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© 2007 Richard Hunter

Key Concepts in Life and Death

Inside Moves and Under the Stones Techniques

Richard Hunter

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

This book covers two important topics related to life and death: inside moves and under the stones techniques. Starting with beginner-level basics, it provides a systematic introduction to the principles. Building on this foundation, it progresses to more advanced aspects useful for stronger players. Most players pay too little attention to these techniques and overlook opportunities to use them in their games. The book includes 41 interactive problems ranging from easy to hard. Feel free to skip parts of the book that are too difficult at present and come back to them later. Try the problems and then look at the answers. Next time around, you should do better. You don’t have to get all the problems right: you can just appreciate and enjoy the beautiful sequences.

Copyright Page

© 2007 Richard Hunter

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Based on material originally published in the British Go Journal

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Photograph of Richard Hunter by Louise Bremner

SmartGo Books edition converted and edited by Richard Hunter

Print edition edited by William Cobb and Richard Hunter

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–33–6

Preface to Printed Book

This book covers two important topics related to life and death: killing with inside moves and playing under the stones. The Japanese terms for these concepts are nakade and ishi-no-shita, respectively.

Nakade comes from the Japanese words naka, meaning inside, and de, which is a derivative of te, meaning move. Black 1 in Diagram 1 is a typical example. This move played inside White’s eye space kills the white stones. Even though White has a five point eye space, which is fairly large, a move played on this vital point prevents White from making more than one eye. On the other hand, White 1 in Diagram 1A makes the white group unconditionally alive.

Diagram 1

＞＜ ▶︎

Diagram 1A

＞＜ ▶︎

Although this concept is mentioned in several English language go books, I think there is still room for an easier to understand presentation. Graded Go Problems for Beginners by Kano Yoshinori and published by Kiseido has many fine examples that you can study in conjunction with this book, but they are arranged in terms of difficulty rather than being intended to teach the techniques or concepts involved. Life and Death by James Davies and also published by Kiseido covers the basics, but it’s tough going for kyu players, and many dan players who have read it still have an incomplete grasp of the subject. In this book, I hope to give a clear and methodical treatment, along similar lines to my previous book published by Slate & Shell, Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races. We all need a more thorough understanding of the fundamentals. Being able to read out positions when you have plenty of time is not enough. You often face such positions when you are short of time, so you should aim for instant recognition of the shapes.

Diagram 2

Diagram 2A

Ishi-no-shita is a technique in which you play back inside the space left after some of your own stones have been captured. It can be used for making eyes for your own group or for breaking your opponent’s eyes. A typical example is shown in Diagram 2. The four black stones are in atari and it’s White’s move. Black might seem to be in trouble, but when White captures with 1 in Diagram 2A, the shape left after the black stones have been removed allows Black to play back inside with 2. This captures the two white stones and gives Black a second eye.

Diagram 3
2 at

For this book, the Editor has agreed to break with conventional go diagram layout in one respect. Usually, the solution to Diagram 2 would be given as Diagram 3. The four black stones captured by 1 are shown in the diagram. Then, since there is no vacant point for 2, its position is indicated with a triangle.

However, I particularly want to show the empty space under the stones after the prisoners have been removed so that you can see and understand the shape. I think that the diagrams in most books that present complicated ideas like these are rather hard to grasp.

Diagram 4

Diagram 4A

Diagram 4B

The alternative would be to use more diagrams, for example Diagrams 4, 4A, and 4B. However, that would take up a lot more space.

I think that it is sufficiently clear from the text that Diagram 2A represents the same sequence of moves as shown in Diagram 3 and in Diagrams 4, 4A, and 4B. That is, White 1 in Diagram 2A is not played when there are four vacant points to the right of it—it captures the four black stones present in Diagram 2. Then, Black 2 is played after the captured stones have been removed from the board.

Playing under the stones is generally regarded as an advanced technique and problems that require its use are graded as quite difficult. Actually, what is difficult is not spotting the move itself, but the fact that it usually comes several moves deep into the answer sequence. It’s often just around the corner down an unpromising looking side-track and it’s easy to give up too early and try a different path. Black 2 in Diagram 2A is move 9 when this classic position is presented in books. In my treatment of this topic, instead of using standard book problems, I shall start nearer the answer, and we’ll learn to recognize the shapes that lead to an under the stones play. If you can master them, then you’ll discover that playing under the stones is one of the rare and beautiful treasures of the go world. The concepts of under the stones and killing with inside moves are related and many positions involve both of them.

In writing this book, I have made minimal use of Japanese terms and have described the ideas and concepts in English. The Japanese terms that do appear are ones that are widely used by go players: atari, gote, hane, ko, miai, seki, sente, and tesuji. Definitions are given in the Glossary.

