Seki (Go)
A Seki is a special position in the board game Go .
Such a position exists when the black and white stones share freedoms that neither of them can fulfill without being able to be defeated by it. So since neither player can kill the other's group, both groups live. According to the Japanese way of counting, there are no points in Seki. A seki position is therefore equivalent to what is colloquially inappropriately called a stalemate .
The following two different Seki situations are possible:
- Seki without eyes
- Seki with eyes
Seki without eyes
With the Seki ohne Augen both groups have two freedoms in common. If one of the two freedoms encroaches on him, he is subsequently taken out by the opponent himself by taking the last freedom.
In the example above, the two common freedoms would be A2 and D1.
(This example of course assumes that in the overall situation on the board, the surrounding white group cannot be captured by black from outside).
Seki with eyes
There are three freedoms in the Seki with eyes. Each group has a separate one (the eye) and both groups have a third in common. As a result, each group has two freedoms, as with the Seki without eyes. If someone closes his own eye, he can be taken out by adding the common freedom. However, if someone obstructs this, his eye is his ultimate freedom; here too he is defeated in the next move.
In the first example, A1 would be the eye of white, E1 would be the eye of black (these two count one area point each for white and black) and C2 is the shared freedom - a neutral point that is not included in the final account for either black or white as an area counts. In the second example, the eyes of black and white are spurious, since here both black and white have separate groups. If a second eye were added for a player, his group would still not be alive, as they could be separated based on the false eyes.