It is fairly obvious that in order to live, the lone black stone, which White can put in atari, must be defended, in order to keep sufficient eye space. Yet, this has to be done in a way preserving the eye shape. The descent is just the right move for that.
Simply connecting is not enough. is pretty well forcing, and after
, Black has six stones on the second line.
here seemingly abandons the marked Black stone in order to secure life by playing at
. However White takes him by surprise and plays at
, the vital point now, herself. Whatever Black tries now, even going back at the correct move at a, the exchange of
and
will prove to cost him life.
Problem 33
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