The contents of this book are based on a series of articles I wrote for the British Go Journal and are reprinted here with the permission of the British Go Association. The material has been reformatted and edited. I would like to thank David Woodnutt, who was the editor of the British Go Journal for almost the entire series. I would also like to thank Andy Brixey, who was the editor for the final installment.

(The links to sgf files that were given here in the printed book have been deleted.)

Richard Hunter
Tokyo, Japan
April 2007

Slate & Shell
1425 Westshire Lane
Richmond, VA 23238
www.slateandshell.com

Preface to SmartGo Book

In converting the paper version into the SmartGo Book version, I have taken the opportunity to make several enhancements: I have added extra diagrams and inline diagrams, the full game records of all of the professional games discussed in this book, a glossary of technical terms, an index of position and problem diagrams, and an index of topics and principles. I have slightly adapted the text to suit the SmartGo Book layout and features, re-edited and slightly improved the text, and corrected a few minor errors.

The SmartGo Book format lets you play out moves in the diagrams. This is especially useful for a book like this one. As mentioned in the preface to the printed book, I contrived to show the shape left after stones had been captured and removed from the board. This problem disappears when the moves can be replayed in the diagrams.

Diagram 2

Diagram 2A

Whole sequence

＞＜ ▶︎

For easy readability at a glance and to match the appearance of the printed book, I have kept the original diagrams in the printed book (e.g., Diagram 2 and 2A) and added an extra one showing the whole sequence from start to finish where you can replay the moves by tapping on the diagram.

The problems in Chapters 5 and 14 as well as the Study Problems at the end of most chapters are presented in interactive problem diagrams where you can check your solutions. These problem diagrams confirm the correct line(s) and explicitly refute many incorrect lines. The following pages present detailed explanations of the best solution, alternatives, and the most instructive failures in interactive diagrams where you can play through the book moves or try out your own moves. Inline diagrams (tap the brown colored text) illustrate some explanations written in the text or present earlier diagrams mentioned in the discussion in the text to save you turning back several pages. Internal navigation links (tap the blue text) will take you to relevant locations in the book such as diagrams being discussed or to an Appendix, the Contents, etc. Returning is easy: just tap in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

The professional game records are given in the Appendix. They are also included in the game database bundled with SmartGo Kifu.

Richard Hunter
Bristol, UK
October 2013

Table of Contents

Key Concepts in Life and Death:

Inside Moves and Under the Stones Techniques

Copyright Page

Preface to Printed Book

Preface to SmartGo Book

Section One: Inside Moves

Chapter 1: The Basics

Chapter 2: Building Killing Shapes

Chapter 3: Weak Walls Can Be Fatal

Chapter 4: With an Eye for Killer Inside Moves

Chapter 5: Inside Move Problems

Chapter 6: Game Examples of Killing with Inside Moves

Section Two: Under the Stones

Chapter 7: The Basics

Chapter 8: Anticipating an Under the Stones Play

Chapter 9: Seeing Under the Stones

Chapter 10: Making Squares and Doglegs

Chapter 11: More Squares and Doglegs

Chapter 12: One, Two, Three: Under the Stones

Chapter 13: Under the Stones

Chapter 14: The Beauty of Playing Under the Stones

Appendix 1: Game Records

Appendix 2: Glossary of Technical Terms

Appendix 3: Supplementary Diagrams

Appendix 4: Index of Problems and Positions

Appendix 5: Index of Topics and Principles

About the Author

Buy This Book

About Go Books

Section One: Inside Moves

Chapter 1: The Basics

Three Point Eye Spaces

Diagram 1

A three point eye space is the smallest eye space that can be divided into two separate eyes. If White plays on the middle point with 1 in Diagram 1B, he lives. Black 1 in Diagram 1C, played at the central point of the three point eye space, kills the white group. This is the starting point for understanding killing with inside moves.

Diagram 2

There are only two possible shapes that a three point eye space can have. The three surrounded points can be arranged in a straight line, as in Diagram 1A, or in a bent shape as in Diagram 2A. All other three point eye shapes are rotations or mirror images of these two. Diagrams 2B and 2C show how White can live and Black can kill. Thus, all the possible
three point eye spaces are unsettled: life or death depends on who plays first.

Diagram 3

＞＜ ▶︎

Diagram 3 shows a slightly more complicated position, which might occur in a real game. The inside move of Black 1 is fatal.

Diagram 3A

＞＜ ▶︎

As Diagram 3A shows, there is nothing that White can do. Eventually, when all the outside liberties are filled, Black will be able to play 1, putting White into atari.

Diagram 4

Diagram 4A

Whole sequence

＞＜ ▶︎

A three point eye space often arises from the capture of three stones. Here, when the outside liberties are filled (), White will be in atari, so he captures the three black stones with 1 in Diagram 4A. However, this does not make White alive. Black 2 kills him. The three black stones in Diagram 4 are known as a killing shape because they offer a killing inside play.

