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Komi
    Keywords: Go term

In a game of Go, black has the advantage because he may start. To compensate for this, in even games white gets a number of points extra. These points are komi. In Japan and the west, a komi of 5 1/2 points is most common, but sometimes other values are used. When playing according to the Ing rules for example, the komi is 8 points.

Komi can also be used in handicap games, if one does not want to give handicaps higher than 9 stones, but still wants to compensate for higher differences. Or, especially on smaller boards like 9x9, to 'fine tune' the handicap better. Also in handicap games a komi of 1/2 point for white is defined, thus avoiding the possibility of jigo.



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