Old sea captain's trick
Difficulty: Beginner Keywords: EndGame, Tesuji
The old sea captain's trick is a term coined at SL, for this situation where Black mistakenly responds to
with the counter hane of
, expecting White to block at
, then connect at
.
Instead, White cuts back at
, allowing Black to capture at
, then ataris on top with
.
If Black now connects at
, a white move at a will seal the fate of all the black stones involved in the skirmish.
The only thing Black can do is cut back again at b, and a picnic ko is the result, which is favorable for White.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/18/04bf69f7cd0103bb62a86f3b099754f0.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/32/0cd8eaf49765ca02270fb734bd717afd.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/17/5152fac6c6690abd24e0e4db280a8b1f.png)
is here, and White tries the old sea captain's trick, then
captures through and White is put on the spot (White could choose another variation, leading to ko, but that remains unfavorable)
2024 the Authors,
published under the ![Sensei's Library [Welcome to Sensei's Library!]](../../images/stone-hello.png)