 The
Board
Go is usually played on a 19x19 grid, or board. Diagram
1 shows an empty board.
Notice the nine marked points. These points are usually
referred to as the star points. They serve as reference
points as well as markers on which the handicap stones
are placed in handicap games.
 |
The Stones
The pieces used are black and white lens-shaped
disks, called stones.
Black starts out with 181 stones and White with
180. The total of 361 stones corresponds to the
number of intersections on the standard 19x19
go board.
The stones are usually kept in wooden bowls next
to the board.
How Go Is Played
At the beginning of the game, the board is empty.
One player takes the black stones, the other
player the white ones.
The player with the black stones, referred to
as `Black', makes the first move. The player with
the white stones, referred to as `White', makes
the second move. Thereafter, they alternate making
their moves. |
A move is made by placing a stone on an interesection.
A player can play on any unoccupied intersection he
wants to.
A stone does not move after being played, unless it
is captured and taken off the board.
 |
Diagram 2 shows
the beginning of a game.
Black plays the first move in the upper right
corner. White plays 2 in the lower right corner.
Black plays 3 and White plays 4.
This is a typical opening where each player has
staked out a position in the two of the four corners.
Next Black approaches White 2 with 5 and White
pincers 5 with 6.
Black escapes into the center with 7 and White
stakes out a position in the bottom right with
8. Next Black pincers the white stone at 6 with
9. |
The Object of Go Is to Control Territory
The object of go is to control more territory
than your opponent. At the end of the game, the player
who controls the more territory wins the game.
We are going to show you how territory is formed in
a game on a 9x9 board. Although go is usually played
on a 19x19 board, it can also be played on a 9x9 board,
or any size board from 5x5 up. Explaining the rules
on a 9x9 board is convenient because the game is over
quickly and the beginner can immediately grasp the flow
of the game and how the score is counted. We also recommend
that you play your first games on a 9x9 board and, when
you have mastered the rules, start playing on the 19x19
board.
An
Example Game
Figure 1, Black makes his first move on the
4-4 point, after which White makes his move.
 |
Thereafter, both sides
continue to alternate in making their moves. With
White 6, the territories of both sides are beginning
to take shape.
Black has stake out the right side and White
has laid claim to the left side. Once you have
mapped out your territory, there are two basic
strategies to choose from.
One is to expand your own territory while reducing
your opponent's territory. The other is to invade
the territory your opponent has mapped out. |
 |
Black 7 in Figure 2
follows the first strategy: Black expands his territory
on the lower right while preventing White from expanding
his own with a move at White `a'.
White must defend at 8 to block an incursion by
Black into his territory on the left.
Next, Black reinforces his territory on the
right with 9. |
 |
It is now White's turn
to expand his territory. He does this by first expanding
his center with 10 and 12 in Figure 3, then expanding
his upper left territory with 14.
Black must defend his top right territory with
15.
The points around `a' at the top and bottom must
now be decided. |
 |
The moves from White
16 to Black 19 in Figure 4 are a common sequence.
The same kind of sequence is next played at the
bottom from White 20 to Black 23.
By playing these moves, White is able to expand
his territory while reducing Black's. |
 |
White 24 to White 26
in Figure 5 are the last moves of the game.
It is now possible to determine the winner.
In this case, counting the score is easy. |
 |
Black's territory here
consists of all the vacant points he controls on
the right side, while White's territory consists
of all the vacant point he controls on the left.
More precisely, Black's territory is all the
points marked `b' in Figure 6 and White's terriory
is all the points marked `w'.
If you count these points, you will find that
Black has 28 points, while White has 27. Therefore,
Black wins by one point. |
This was a very simple game and some of the rules did
not arise. However, playing over this game will show
you what Go is about.
The
Rule of Capture
An important rule of Go concerns the capturing of stones.
We will first show you how stones are captured, then
show how this occurs in a game.
Liberties
The lone white stone in Diagram 3 has four liberties.
Namely, the four points `a' in Diagram 4. If Black can
occupy all four of these points, he captures the white
stone.
Suppose, for example, that Black occupies three of these
liberties in Diagram 5. The white stone would be in
atari and Black would be able to capture it on his next
move, that is with 1 in Diagram 6.
Black would then remove the white stone from the board
and put it in his prisoner pile. The result of this
capture is shown in Diagram 7.
At the edge of the board a stone has only three liberties.
The white stone in Diagram 8 is on the edge of the board;
that is on the first line.
