Right—but they might possibly yet die if white is trying to win.
I was trying to find a sympathetic reading for describing 3 as: “the issue is unsettled. Depending on how play proceeds, the white stones may eventually live or may eventually die”. There is one—but it also applies to 2. [EDIT: figures 2 and 3 have been updated since this comment was written]
Ah! You are suggesting that black can make a ko threat against the live group in figure 3, and that white might choose to ignore the threat. True, but the usual convention in this case is to call the group alive, rather than unsettled.
There is no way to kill those groups if white is trying to save them and does not make any mistakes. This is the usual meaning of “alive” in Go.
Right—but they might possibly yet die if white is trying to win.
I was trying to find a sympathetic reading for describing 3 as: “the issue is unsettled. Depending on how play proceeds, the white stones may eventually live or may eventually die”. There is one—but it also applies to 2. [EDIT: figures 2 and 3 have been updated since this comment was written]
Ah! You are suggesting that black can make a ko threat against the live group in figure 3, and that white might choose to ignore the threat. True, but the usual convention in this case is to call the group alive, rather than unsettled.
Indeed.