Loony Moves

British Go Journal No. 66. November 1985. Page 21.

Brian Chandler

Dia 1 shows an even game on a 9*9 board. There are no prisoners in the lids, and it is White's turn to play.

What is going on? Who is winning? Try to answer these questions before reading on.

Diagram 1








What's going on? Well Black's big group has obviously got five points of territory in the top left corner, and White's group in the bottom left has also got five points, including the prisoner.

Diagram 2




White's other group up the right hand side is alive in seki, and the two triangle stones on the top side are safely connected. So it's jigo (a draw) - there are no points left, and White ought to pass. But he doesn't, he plays 1, after which two more moves threaten to make a second eye, dissolving the seki, a winning by a lot.

Where's the loony move? IE what must Black not do next?

[Start] Answers on page 31a.

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