Rules of Go

    Keywords: Rules

Chinese: 规则 (gui1 ze2)
Japanese: -
Korean: -

The strategic consequences of the rules of Go are generally the same worldwide, even though there are very different rules texts.

If you simply want to start playing, please read Rules of go - introductory. More information is at Rules of Go - second tutorial.

At some time in a player's career more information on details may be needed or desired.

It seems that go is like many other games, in that instructions on how to play are rather different from complete sets of rules. Perhaps go can be compared to golf or bridge, for example: the idea of the game is simple, but there are so many circumstances to cover that a complete piece of legislation can seem complex. Go is certainly very rich in unexpected situations that cannot be appreciated easily except on the basis of experience.

This page is a listing of rules pages on SL in the technical sense. Please don't consult these pages if you are looking for tutorials. It is possible to become confused with too much legal talk.

If you are just beginning, and wish to have a minimum description of 'real' go, Rules of go - introductory and the Stone Counting Method should be enough to get you started.

If you are looking for practical information about the end of the game, which is often found to be a difficulty , see Counting and Scoring.

Table of contents

Rule texts

These pages contain information about rule sets, and external references to official sources and expert commentary.

Official Rulesets

Non-official Rulesets Sorted by Title

Non-official Rulesets Sorted by "Inventor Name"

Tournament Rules


Table

Here are two tables comparing various rule sets:

Note: these tables differ on the question of whether free placement of handicap stones is allowed in AGA rules and in Chinese rules. For discussion, see /handicap placement.


Game Play


Game End

There are also several methods to define the score (result).


Counting Methods

When played on a physical board, determining the score involves manually counting. There are different counting methods in use. Some rule sets prescribe which counting method must be used, others do not.


Links


[pl:http://wiki.go.art.pl/index.php/Regu%B3yGo]



[1] At 2008 Annual General Meeting of the British Go Association (BGA), the BGA ratified the decision to adopt the AGA Rules as the rules of the BGA.


This is a copy of the living page "Rules of Go" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2009 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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