Symbols

In Go literature, diagrams are almost always adorned with a few special symbols (markup) such as triangles, alphanumerics etc. This page intends to act as a reference as to when and how to use symbols.

Until now, the use of symbols has been fairly intuitive; re-using symbols for other ends would not give major problems, although some kind of convention already exist.

The material here is a mere condensation of information found on RGG as well as other sources. (Please use the discussion page for comments.)

Table of contents Symbols in ASCII diagrams: ASCII markup '.' '|', '+', '-' ',' '+' 'O' '#', 'X' digit (1..9) letter Symbols used by applications: SGF/print markup Number, digit (, ...) Letter Triangle Circle (, ) Open square (, ) Cross Other symbols Filled square shading, dimmed points New symbols, concepts See also

Symbols in ASCII diagrams: ASCII markup

'.'

• intersection on the goban

'|', '+', '-'

• board edges, corners

',' '+'

• hoshi

'O'

• white stone

'#', 'X'

• black stone

digit (1..9)

• sequence of moves (make sure to state which side is using the odd numbers)
• the compact nature of ASCII diagrams requires to limit to single-digit move numbers; use more diagrams to show longer play sequences.

letter

• variations

Symbols used by applications: SGF/print markup

Following symbols have existed for a while.

Number, digit (, ...)

• denote playing sequences

Letter

• in lowercase, used on empty intersections to show moves in a variation. Japanese go materials would commonly use hiragana or katakana (often in the "i-ro-ha" order).
• used as capital letters, to designate a set of choices from which to continue

Triangle

• mark a formation/point that is being talked about

Circle (, )

• a stone breaking the ladder, a group in danger
• can be used in diagrams to refer to a move that is played on top of an existing stone (see also HowToReadDiagrams)
• indicate an eye
• highlight the last move (mainly used in applications, less in diagrams)

Open square (, )

• cGoban2 uses a square to denote a ko

Cross

• counting: territory
• mark dead stones

Other symbols

Following symbols are mostly used by applications, but generally not stored in game records.

Filled square

• used by some applications to denote the status of an intersection (black, white, Dame, undetermined)

shading, dimmed points

• moyo

New symbols, concepts

Following symbols could become part of the existing set of widely recognised symbols. See discussion page for status.

• Arrow
• Line
  • ( http://www.red-bean.com/sgf/xml/html-doc/xgf-game-go.html#element_Line_Link02DE5DE0)
• Diamond
  • ( http://www.red-bean.com/sgf/xml/html-doc/xgf-game-go.html#element_Mark_Link02DE5CF8)
• blinking or pulsing
  • Igowalker has the ability to pulse stones to emphasize them. This allows the stone to be identified even if it already has a number on it.
• semi-transparent stones to denote sibling moves (e.g. GlGo)

• '!'
  • Good move
• '?'
  • Bad move

Sporadicly used annotations (but available in sgf)

• '!!'
  • Very good move
• '!?'
  • Interesting move
• '?!'
  • Doubtful move
• '??'
  • Very bad (losing) move

• '= ='
  • Very even position (Joseki)
• '='
  • Even position

• '~'
  • Unclear position
• '~ ~'
  • Very unclear position

See also

• Discussion of FF[5], the next version of SGF
• HowToReadDiagrams
• Game Score Notation