Eyes, life and death · Lesson 20
True and false eyes: is one surrounded point safe?
An empty point may seem surrounded by your stones, but if those stones are not reliably connected, part may be captured. Such a false eye cannot serve as a true eye that keeps the group alive.
E5 initially looks surrounded by Black, but Black E4 below has only E5 as a liberty. White E5 captures E4 first and gains a liberty. This “eye” therefore cannot keep White out.
Corner, edge and center shapes differ. An opposing diagonal stone is often a warning, but first check whether the surrounding stones connect and can be put in atari or captured. Do not decide life and death by a short counting slogan alone.
It looks like an eye
White can play inside
Original lessons by Yiban ·