: game example (2006-03-24 00:53) [#1338]

Bildstein: Here's my analysis. The first important thing to realise is that the three black stones on the left are dead, and so will not effect the miai value (just like the three living White stones in the middle which will not die). So if Black plays, he saves three stones, captures one white one that could otherwise live, and gains no territory. If White plays, he captures three black stones that could otherwise live, saves one white stone, and makes four points of territory (under the three captured black stones, and the point a.

For miai counting, we need to consider some starting point we can call 0, so I will consider that the black stones on the left are dead, but everything else is alive (because everything else can live. So if Black plays, locally he has gained 1 point, because he has killed the white stone, but gained no territory. If White plays, locally he gains 3 points for prisoners and 4 points for territory. I.e. the value of a play is the value of the three black stones that can be captures plus the one white stones that can be captured plus the four points of territory White can make. So by my calculation, play locally is worth 8 points.

Like you said, it is gote, so the miai value is 4. But take this with a grain of salt, because I'm no expert.

Also, if Black has a 6 point gote move elsewhere, remember that such a move would have a miai value of 3, so would be less urgent. Black would only want to play elsewhere to play a reverse sente play worth 4 or more points, or a gote play worth 8 or more points (like this one).

And what the heck, I may as well add some diagrams, too: