Dead cell

A dead cell is a cell of which colour does not depend the outcome of the game.

Typical dead cells are useless triangles

R4 C5 Q0 Vc3 Hc2 Hd2 Hd3 Hb3

Usage
Because the colour does not affect the result of the game, dead cells can be completely ignored from analysis. In computer Hex, it can save a huge amount of time to check which cells need to be evaluated and which are irrelevant.

The concept of dead cells can also be usefulf in human play, since it can help telling in which side of a bridge it is better to intrude. In the following example, if we assume that Red wants to keep its pawns connected then it is far better to play in field c3 for Blue. It helps gainning ground to play in c3, whereas if Blue had played b3 then c3 from Red would leave it dead.

R5 C5 Q1 Ha3 Vb4 Vc2

External link
Ryan Hayward's publication page contains research articles on dead cells.