Paper and Pencil Go

  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: Variant

In terms of gameplay richness and scope for creativity, Go is probably the best game in the world. Also, if we made a list of games with the simplest rules, Go would also be placed very high, but certainly not at the top. In my opinion, the main reason for this is that Go rules are forced to define an adequate way of handling repetitions of positions, which is a complicated task as shown by the very different ways it is treated by different rulesets. Another problem, closely related to this one, is that Go games, unlike Hex, Havannah, Amazons and others, are not theoretically assured to end in a reasonable number of moves, whether superko is enforced or not.

I have thought of a very simple Go variant which solves this difficulties and can be played just with paper and pencil. By simplifying tactics, this variant feels more intuitive than regular Go. On the other hand, making life is a bit too easy.

The rules are exactly those of Go, with the following exceptions:

  • Immediately after each play, every group (Black or White) which hasn't got any liberties is marked. If a marked group is touched by just one player's unmarked groups, it is considered a liberty for those groups, and it counts as territory for that player. Otherwise, it is a neutral area, and doesn't constitute a liberty.
  • All marked stones are considered equal, regardless of color, and the points they occupy are not elligible to play. This implies that any group which touches a marked group is unconditionally alive, unless an opponent group also touches the same marked group.
  • Suicide is allowed, i.e., you can make a play such that one or more of your own stones become marked.

Just for the sake of clarity:

[Diagram]

White is dead

As in Go, White is dead in the corner, because after W2, both Black's B1 and the five-stone White group run out of liberties, an thus are marked at the same time. The resulting group of six marked stones counts as territory and permanent liberty for the surrounding Black group, which is now unconditionally alive.

[Diagram]

Not a ko

After W2, both B1 and W2 are marked. The resulting group of two marked stones doesn't count as territory and liberty for any player, because there are stones of both colors adjacent to it. Thus, neither White nor Black are unconditionally alive after this sequence.
That's all. Have fun!

Reply

noobish?: I think the part about "the essence of Go gameplay mostly unaltered" is pretty dubious. Much like first capture Go, groups are now alive with singe eyes that are at least two spaces large. Strategy would have to change in a fundamental way when you can live so much more easily. Also, nullifying the ko rule imposes some radical changes of it's own. This may well be an interesting variant, but I predict that it will necessarily lack much of the complexity and nuance of actual Go.

luigi87: To make it harder to live (and to simplify things even further), I have been thinking of adding a simultaneous capture rule: after a play, ALL the stones which haven't got any liberties at that moment are marked. If these marked stones are touched by just one player's unmarked stones, they count as territory for him; otherwise, they are neutral points. Thus, in the example above, White would be dead, since W2 would kill both Black's B1 and the White group. I would like to read your opinions on this rule change before posting it above.

EDIT: Finally, I've made those changes. The balance between life and death is somewhat better now. And I've removed the part about "the essence of Go gameplay mostly unaltered".

noobish?: I suggest you play a few rounds of the variant to see for yourself, but my prediction is still that you'll have a game that is fundamentally different. With your adaptation, groups with any sort of eye are guaranteed at least life in seki. I believe this also implies that two groups involved in a ko immediately settle with both unconditionally alive (in seki) after the first capture.

I know that having to erase captured stones makes playing on paper rather difficult, but two very important principles in Go (ko and killing shapes) depend on the ability to replay on these intersections.

luigi87: With a simultaneous capture as stated above, neither group involved in a ko is alive by means of it. As I said, "If these marked stones are touched by just one player's unmarked stones, they count as territory for him; otherwise, they are neutral points". Of course, for this to work, all marked stones are considered equal, regardless of color.

chro?: Looks similar to "dots" game (tochki,kropki) [ext] http://www.nongnu.org/kropki/index.html.en This game I played 20 years ago at school, and here, in Russia, it's more more popular than Go.

Interesting comparison! The rules are explained at [ext] Wikipedia, but I'm not sure what actually counts for one's territory - if you know it, can you please answer my question on the [ext] talk page? Thank you!

coiffe?: The effect on tactics are similar to atari go in that it doesn't prepare you for snapback in Go proper. Atari Go is also very pencil and paper-friendly.

MrMormon: Superko is not complicated. The difficulty of choosing a ruleset has nothing to do with how complicated any one ruleset is. My view of Go's complexities is that those, like scoring and ko, don't really count since they arise out of necessity (ko) or practicality (replacing stone scoring), as opposed to something arbitrary.

TM?: It sounds like the rules make it too easy to make living groups. What if marked stones (i.e., dead stones) are treated as the edge of the board? That is, they would no longer count as liberties, and adjacent groups would not be unconditionally alive. In fact, capturing a group would result in fewer liberties, not more, for the player who makes the capture. Thoughts?

(Sebastian:) I agree with noobish's statements. The rules are certainly not "extremely simple"; to the contrary, they are even more complicated than those of go, with the additional field states "black marked", and "white marked" and a set of rules for how to deal with them. If you want simplicity, follow TM's suggestion and just treat all stones that can't live like holes in the board. (A possible name for this might be "scissor go".)


MrMormon: Another topic this page could try to address is figuring out how to play the normal game on paper. Obviously, one could erase. Or, darkening a circle could mean that that stone was removed, and drawing another (light) circle around that would signify a new stone placed there.

willemien: that will just create a mess what if at some point

  1. a black stone is played
  2. the stone is captured (some kind of ko)
  3. black replays
  4. the stone is captured (some kind of ko)
  5. white fill the ko
  6. white is captured
  7. black plays at the same point

( by now you should be through the paper) :) Maybe better to draw a grid on paper and use coins, sweeties, or something else as stones

MrMormon: Unless the pencil is dull or the pen is thick, I think there'd be room for more than four circles (colored on the inside correctly). Yes, there is a limit, but it might be seven or something if circles are first made small.

willemien: but there is also the problem that a stone can be black or white, making a white one black is not such a problem but the opposite ?

MrMormon: The stone color would be defined as the color between the outer ring and the next one in, so a new region would be colored (or not) each time a stone is played in a particular position. With a little practice I think one could easily tell stone colors by outer rings.


This is a copy of the living page "Paper and Pencil Go" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2012 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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