Black to Play
Composed by Akiyama Jiro 3 dan and published in Kidō, May 1994.
Show Answer
Correct Solution (White Dies) Correct Solution
Respondents Success Rate: 29%
The hane of Black 1 is the vital point. White 2 is the move to use to try hardest for viable shape, but at that point Black’s pushing in once more is a good move. White 4 is then the only move to play in response, but Black 5 is the coup de grace. White is dead.
Correct Solution Variation
Should White answer Black 1 with 2, Black 3 is the move at the vital point that ends all counter play right there.
Diagram 1
…and…
Diagram 2 Black 11 at the marked Black stone
After Black 1 and White 2, Black 3 seems to settle things, but this is a failure. White 4 is a good move that ushers in the sequence through White 12, which sets up life by way of seki.
Diagram 3
Black 1…
Diagram 4
…likewise ends in seki.
Diagram 5
Black 1 played this way produces ko after White 2 and 4.
Diagram 6
Black 1 here is simply and easily countered by White 2 to render the move useless.
Next Week’s Problem
Black to Play
Composed by Akiyama Jiro 3 dan and published in Kidō, May 1994.