Page:Smith - The game of go.djvu/69

Rh vacant space is surrounded partly by white and partly by black stones in such away that, if either player places a stone therein, his adversary can thereupon capture the entire group. Under these circumstances, of course, neither player desires to place a stone on that portion of the board, and the rules of the game do not compel him to do so. That portion of the board is regarded as neutral territory, and at the end of the game the vacant "Me" are not counted in favor of either player. Plate 6, Diagram, gives an illustration of "Seki," where it will be seen that if Black plays at either S 16 or T 16 White can kill the black stones in the corner by playing on the other point, and if White plays on either point Black can kill the white stones by filling the remaining vacancy. Directly below, on Diagram , is shown the same group, but the corner black stone has been taken out. The position is now no longer "Seki," but is called by the Japanese "Me ari me nashi," or literally "having 'Me,' not having 'Me.'" Here the white stones are dead, because if Black plays, for instance, at T 4 White cannot kill the black stones by playing at S 4, for the reason that the vacant "Me" at T 1 still remains. The beginner might confuse "Seki" with "Me ari me nashi," and while a good player has no trouble in recognizing the difference when the situation arises, it takes considerable foresight sometimes so to play as to produce one situation or the other.

Plate 6, Diagram, shows another group which might be mistaken for "Seki," but here, if White plays at J 19, the black stones can be killed, further proceedings being somewhat similar to those we saw in the illustration of "Go moku naka de wa ju san te." Plate 7 shows a large