Count before you fight
Before committing to a local fight, count the liberties of both your group and your opponent's — the side with more usually wins the capture. Where a stone stands changes the count: a lone stone has four liberties in the centre, three on the edge, only two in the corner, which is why corner stones are both efficient and fragile. Connected stones pool their liberties into one shared count, so a compact two-stone group in the centre reaches six — the first reason connecting is good (5.5). This counting habit is the seed of every capturing race you will read in Chapter 6.
Count each stone's liberties, then play a move that puts one in atari.
Play one of the marked points to finish this lesson.