Basic living eye shapes

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Four points in a row

Four points in a row, (whether straight four, bent four or twisted four), are enough to live.

[Diagram]

Straight four

In the straight four, B1 and W2 in the diagram are miai.


Five-point eye shapes

Five-point eye shapes are alive except for the crossed five and the bulky five. Some examples:

[Diagram]

A five-point shape that is alive

[Diagram]

Another five-point shape that is alive


Six-point eye shapes

Six-point eye shapes are alive except for the rabbitty six. An example is rectangular six.


Seven-points eye shapes

Almost all eye shapes of seven points are alive. See the Bulky Seven shape.

[Diagram]

Seven lives

This shape (butterfly seven) is one that seems most likely to be killed, but after B1 the position is seki.


Damien Sullivan All this is good, but I've had interest in minimal living shapes which aren't fully surrounded yet and may be peeped at. Assumptions: group is trying to live in place, not run away; all cuts work for white.

[Diagram]

corner ponnuki lives

Black's ponnuki in the corner is alive, though it will have to respond to descents.

[Diagram]

offset corner ponnuki

is I think immune to attack.

[Diagram]

side life

On the side a ponnuki needs two more stones; peeps will cause it to form one of the 8-stone shapes.

[Diagram]

19x19 diagram

Black is alive with 7. The finished form will have 11 stones, not the 10 of a minimal form. The white group is not nearly as safe as my beginning intuition suggested, without a defensive stone at a.


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This is a copy of the living page "Basic living eye shapes" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2007 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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