Stoical Go

    Keywords: Variant

In this Go variant, standard ko rules don't apply. Instead, it's illegal to make a capture if your opponent made a capture on his previous move.

All other rules are the same as in Go. Suicide of one or more stones is not allowed, and area scoring is used.

All known forced Go cycles are impossible with this rule. The nature of the rule itself suggests that forced cycles are either impossible or astronomically rarer than they are in Go when the superko rule is not used.

Ko fights proceed much the same as with normal rules, with the difference that captures and moves answered by captures aren't valid ko threats. On the other hand, snapbacks are not possible.

Luis Bolaņos Mures designed Stoical Go in September, 2012. The game is [ext] available to play with the Zillions of Games program. All odd-sized boards from 7x7 to 19x19 are implemented, as well as the option to use neutral blocking pieces to change the shape of the board.

Alternatively, the following rule preserves all snapbacks while still preventing all known cycles: if your opponent has captured n stones on his previous turn, you can't make a capture on your turn unless it's bigger than n stones.

Example

[Diagram]

After W1, Black can't play at a immediately, but must make a ko threat first. If he doesn't have any suitable ko threats, his group will die.


Discussion

tapir: You are aware that you will have many "right to capture" fights? Even snapbacks are impossible in your variant.

luigi87: Not that many, but yes, often a player will have to use a ko threat in a given sequence to earn the right to capture back. The same happens with snapbacks as well. This feature adds a global positional factor to the evaluation of local fights, which needn't be a bad thing. As for snapbacks, I've added an alternative, somewhat more complicated rule that preserves them in their original form (i.e. without the need for intervening ko threats). Comments are welcome.

willemien: How about Eternal Life?

luigi87: Eternal life is not possible in either Stoical Go or the suggested variant which preserves snapbacks.


This is a copy of the living page "Stoical Go" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2013 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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