life

Life is the status of a group that is alive and cannot be captured by the opponent under the relevant conditions. A group is usually alive when it has two independently defensible eyes, though life can also arise through seki or other conditions specific to the position.

Determining whether a group survives is central to life-and-death reading, tactical judgment, and territorial evaluation. Life is the positive status contrasted with death, and it may be conditional or unconditional depending on the position and the rules being considered. A group that appears to have eyes may still be dead if one eye is false or if the opponent can reduce or destroy its eye space.