[computer-go] Some beginner's questions concerning go bots

[Evan Daniel]

On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Peter Drake <drake at lclark.edu> wrote:
> On May 10, 2008, at 7:01 AM, Carter Cheng wrote:
>
> Thanks everyone for the responses. My go skills are somewhat limited (only
> 6-7kyu on KGS) so hopefully I am not belaboring the obvious.
> I have a few followup questions-
> 1) What mathematically is a seki? I know this is a local draw but can it be
> determined statically at some point in all cases using some sort definition
> without placing stones on the board (i.e. searching). I only know of three
> cases here- the 1 eye each case with one shared liberty. two shared
> liberties and the half eye situation.
>
> How about "a situation where there are neutral points yet the best move is
> to pass"?

Best move for both players -- in some positions and some rulesets,
pass can be a ko threat.

To include Japanese rulesets, where filling dame is unimportant, you
might want to require that pass be the unique best move.

Evan Daniel