Ikeda's Rule
Disambiguation:
This page is about Ikeda's Rule of Scoring in his proposed Area Rules III
- For 'Ikeda's Proposed Rules of Go', please visit
here
- For a english translation of Ikeda Toshio's 'On the Rules of Go', please visit
here
- For a detailed commentary on Ikeda Territory Rules I by Robert Jasiek, please visit
here
Examples on Ikeda Territory Rules I by Robert Jasiek:
Ikeda's Rule is a term sometimes encountered when discussing Territory vs. Area Scoring.
To be precise it should be called "Ikeda's Rules" as the term can be traced back to Ikeda Toshio's On the Rules of Go wherein he proposes six whole rulesets for Go and not a singular rule.
If one speaks of Ikeda's Rule or Ikeda Rules one can never be sure which Ruleset or Rule is spoken of. In these cases it is strongly recommended to mention the corresponding ruleset more precisely.
Nevertheless on this page "Ikeda's Rule" specifically denotes Rule 7 of Ikeda's Area Scoring III in his Proposed Rules of Go:
- Rule of scoring: A player's score is the number of that player's played stones plus the number of grid points in that player's territory. If the first pass was made by White, however, then 1/2 point is subtracted from Black's score and added to White's score. The winner is determined by comparing the players' scores.
The following points may help with application of the rule:
- Ikeda's points are moku instead of zi (as some people might expect who do not discern between chinese half-counting and area scoring.)
- the Rule refers to the first pass made and not the first pass in the two passes that will initiate the agreement phase. The importance of this distinction becomes obvious when one studies the problem of Pass Fights.
- normal territory komi should be used as the rule will compensate white for the one moku more-value of black's first play if White passed first. (This almost always means that Black got the last competetive(valuable) play and thus one more move than White.)
- this rule solves the 'free mending in case of even dame' phenomenon and thus presents opportunity for more interesting play.
See also: