A life and death problem from my last game

[Numsgil]

If it's any consolation, R1 was my first gut reaction, too. I'd guess the problem is maybe 10k; you have to read maybe 5 moves deep to see that the faux shape point move doesn't work, and the refutation is again slightly odd (black's first instinct would be to connect at R2, which again doesn't work).

[xed_over]

Hhhmm, after N1 the best I think black could do is to get a ko:

no ko. just capture and kill.

$$Wc
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . X . X . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . X X O O . . O . |
$$ . . X , . X O O . O O . O |
$$ . . . X . O . . O . X O . |
$$ . . . . X O . 3 . O 2 X X |
$$ . . . . C O 1 . 5 4 . . . |
$$ --------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . X . X . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . X X O O . . O . |
$$ . . X , . X O O . O O . O |
$$ . . . X . O . . O . X O . |
$$ . . . . X O . 3 . O 2 X X |
$$ . . . . C O 1 . 5 4 . . . |
$$ --------------------------[/go]

[Samura]

You are right! And don't know how a didn't see the P3 stone in my reading...

[speedchase]

Anyway, the main thing you should learn from this thread: context is important!