Four Point Eye Spaces

The larger the eye space, the greater the number of different shapes it can have. A four point eye space can have five distinct shapes. It’s worth knowing them well and they all have names, which makes it easier to remember them.

Diagram 5

The square eye shape on the left is dead as it stands. White cannot make two eyes with only a single move. The pyramid shape on the right is unsettled. The central point (A) is the vital point for both sides.

Diagram 6

The three shapes shown here are all alive as they stand. They are the “straight four”, the “dogleg four”, and the “bent four”. While the “straight three” is unsettled, all longer straight shapes are alive provided the walls are free of defects. I call the four point eye shape in the middle of Diagram 6 the dogleg four, which I think describes it well. Another name is the “zigzag four”. The bent four on the right of Diagram 6 is alive.

Diagram 7

Diagram 7 shows a bent four in the corner. This is also alive.

Diagram 7A

＞＜ ▶︎

If Black plays inside with 1, White lives with 2. Similarly, Black 1 at 2 would be answered by White 2 at 1.

Diagram 7B

＞＜ ▶︎

A bent four can be killed if you can contrive to play two moves inside. This could happen if the white group is missing the stone on the right edge. In Diagram 7B, Black 1 threatens to connect out at 2, so White blocks with 2 himself. Now Black can play 3, killing the white group.

When all the outside liberties are filled, Black will be able to play a third move inside the white group, putting White into atari. The final result will be a three point killable eye space. Another way to play two stones inside a four point eye space is if your opponent does not answer your first move. This could happen if your first move is a ko threat and your opponent ignores it in order to end the ko.

Bent Four in the Corner

Diagram 8

Diagram 8A

＞＜ ▶︎

Whole sequence

＞＜ ▶︎

Diagram 8 shows a bent four in the corner that has a different configuration from Diagram 7. The significant difference is that White’s eye space contains both 2–1 points. As a result, White is not unconditionally alive.

Black can play 1 in Diagram 8A. White must play 2 to prevent Black from extending there. However, Black can capture this stone, so the result is ko.

Diagram 9

Diagram 9 shows a position that can lead to bent four in the corner. White does not have a good move. Any move he plays inside his eye space simply leads to it being almost filled by a killing shape.

Diagram 9A

＞＜ ▶︎

After filling the outside liberties with the stones, Black can play 1 in Diagram 9A, which is atari, forcing White to capture the bent four shape.

This produces the bent four eye space in Diagram 8. Since Black can play 1 in Diagram 9A at a time of his choosing, after he has eliminated weaknesses that White might use as ko threats, this position was defined as being dead at the end of the game under the old Japanese rules (1979) for Bent Four in the Corner. Under AGA (American Go Association) rules, you have to play out the position.

Diagram 9B

Diagram 9B shows another example of a bent four in the corner that is unsettled. White does not have a good move. On the other hand, Black can wait until the outside liberties are filled and potential ko threats have been eliminated and then connect at A. Then he can add a stone (for example at B) to make a bent four shape. The result will be just like Diagram 8.

For further reading on bent four in the corner, look at James Davies' Life and Death and Richard Bozulich’s Get Strong at Life and Death, both published by Kiseido and also available as SmartGo books. These books have many examples of the different shapes. However, they both treat bent four in the corner under the old Japanese rules.

Five Point Eye Spaces

Diagram 10

Five point eye spaces come in many arrangements. Most of them are alive; only two are unsettled. The five point eye in Diagram 10 can be killed by a black move at A. Similarly, White can live by playing A. The shape in Diagram 10 is a four point square with one extra point. This is the most compact five point shape and is known by various names. One name is the “bulky five”. Some people call it the gun shape because when this shape is inverted, the extra point looks like the barrel of a gun.

Diagram 11

The other killable five point eye space is the cross in Diagram 11. A white play at A makes four eyes, but a black play here reduces White to only one eye.

Six Point Eye Spaces

Diagram 12

Only one six point eye space is unsettled; the A marks the vital point. This shape is known to many go players as “Rabbity Six” after James Davies used the name in his Life and Death. The Japanese name for this shape is “flower six”. You can use any name you like that helps you to remember it. One name I find very useful, which I encountered in a Japanese book, is “cross plus one”. It’s based on the five point cross in Diagram 11 with the addition of one corner point. Every unsettled eye shape is constructed by adding one more vacant point to an unsettled eye space that is one point smaller. Although I like to use the name “Rabbity Six” when discussing go with other players, I find the shape rather hard to visualize. So I just equate the name “Rabbity Six” with the shape “cross plus one”.

