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Stone Counting Method
   

The stone counting method can be used for rules that define Scoring by Area.

(If you are looking for information about the traditional Chinese scoring system called "Stone Counting", see Stone Counting Scoring.)

As a reminder, in Area scoring, your score is:

  • the number of your stones on the board
  • the number of empty points your stones surround

Determining your score:

1: Note your territories: They are the empty points surrounded entirely by your live stones.

Note: "live" is a bad term in case of counting area scoring. -- RobertJasiek, who stops reading at the first doubtful point

2: Remove all your opponent's dead stones left in your territories. These can be placed back in your opponent's bowl.

3: Fill in all of your territory with stones from your own bowl. Don't leave any eyes: The game is over and no more capturing will be done. If there are any non-scoring points (Dame, Seki, etc.) don't fill them in with any stone. They will remain empty.

4: The person with the most stones on the board wins. If it isn't clear, or you want to determine the difference between the scores, you can do one of three things:

4a: Rearrange the stones so that all black's are on one side and all white's are on the other. The color that covers more than half the board will be clear.

4b: Remove pairs of stones, one black and one white. Keep removing pairs until there is only one color left. That color is the winner, and the number of stones is the difference in the scores.

4c: Simply count the stones, first one color than the other. It's a good idea to clear off all extra stones from the table around the board and put the lids on the bowls to make sure you don't change the number of stones. That way, if you miscount, you can count 'em again.

Notes

Stone counting isn't very practical for bigger board sizes. It also can get a little tedious both in filling in the board and in the counting.

On the other hand, Stone counting works very well with beginning children. They don't seem to mind filling in the board, and the pair- wise removal, or board rearrangement works very well for them.

There is a Stone Counting Method Example with step-by-step diagrams.

If Komi is used, then it can be added to White's score if counting stones. If you are using pair-wise removal, or rearrangement, then Komi isn't handled easily. Of course, if you are using Stone Counting because it is easy, then you probably aren't playing with Komi!



This is a copy of the living page "Stone Counting Method" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.