The Go Enthusiast of the Lumia Plaza — Solving Life-and-Death Problems

Last updated 2026-09-27

The Go table in the plaza

Go out to the "Plaza" from the town of Lumia, and in front of a shop you will find an old man with a Go board spread out and a golem with a porcelain body sitting beside him. The old man is the Go Enthusiast, a wealthy resident of Lumia who loves Go so much that he built a golem to set problems for him.

How to solve a life-and-death problem

When the Auto-Calculating Golem sets a problem, you start as Black. There are two kinds of problems: capturing White's stones and keeping Black's stones alive. Tap an empty point on the board to place a Black stone, and the golem answers right away.

If you go wrong, the golem shows the refuting move and the old man chimes in with advice. You can start again from the initial position with "Try again," and your remaining chances are shown as stones beside the board.

Basic life-and-death terms

• Living stones — a group with two or more separate eyes that can never be captured.
• Dead stones — a group that cannot make two eyes and will eventually be captured.
• Vital point — a point, such as the center of an eye shape, where whoever plays first decides life or death. Whether you are capturing or living, the basic approach is to find the vital point first.

Starting funds

If your business fails and you are almost out of money, visit the old man; whether or not you solve the problem, he will give you funds to start trading again. You can also solve problems just for fun when you have plenty of money, in which case there is no reward and only your skill is tested.