Kee Rules of Go

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KEE RULES OF GO (2020)

Written by Wilton Kee on 8-Oct-2020.


I. STRENGTH OF KEE RULES

1. It is applicable to any types of boards with any pre-defined connections between intersections for stone placement.

2. It is applicable to any number of players (even 3 players or more).

3. A game always ends by consecutive pass plays of all players on one single board position for a definite score.


II. CONTENTS OF KEE RULES

Board Position Initialization Rule: A board position is initialized for a player to play whenever his preceding player just made a pass play on it.

Pass-lifting Positional SuperKo Rule: A player may not make a stone play to create a board position previously appeared unless another board position was initialized for any player to play after the last time it appeared.

Repeated Initialization Rule: A player may not make a stone play on a board position initialized for him to play if the same board position was previously initialized for him to play.

Game Termination Rule: A game ends by scoring once all players have consecutively made a pass play on the same board position initialized for them to play.


III. EXAMPLES OF APPLICATION

A. John Tromp's sending-2-returning-1

See Rules Beast 1.

[Diagram]
 

W1 = pass

John Tromp pointed out the peculiar consequences of superko rule if White does not connect in the lower left.

[Diagram]
 

Black plays B4 as the superko threat.

[Diagram]
 

W9 = pass

[Diagram]
 

With normal superko rules, White 11 (W1) is prohibited as it repeats the outcome of White 7. All white stones are dead as the result.

Under Kee Rules, White 11 (W1) is not prohibited because the pass White 9 has lifted the positional superko.

[Diagram]
 

W3 = pass

Instead, Black 14 (B4), or any other stone play, is prohibited. Black can only make a pass play on this initialized board position (initialized by White 13), as he encountered the same initialized board position (initialized by White 9) previously.

The game ends by treating the board position as seki.



B. Sending-2-returning-1 + Seki with one-sided irremovable ko threat

[Diagram]
 

Unlike John Tromp's sending-2-returning-1, White cannot even connect to remove the superko threat.

[Diagram]
 

Black plays B3 as the superko threat, which is a one-sided irremovable ko threat only available to Black.

[Diagram]
 

W6 = pass

[Diagram]
 

With normal superko rules, White 8 (W8) is prohibited as it repeats the outcome of White 4. All white stones are dead as the result.

Under Kee Rules, White 8 (W8) is not prohibited because the pass White 6 has lifted the positional superko.

[Diagram]
 

W10 = pass

Instead, Black 11 (B1), or any other stone play, is prohibited. Black can only make a pass play on this initialized board position (initialized by White 10), as he encountered the same initialized board position (initialized by White 6) previously.



C. Unfilled simple ko on fully occupied board

[Diagram]
 

White has two eyes but Black has only one. Can White capture all the black stones as we expect?

[Diagram]
 

Black captures the ko by B1.

With normal ko rules, White's recapture is prohibited and the game will end there. It is not fair to White as Black does not resolve the ko when White is prohibited to make a stone play due to the ko.

Under Kee Rules, White can choose to pass first. Then after Black has responded by another pass (as he cannot do anything else), White can recapture (with the positional superko lifted by the passes) and then capture all the black stones as a fair outcome.

D. Triple ko without eyes

[Diagram]
 

With normal superko rules, Black would capture all the white stones. It is the same under Kee Rules.



E. Triple ko with White having one eye but Black having none

[Diagram]
 

With normal superko rules, Black would end up capturing two out of three ko's.

Under Kee Rules, White would be able to capture all black stones eventually because the positional superko can be lifted by a pass. This is a fair outcome because White has one eye but Black does not.



F. Triple ko with both players having one eye

[Diagram]
 

With normal superko rules, Black would end up capturing two out of three ko's. It is the same under Kee Rules.



G. Bill Spight's 4×3 board

See SpightRules/Example.

[Diagram]
 

This is a position similar to a ten thousand year ko. White takes the ko, but after Black passes White should not fill. Similarly, if Black can take the ko, then even after White passes Black should not fill.

With normal ko rules, Black's recapture is prohibited and the game will end there.

Under Kee Rules, Black can recapture after a pass by Black and then White. Then White can recapture too after a pass by White and then Black. The game would end with White's recapture because it is already the second time such board position is initialized. It ends up having the same outcome as normal ko rules.



H. 2×1 board

[Diagram]
 

Starting from an empty board, can Black do better than a draw?

[Diagram]
 

With normal ko rules, Black's recapture is prohibited and the game will end with White winning by 2 points. This means B1 should be a pass and the game is a draw.

Under Kee Rules, Black can recapture after a pass by Black and then White. Then White can recapture too after a pass by White and then Black. The game would end with White's recapture because it is already the second time such board position is initialized, with White winning by 2 points. This means B1 should be a pass and the game is a draw.



I. 2×2 board

[Diagram]
 

Starting from an empty board, can Black do better than a draw?

With normal superko rules, Black would win by 1 point.

Under Kee Rules, the game is a draw.



J. 3×2 board

[Diagram]
 

Starting from an empty board, can Black do better than a draw?

With normal superko rules, the game is a draw. It is the same under Kee Rules.


Kee Rules of Go last edited by WiltonKee on October 10, 2020 - 03:04
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