Matti Siivola's position

These positions were created by Matti Siivola on the night of March 5th 1996, to clarify a consequence of the SST ("Ing") Rules of Go.


 # # # # # # # . . . # # A # O . . . . 
 O # O # . # O # # # O # # # O . . . .
 . O . O # O O # O O O O O O O . . . . 
 O O O O O O # O O , . . . . . , . . .
 # # # # # # # . . . . . . . . . . . .
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 
As it stands, this position has balanced liberties, and neither side may start the ko. But Black may play at A, after which the internal liberties no longer balance and he may fight to capture White's corner stones.


 # # # # # # # . . . # . A # O . . . . 
 O # O # . # O # # # O # # # O . . . .
 . O . O # O O # O O O O O O O . . . . 
 O O O O O O # O O , . . . . . , . . .
 # # # # # # # . . . . . . . . . . . .
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 
Here Black may play at A and then fight the ko. It is debatable whether Black is entitled to start the ko in the position as shown, without first playing at A. It is clear that White A is a good move in this position, as it will now take Black two moves to attain a position in which he may start the ko.

If the diagrams don't look right, and you want a simple ascii version of this page, click here. If you are seeing the diagrams as ascii, and you want a prettier version of this page, click here.

This page is on Nick Wedd's web site.