Problem #28, White to play. Not exactly a life and death problem, but a problem related to the life and death status of a corner group. One of the forum members will recognize this position if he reads this.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc White to play
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . b c . . . O X X X . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . a O O X X . X . . . X |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . O . . O X . X X O |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . , O X . O . X O O O |
$$ | . X O . O . . . . . O X . . O O O X . |
$$ | . O O O . O . . . . . X . X X . O . . |
$$ | . . O . X X O O . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X X X O . . . X . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . O . X X X X . O O |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . X O O X O O X . X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . X X O . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . X X . . X . . X O . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X X . X . O . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . X O O O O X O O . O X . . . . X . |
$$ | X X X X O . X O O . O X X . . O O X . |
$$ | X O O O X X X . . , . . . X . , X . . |
$$ | O O . . O X . . O . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O X . . . . . . O O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
In the game I didn't want to connect passively at "a", and I hesitated between "b" and "c".
1) If White plays "b", how does Black protect the corner group?
2) If White plays "b", can Black respond with F19?
3) If White plays "c", is it sente? Suppose that Black plays elsewhere, does White have a followup?