The Basics of Life and Death

This book is the third volume of the series The Road Map toShodan. Part One is intended as an introduction to the topic of life anddeath, aimed at players who have just learned the rules. However, it shouldalso be useful for players up to 5-kyu or for any amateur player who needsto review the basics of life and death. It is also a prerequisite for Part Twoof this book.

The fundamental concept of life and death is that of eye space. Oncethis concept is fully grasped and the properties of various eye spaces areunderstood, the three most important tesujis of life and death can be introduced-the hane, the placement, and the throw-in tesujis. Along the way,another important concept is introduced-shortage of liberties. This conceptis important not only in life and death, but also in middle game fighting.Solving the life-and-death problems presented in that section willhelp kyu players to learn and familiarize themselves with this concept.Finally, the rule of bent-four-in-the-corner is introduced. Before aplayer can progress to the more advanced life-and-death problems, thisrule must be fully understood.

Part Two consists of 177 basic life-and-death positions that oftenarise in josekis and skirmishes in the corners and along the sides. Thesepositions are fundamental and you should familiarize yourself withthem so that you can determine the status of these positions almost at aglance. Moreover, by studying these problems you will learn many ofthe techniques that are needed to kill your opponent's groups and tolive with your own.