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Counting
    Keywords: Rules

When you play Go with real stones and board, at the end of the game you must determine what the score is. While the rules you are playing under define which points and stones count toward your score, it is generally impractical to simply count them on the board as it stands at the end of the game. Practical counting usually involves rearranging the stones on the board to make the counting easier. Since this destroys the final position of the game, it is important to know how to do it correctly.

There are several counting methods available to determine the score at the end of the game. In general, you must use a counting method that corresponds with the type of Scoring used in the rules you play by.

Chinese Counting
This method works with rules that use area scoring: Chinese Rules, Tromp-Taylor Rules, AGA Rules, Ing Rules and New Zealand Rules.
Japanese Counting
This method works with rules that use territory scoring: Japanese Rules and Korean Rules. It can also be used for AGA Rules (even though they are really area scoring rules), although there is a difference in the way seki is counted in this case. Korean counting nowadays works the same way.
Stone Counting Method
A simple method suitable for small boards. It works with rules that use area scoring. It is easy enough for even young children to use.
Ing Counting
This method is specified for the Ing Rules. It could be used with other rules that use area scoring. (See above.)

Other counting notes:

The Korean variation Sunjang Baduk has its own special counting technique.

Computers have no problem with the tedious counting of score directly from the final board position. This is sometimes called Point-by- Point counting. Most (all?) computer software directly counts the scoring points and stones from the final position according to what ever rules you are playing under. This method isn't practical for humans, which is why counting methods exist.

There is some more information on the web about counting:


The information on this page should probably be consolidated on the Scoring page. This page should be reserved for counting, meaning mentally calculating who is ahead and behind during the play of the game. And the references should be adjusted accordingly. -- Hu of KGS (and thanks, Charles, for references)

Charles Matthews Existing pages relative to this sense of counting include:



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