Its three liberties are at `a' in Diagram 9.
If Black occupies two of these liberties, as in Diagram
10, the white stone would be in atari.
Black captures this stone with 1 in Diagram 11.
The result of this capture is shown in Diagram 12.
A stone in the corner has only two liberties. The
white stone in Diagram 13 is on the 1-1 point.
Its two liberties are at `a' in Diagram 14.
If Black occupies one of these points, as in Diagram
15, the white stone would be in atari.
Black captures this stone with 1 in Diagram 16.
The result is shown in Diagram 17.
It is also possible to capture two or more stones
if you occupy all their liberties. In Diagram 18, there
are three positions in which two white stones are in
atari.
Black captures these stones with 1 in Diagram 19.
The results are shown in Diagram 20.
 |
Any number of stones
making up any kind of shape can be captured if all
their liberties are occupied.
In Diagram 21, there are four different positions.
Black 1 captures twelve stones in the upper
left, four stones in the lower left, three stones
in the upper right and three stones in the lower
right.
When you capture stones in a game, you put them
in your prisoner pile.
Then, at the end of the game, these captured
stones are placed inside your opponent's territory.
Let's look at a game to see how this actually
works. |
 |
After Black plays 3
in Figure 7, White makes an invasion inside Black's
sphere of influence with 4. White 10 ataris the
black stone at 7.
This stones has only one liberty remaining at
the point `a'.
If Black doesn't play his next move at `a', White
will play on this point and capture the black
stone at 7. |
 |
Therefore, black connects
at 11 in Figure 8, but White ataris again at 12.
The marked stone cannot be rescued, so Black
has to sacrifice it. |
 |
He plays his own atari
with 13 in Figure 9. White then captures with 14
and Black ataris two white stones with 15.
That is, he threatens to capture them by playing
at `a'. |
 |
With 16 in Figure 10,
White maps out the territory on the left side, and
Black expands his territory on the right side with
17 to 21.
The moves from White 22 to Black 24 are the same
kind of endgame sequence we saw in Figure 4 of
the first game. |
 |
White 26 forces Black
to capture two white stones with 27 .
in Figure 11.
Next, the moves at White 28 and 30 each reduce Black's
territory by one point.
Black 31 ataris the two white stones at 26 and 30,
so White must connect at 32 to save them.
Finally, Black 33 reduces White's territory on the
left by one point. The game ends when White blocks
at 34. |
 |
Figure 12 show what
the board looks like at the end of this game.
White has one black stone in his prisoner pile,
while Black has two white stones in his. |
 |
In Figure 13, each
side places his prisoners in his opponent's territory.
White places his one black prisoner (the marked
black stone) inside Black's territory and Black
places his two white prisoners (the two marked
white stones) inside White's territory. |
 |
It is customary to
rearrange the stones a bit to make the counting
of territory simple and rapid.
In Figure 14, the three marked black stones
and the two marked white stones were moved.
Calculation of the size of the territories can
now be made at a glance.
Black has 23 points; White has 24 points. White
wins by one point. |
Questions
and Answers
After White 12 in Figure 8, why didn't Black
try to escape with his marked stone?
 |
Black could try to
escape by playing 1 in Diagram 22, but White would
pursue him and the black stones would still be in
atari.
If Black persists with 3,he can atari the marked
white stone, but White captures three stones by
taking Black's last liberty with 4. |
After Black 15 in Figure 9, it might seem as
if the two White stones in atari could escape by extending
to `a'. Why doesn't White try this?
 |
The reason he doesn't
try to escape is because he can't, unless Black
blunders.
If White extends to 1 in Diagram 23, he increases
his liberties to three but Black pursues him with
2 and, after 4, White is at the end of his rope:
he has no way to increase his liberties. If White
plays 5, Black ataris with 6 and captures with
8. |
 |
However, Black must
not play 2 from the outside as in Diagram 24.
White would then turn at 3 and now the two marked
black stones have only two liberties, while the
white group on the right has three liberties. White
captures the two marked stones with 5 and 7. |
Is Black 25 in Figure10 necessary?
 |
It certainly is. If
Black omitted this move, White would atari the marked
black stone with 1 in Diagram 25.
If Black tries to run away with 2 and 4, White
pursues him with 3 and 5, forcing the black stones
into the corner where they run out of liberties.
White would then capture four black stones with
7. |
These are most of the rules of go. There is one other
rule: the ko rule,which prevents repetitive capture.
|
