Free Atari

   
[Diagram]

Free atari

When B1 mistakenly descends here, W2 is a free atari. The marked stone is making this atari "free" because White doesn't lose the option of atari from the other side.

[Diagram]

Not free

Suppose the marked stone is not there. Now the atari at A would not be free because White loses the atari at B. In this case, it's better not to play the atari.

[Diagram]

Not forcing

If W2 here and Black ignores, W4 later may not be forcing as in the first diagram. Black could decide to dodge at B5 or ...

[Diagram]

Ko

... play a ko.

[Diagram]

Black patches up in gote

Black may also decide to still patch up his corner, which was the right thing to do at B1 in the first place. See Beware of going back to patch up.


This is a copy of the living page "Free Atari" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2024 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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