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Overview

Experience Go, the ancient board game of strategy and skill. Compete with friends in this deep and thoughtful game that has stood the test of time.

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Board

Go is a 2-player game usually played on a board of 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines, as shown below.

One player uses a set of black stones; the other player uses a set of white stones.

Object of Game

The object of the game is to get the most points, which are earned by surrounding territory (empty intersections) and opposing pieces.

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Counting & Winning

Players alternately play stones on any "neutral" points--intersections adjacent to both players' stones, also known as "dame" (pronounced DAH-MAY). Next, "dead" stones--ones that are not fully surrounded, but that would inevitably be captured if play continued--are removed from the board and added to the piles of prisoners. Finally, players add up their scores. A player earns one point for each vacant intersection surrounded by his or her stones--known as the player's "territory"--and one point for each prisoner he or she has captured. Whoever has more points wins.

In the position on the board below, the four points marked X are dame--worthless to either side.

After removing the dead White stone inside Black's upper right territory, Black has 7 points in the upper right, 2 points in the lower left, and 1 for the removed prisoner, for a total of 10. White has 5 points in the upper left, 2 in the lower right, and 2 for the captured Black stones, a total of 9. Black wins by 1 point (unless he or she is required to give White compensation, or komi, to offset the advantage of going first, as explained below).

If a player had to surround them completely, he or she would lose one point for each intersection that was filled in while surrounding them. In the previous example, Black would need to play two stones inside Black territory to remove the dead White stone in the upper right, changing the outcome of the game. Therefore, the rules allow players to simply remove dead stones after both players have passed and neutral points have been filled in.

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Placing Stones

Beginning with Black, each player in turn places a stone on an empty intersection, or "point." Once placed, a stone is never moved, although it is removed if the opponent captures it.

If any stones become completely surrounded by opposing pieces, they are captured and removed, as shown in the example of the White stone below.

A stone or group is completely surrounded when it is not adjacent--in any horizontal or vertical direction--to any empty intersections.

Liberty

An empty intersection adjacent to a stone or group is called a "liberty" of that group.

In the above example, White's stone has only one liberty--the point marked X. If Black plays there, White's stone is captured.

In the below example, a solidly connected group of four White stones has only one liberty (X). A Black play there captures the group.

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Captured stones, or "prisoners," are kept aside and counted at the end of the game.

A stone may not be placed on a point where it will be completely surrounded, unless it also causes an opponent's stone or group to be surrounded. If a move causes both players' stones or groups to become surrounded simultaneously, the stone or group belonging to the player who made the move survives and the other stone or group is captured.

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In the above position, both White and Black can make a capture by playing at the point marked X. If White makes the capture, the position will be as shown in the second diagram. If Black makes the capture, the position will look like the third diagram. (In this third diagram, a White play on the corner point will capture all five black stones, showing that Black's capture was a waste of time.)

More than one group may be captured as the result of a single play. In the example below, a White play at X will capture all three Black stones.

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Seki

Occasionally, adjacent opposing groups will become surrounded while neither group has two eyes. If one group has enough extra liberties, it may be able to capture the other. Otherwise, a seki, or dual life, is a likely result of the battle.

In the below picture, the White group in the lower left has two eyes, and so is safe. The two Black groups in the corners at the top have just one eye each (the corner points), but are safe because White cannot play on either point marked X without allowing Black to capture the White stones. Meanwhile, the five White stones on the right and the large Black group at the bottom are both eyeless, but both groups are safe because neither player can occupy either of the points marked Y without allowing the opponent to play on the other point Y and capture them. Since neither player can approach the other anywhere, the various groups with fewer than two eyes are alive in seki.

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Ko

In the below picture, Black can capture one White stone by playing at X. The resulting position is shown. If White plays at Y, the former arrangement is restored. However, White may not make such a move without playing somewhere else first, thus giving Black a chance to play at Y and retain the captured point.

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Suicide Moves

A stone may not be placed in such a way that it (or the group it's part of) has no liberties. (Chinese rules allow such "suicide" moves; the stone that was just played (or the group it's part of) is captured right away; occasionally, such a move can be useful as a ko threat.

This is illustrated by the below position, in which a White move at X would cause two White stones to be removed, but White would now threaten to play at X again, making Black's eye to the left of X a false eye.

Compensation

Black has an advantage in go because of making the first move. To offset this advantage in even games, White is given compensation, or "komi," most often in the amount of 5.5 points but sometimes as much as 7.5 points. This compensation is added to White's score at the end of the game. Since White's score will not be a whole number, ties are impossible. Territory and prisoners are counted automatically, but it's up to the players to add any compensation and determine the winner. For even games, it is recommended that komi be fixed at 5.5 points regardless of whether the board size is 19x19, 13x13, or 9x9.

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