What is a liberty
A liberty is an empty intersection directly adjacent to a stone or group — up, down, left, right, never diagonal. The count is the single most important number in tactical reading: it tells you exactly how many moves a group is from capture, and when it reaches zero the group comes off the board at once. Location sets the baseline: four liberties for a lone centre stone, three on the edge, two in the corner. Connected stones merge their liberty pools, so groups breathe better than lone stones — the first reason connecting is good (1.4 and beyond).
Count each stone's liberties, then prove it: play a move that puts one in atari.
Play one of the marked points to finish this lesson.