Kings Order

  Difficulty: Introductory   Keywords: Variant

Japanese: ココセ (Kokose)
Korean: 명령바둑 (Myeong-Ryeong Baduk)

King's Order Go (also "Queen's Order" Go) is a variant of Go in which one or both players is a monarch (King/Queen) and has a three chances to order other player to play somewhere. The monarch must announce on his or her turn that the monarch intends to use an order. The monarch then gets to choose the other player's next move for them, forcing the player to move in a harmful place and effectively granting the monarch two turns in a row. This changes the evaluation of the board in striking ways relative to traditional Go:

  • Groups with two or even three or four eyes may or may not be alive, as the monarch may order the other player to fill eye space.
  • Invasions become easier, as the monarch may order the other player not to answer the invasion.
  • Otherwise dead stones may be more easily revived, as the monarch may order the other player not to answer the escaping move.
  • Ladders and capturing races are always a gamble, as the monarch may order the other player to discontinue playing the ladder or capturing race.

Two Monarch Variant

The basic version of King's Order Go is the two-monarch variant. Each player is a monarch and has three chances to order other player to play somewhere. The number of orders given to each monarch may be negotiated before the game.

The two-monarch variant has been played by the following pros:

One Monarch Variant

A second version of King's Order Go is the one-monarch variant. One player is the monarch and has two chances to order the other player to play somewhere. In return, the other player (peasant) receives 11 handicap stones, reflecting the approximate value of two orders (and the peasantry outnumbering the monarch).

The one-monarch variant has been played by the following pros:

Veto Go

In Veto Go, the players are presidents, rather than monarchs, and they have three chances to veto an opponent's move, rather than give an order. The president may veto the other player's move and force the player to play elsewhere, but the president may not choose the particular spot as in King's Order Go. Although a veto is less effective than an order, a veto still may prevent a player from living or killing a group or from winning a ladder or capturing race when there is only one move to do so.

As in King's Order Go, the number of vetoes available to each president may be negotiated before the game. The number of vetoes may also be infinite, resulting in a kind of "Second Best Move" Go. The variant with infinite vetoes is also called Forced Takeback Go.

Handicap Variant

King's Order Go is a fun and novel way to enjoy a game with players of disparate ranks without the need for traditional handicap or large komi. In the handicap variant, the weaker player is the monarch and has one order for every five ranks difference between the players.

Kokose

The Japanese term, Kokose (ココセ), for King's Order is nearly extinct in the Japanese language, except in Shogi. Older casual players of Go in Japan are more likely to recognize the word, and the younger serious players may have never heard of it. The term is thought to be a short form of "koko ni sei!" (ここにせい!) -meaning "Let it be here!" or "koko e sase!" (ここへ指せ!) -meaning "Play here!". Kokose describes more of the option exercise rights to specify the opponent move for any agreed-upon number of times, than any particular variant of the game.


Kings Order last edited by Malcolm on May 31, 2017 - 12:31
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