Summary of Killing Shapes

Diagram 13

Diagram 13 shows all the killing shapes. These are essential shapes that you should memorize. If you can almost fill your opponent’s eye space with one of these shapes, then when the outside liberties are filled, he will be in atari and will have to capture your stones. This will leave an unsettled shape that you can kill with a move at the central point ().

Note there is one killing shape, the square four, that when captured leaves an eye space that is dead as it stands, so there is no need for you to play back inside. Notice in Diagram 13 how each killing shape can be made by adding one stone to one or more of the smaller shapes. The four stone pyramid can be made by adding a stone to either the straight three or the bent three. The four stone square can only lead to one five stone shape, while the four stone pyramid can lead to both five stone killing shapes.

Shape Recognition Practice

Here is some shape recognition practice. The white group on the left is dead. The four black stones inside White’s eye are a killing shape.

Diagram 14

When the outside liberty is filled, White will be in atari, but capturing the black four stone pyramid will leave a killable shape. With his next move, Black plays inside at the central point.

The white group on the right in Diagram 14 is alive. The four black stones inside White’s eye are not a killing shape. When White captures this dogleg four shape, he will be left with a live eye shape.

Diagram 15

White has a six point eye space with three black stones inside it. What is the status of White’s group? To kill White, Black will need to add two more stones to almost fill White’s eye. Can Black make a five stone killing shape?

Diagram 15A
2: elsewhere

＞＜ ▶︎

Yes, he can. Playing 1 and 3 in Diagram 15A makes a bulky five and White will end up with a killable five point eye space if he captures it. White 2 is played elsewhere since adding a stone inside would only lead to a smaller dead eye shape.

Diagram 15B
2: elsewhere

＞＜ ▶︎

Playing 1 before 3 in Diagram 15A is the safest order of moves. 1 in Diagram 15B does work also, but it leaves behind the possibility of making a mistake with 3. This is not a killing shape. White can capture these five stones and live. In practice, however, you should not need to play any moves at all. In Diagram 15, the white group is dead as it stands and can be removed at the end of the game. You only need to play 1 and 3 in Diagram 15A if the outside black stones get cut and threatened or if White disputes the status and insists that you prove it is dead.

Diagram 16

This position is similar to Diagram 15. Black can almost fill White’s eye space with a killing shape by adding two more stones. The result is the same as in Diagram 15A. The key difference here though is that the position in Diagram 16 is unsettled.

Diagram 16A

＞＜ ▶︎

If White plays 1 in Diagram 16A, he lives (in seki). Black can put White into atari only by making a non-killing shape, for example with 1 in Diagram 16B.

Diagram 16B

＞＜ ▶︎

Diagram 16C

＞＜ ▶︎

When White captures with 2 in Diagram 16C, he is left with a live bent four eye space. After playing 1 in Diagram 16A, White must not add any more stones inside his own eye to try and capture the black stones. That would be suicidal, but it’s a misconception that even dan players have been observed to suffer from.

Another misconception is for Black to think that he has killed White in Diagram 16A because the three black stones are a killing shape. White is not dead because he is not in atari. When there are two or more vacant liberties, you haven’t almost filled the eye space. This is an important concept, so take time to understand it thoroughly.

Summary

Both the three point eye spaces are unsettled. Two of the four point eye spaces are killable; the other three are usually alive, but there is a special case: bent four in the corner. Two of the many five point eye spaces are unsettled; the others are alive. Only one six point eye space is unsettled; the others are alive. Adding a stone inside your own eye can sometimes prevent your opponent from making a killing inside shape.

Practice Examples (1–4)

Diagram 17: Dead or alive?

Here are two white groups with five point eye spaces containing a black straight three. Can Black almost fill White’s eye with a four stone killing shape? Tap on the light bulb below to reveal the answers and links to further explanations in the Appendix.

Diagram 17: The white group on the left is alive; the one on the right is dead.

Diagram 18: Dead or alive?

Bent threes. What is the status of each white group?

Diagram 18: The white group on the left is dead; the one on the right is alive.

Diagram 19: Dead or alive?

Bent threes with three vacant liberties. Can Black make a five stone killing shape?

Diagram 19: The white group on the left is alive; the one on the right is dead.

Diagram 20: Dead or alive?

Two slightly harder positions to test you. Are these white groups dead or alive?

Diagram 20: The white group on the left is alive; the one on the right is also alive.

Study Problem

Study Problem
Black to play

＞＜ ▶︎

This problem is a typical life and death problem taken from a book. Black to play and kill the white group. The answer is given in Chapter 2, where this diagram is repeated, after some preparatory discussion. Here is a hint: Black should be able to construct a five stone killing shape, but the order of moves is important.

Looking back at Diagram 15 and Diagram 16 should help to clarify the objective.