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Rules of Go - introductory at Sensei's Library

Rules of Go - introductory

  Difficulty: Introductory   Keywords: Opening, Rules

This page introduces the basics of Go rules. These rules allow you to quickly move to playing your first game.[12]

Table of contents


1. Players

The game is played by two players. We call them Black and White.


2. Board

The board is a grid of horizontal and vertical lines.

The board used to give examples on this page is small (5x5) compared to the sizes Go players normally use, but the size of the board does not affect the rules.

[Diagram]
A board  

The example board has 5 horizontal and 5 vertical lines.


You win the game by controlling more than half of the board.


3. Point

The lines of the board have intersections wherever they cross or touch each other. Each intersection is called a point. That includes the four corners, and the edges of the board.

[Diagram]
Two points  

The example board has 25 points. The red circle shows one particular point. The red square in the corner shows another point.


Go is played on the points of the board, not on the squares.


4. Stones

Black uses black stones (B). White uses white stones (W).

[Diagram]
Some stones  

The example shows a board position from the middle of the game with 4 black stones and 3 white stones. The points which have no stones are unoccupied or empty points.


You don't need to use stones to play Go. Poker chips, beads, buttons, coins... whatever you've got.


5. Play

Players take alternate turns.

The player whose turn it is puts one of his own stones on an empty point.

[Diagram]
Before the play  
[Diagram]
A white play  

White plays a white stone at the point W1.

[Diagram]
After the play  


Sometimes, after placing his stone, a player removes some of his opponent's stones from the board to complete his turn [7].

Sometimes there are points that may not be played on a particular turn [8] [9].

Instead of playing a stone on his turn, a player may pass [10].


Unless a player passes, he puts one of his stones on the board on each of his turns. Remember, the stones don't move.


6. Game Start

The game starts with all points on the board empty.

[Diagram]
Empty board  


Black plays first.

[Diagram]
Black starts  

In the example Black chooses to start at the point B1.


When one of the players is more experienced, he often lets Black start with several stones on the board. This is called a handicap. It makes the game more fun and more educational for both players.


7. Capture

Rule of Capture: If a player surrounds the opponent's stone or stones completely, he captures those stones and removes them from the board.


Every stone on the board must be next to an empty point. (An empty point next to a stone is called a liberty.)

If a stone is not next to an empty point, but it's next to some other stones of the same color which are next to an empty point, that's fine too. (Strings of adjacent stones "share liberties".)

If there are no empty points next to a stone or a string of stones (the stone has no liberties), the stones are immediately taken off the board.

Four examples follow. The first example shows Black capturing a single White stone. The second shows Black capturing a clump of three White stones. The third shows Black capturing a clump of four White stones and another lone White stone with the same move. The fourth example shows White capturing two Black stones.

(Example 1)

[Diagram]
Before the play  

The white stone is almost surrounded. It is adjacent to only one empty point, shown by the square. It is not adjacent to other nearby points, shown by circles. (Adjacent in this sense means 'adjacent along a line'; points that are one diagonal step away from a stone (here marked circle) do not count as liberties.)

[Diagram]
Black captures  

Black's move B1 surrounds the white stone completely.

[Diagram]
After the play  

Black's move B1 occupies the last liberty of the white stone, thus capturing it and removing it from the board.


(Example 2)

[Diagram]
Before the play  
[Diagram]
Black captures three stones  

The three white stones white+cross are connected along the lines of the board, and stand or fall together.

Black's move B1 occupies their last liberty and captures them, removing them from the board to leave the third position.

[Diagram]
After the play  


(Example 3)

[Diagram]
Before the play  
[Diagram]
Black captures 5 stones  
[Diagram]
After the play  

A play can also surround different stones at the same time even if not all of them are connected along lines. Black's move B1 captures the surrounded five white stones. For this Black occupies the last liberty of the four white stones at the top which is also the last liberty of the one white stone in the middle. All the white stones without liberties are captured and thus are removed.


(Example 4)

[Diagram]
Before the play  
[Diagram]
White captures  
[Diagram]
After the play  

The White play W1 occupies the last liberty of the two black stones, and removes them.


It does not matter that the white stone's only liberty used to be occupied by a black stone. All stones on the board must have at least one liberty, but on a player's own turn he captures enemy stones and removes them from the board before checking his own liberties. In this example, White captures two stones and clears out one liberty for his stone, leaving a legal position.


8. Suicide

A player is not allowed to make a play that removes the last liberty of any of his own stones without doing the same to opposing stones (so-called suicide).

[Diagram]
Suicide  

If Black could play B1, the three black stones at the top would have no liberties remaining. But all stones remaining on the board must have liberties at the end of a turn.


Why have a suicide rule? Well, if a player's stones could be captured on his own turn, the capture rule would have to be more complicated.


9. No Repetition

Rule of No Repetition: One may not play a move which repeats a previous board position.

This rule prevents endless repetition.

[Diagram]
A position  
[Diagram]
A legal move  
[Diagram]
Illegal move  

White's move W1 removes a stone and Black's move B2 would remove the stone W1. However, Black would also repeat an earlier position - the position just before move W1.


Since repetition of the board position is prohibited by this rule, Black cannot play at the point 2 now in the example. Currently Black must play on a different point.

Note that on subsequent turns, the same play may be available as a legal move, because it will not be repeating the same board position.

For more on this rule, see ko.


Unlike the suicide rule, the repetition (ko) rule has a major effect on the play of games.


10. Pass

On any turn a player may pass their turn instead of playing a stone [5] (usually when the player realizes no more beneficial moves are available). The opponent then takes their turn.

When both players pass in succession, the game ends.

Note that repeating the board position [9] is only prohibited for a move. Passing obviously repeats the board position but since two passes end the game, there is no risk of endless repetition.


Passing before the game is effectively finished is usually a mistake. The game is over when both players agree that passing is correct. With a little experience one sees that passing when there is no constructive play is natural.


11. Purpose of the game

Rule determining the winner: The purpose of the game is to occupy or surround more points than the opponent.

At the game end (when both players pass [10]) the winner is the player with the greater number of stones of his colour on the board plus empty points surrounded only by stones of his colour.

[Diagram]
Final position  
[Diagram]
Black's points  

13 points score for Black: 7 points occupied by black stones and 6 points surrounded by only black stones.

[Diagram]
White's points  

12 points score for White: 7 points occupied by white stones and 5 points surrounded by only white stones.


In the example, Black controls more points and therefore Black wins the game.

[Diagram]
Final position  

Some players prefer to score the game in a way that makes use of the captured stones. The result is almost always the same.


12. What's next?

This page is a first, basic introduction to the game. After reading it you may wish to consult

These pages should help with the first questions arising from practical play.

Some of the rules mentioned are treated differently by the various rulesets. This makes little difference to the play of the game, though. It is better not to be concerned about those matters initially.

There are several minor variations to the rules of Go worldwide. The rules taught here are essentially the Chinese rules and while the variations matter, they are actually not important in getting the central idea of the game. It is quite easy to adapt to the different sets of rules in common use.


Rules of Go - introductory last edited by 172.0.9.139 on March 16, 2013 - 23:17
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