Adding a connecting stone at 'a' or 'b' is inefficient.
In the game of go, the empty triangle is the most fundamental example of the concept of bad shape. Go is a strategic, two-player board game originating in ancient China between 2000 BC and 200 BC. Go is a popular game in East Asia. ...
It consists of a formation (or subformation) of three stones of one colour, occupying a compact arrangement in a 2×2 square, like Black at
C4, C5, D4
and no stone for White at D5. If the triangle is filled by a stone of the opponent's at the fourth point of the 2×2, the shape is neutral — not necessarily good or bad.
The deficiencies of the empty triangle are two-fold. Three stones in a straight line have eight liberties, while in an empty triangle they have only seven. When tactics start this can mean the difference between success and failure. Also the formation lacks in efficiency. In the case cited, the stones at C5 and D4 are essentially connected (via C4 and D5), so the stone at C4 is somewhat redundant.
The white group is not an emptytriangle (it is a full triangle), as there's a single fl stone next to it.
It is interesting to note that while the emptytriangle is definitely a weak shape, the full triangle is often regarded as a strong shape.
A full triangle is the white shape shown at the top, formed after Black approaches and White defends However, in many circumstances, the hanging connection is a better response.
The emptytriangle is bad, generally, being inefficient and prone to shortage of liberties.
Additional Black stones, such as the legs of a, or b or c, give this shape different efficiency and shortage-of-liberties characteristics, and as such it is no longer called an emptytriangle, although it may still be so-called stupid shape (gukei).
Emptytriangle is also sometimes called the devil's shape (onigatachi), because it brings to mind the long nose of one kind of Japanese demon.
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