Go

Setup

• Players: two. One plays Black, the other White.
• Board: a 13 by 13 grid by default. Stones go on the crossing points.
• First turn: Black moves first. In a handicap game Black’s extra stones are already on the board and White moves first.
• Komi: White adds 7.5 points to their score, a bonus for moving second.

How to play

1. 1Place a stone or pass. On your turn, place one stone of your colour on any empty point, or pass.
2. 2Make groups. Stones of one colour that touch along the lines form a group. The empty points next to a group are its liberties.
3. 3Capture. When a move takes away a group’s last liberty, that group is captured and every one of its stones leaves the board. A group with one liberty left is in atari.
4. 4No suicide. You may not place a stone where it would have no liberty, unless that stone captures something and so frees up a liberty.
5. 5Mind the ko. No move may bring back a board position that has already happened. Play somewhere else first, ideally a move your opponent must answer.
6. 6Pass to end. When both players pass one after the other, the board is counted as it stands. The table may also end at a move limit, counted the same way.

Winning

When both players pass one after the other, the game ends and the board is counted. The higher total wins.

Scoring

Stones you think are dead must be captured in play before the passes, because nothing is removed at the count. The game is also counted when it reaches the move limit.

Key terms

Group:

Stones of one colour that touch along the lines.

Liberty:

An empty point next to a group.

Atari:

A group with one liberty left. One more stone there captures it.

Capture:

Taking away a group’s last liberty. Its stones leave the board.

Ko:

The rule that no move may bring back an earlier board position.

Eye:

An enclosed empty point. Two separate eyes make a group safe.

Komi:

A fixed bonus for White, the player who moves second.

Territory:

Empty points that touch only one player’s stones.