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I was shown this problem at Oxford this year. It isn't as obvious as it at first seems.
How does Black answer this? Kos and sekis are a failure. What if Black tenukis?
First the replies which don't work...
After White sacrifices 3, which Black has to capture or Black loses his second eye. Playing 6 at 3 is self-atari, therefore Black has to fight the ko in the corner.
Another ko. Black cannot capture with the corner point as White just
links 3 and 5 out.
Playing 4' at 5 gets Black 5' at 4, and it's still a ko.
Black cannot capture 3 - White snaps back. Therefore we end up with a ko at 5 and the 1-1 point.
White 3 is a double atari. Black is well and truly dead.
Surprise, surprise. This works.
The tenuki appears to be no worse for Black than most of his direct replies. It turns into a ko.
Tim Hunt proposed the following extension to the original question. I do not plan to answer this.
How much is first move in the corner here worth?
(Or - how much better is the best White play than a "normal" White play?)
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Last updated 2004-08-10
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