How to play Go

Go is a two-player board game about surrounding and controlling space. Every stone has the same role. Once placed, a stone stays put until captured; its strength comes from its location, connections and liberties.

Place stones on the intersections of the lines, not inside the squares. A standard board has 19 × 19 lines and 361 intersections. Smaller 9 × 9 and 13 × 13 boards follow the same playing rules. Star points (hoshi) are reference marks; in some handicap systems they indicate starting locations.

The table shows common star-point layouts. Markings can vary by board manufacturer; they do not change legal moves or scoring.

A traditional full set usually contains 181 black and 180 white stones. Both sides start with no stones on the board in an even game. ChessPlayX defaults to 19 × 19 and also offers 9 × 9 and 13 × 13.

Win by controlling more area than your opponent after komi. Capturing stones is a way to secure space or weaken the opponent; having the most prisoners does not by itself win the game.

1. Choose the board and conditions

   Use 9 × 9, 13 × 13 or 19 × 19. Check the scoring rules, komi and time control before starting.

2. Begin with an empty board

   An even game starts with no stones placed. Handicap games use a different setup, explained below.

3. Black plays first

   Black places one stone on a legal empty intersection. White then plays, and the sides alternate.

4. Place one stone or pass

   On your turn, make one legal placement or pass. Stones already on the board do not move. A captured point can be used again if the new move is legal.

5. Remove captured groups

   After a placement, remove every adjacent opposing chain with no liberties. Captures happen before checking whether the new stone’s own chain has liberties.

6. Agree on the score

   Two consecutive passes enter scoring. Mark dead groups, then both players accept the same proposal. If you disagree, resume play to settle the position.

ChessPlayX uses positional superko: a stone placement may not recreate any previous arrangement of black and white stones, regardless of whose turn it was. An exchange elsewhere is not an automatic exemption. Passing remains legal. Japanese rules use a different procedure for special cycles such as triple ko.

An eye is an internal empty space protected by a group. A connected group with two separate true eyes cannot be captured while it preserves them: filling either one alone would be suicide for the opponent. A group with fewer than two eyes is not automatically dead; it may make eyes, escape, connect or live in seki.

• False eyes

  A false eye looks enclosed, but its surrounding stones are not securely connected. The opponent may capture part of the wall or force you to fill the point yourself. Check the diagonal contacts and the liberties of each surrounding chain.

• Seki: living together

  In seki, opposing groups survive because neither can safely start filling their shared liberties. Two eyes are not required for every group. Under area scoring their living stones count; shared empty points bordered by both colours count for neither side.

• Dead stones at the end

  A dead group cannot avoid eventual capture against correct play. It is not dead merely because it currently lacks two eyes. During scoring, both players agree which groups to remove. Changing a dead-group mark clears both approvals; resume play if the status is disputed.

Pass when you see no useful move left. Two consecutive passes pause play and the room clocks, then open scoring. Review all groups and boundaries, mark dead stones and confirm the same score on both sides. The game finishes only after both accept. Either side can resume play if needed. In a timed room, resignation or running out of time can also decide the game.

• Area scoring · used on ChessPlayX

  Remove the agreed dead stones. Count each living stone plus each empty point in a region bordered only by that colour. White adds komi, normally 7.5 here. Prisoners are not added again. Empty regions touching both colours are neutral.

• Territory scoring · Japanese-style rules

  Count enclosed empty territory plus prisoners, including agreed dead stones removed at the end. Living stones on the board do not count directly. Japanese rules do not count territory in seki, and have specific life-and-death procedures. Komi is commonly 6.5; follow the rules agreed for that game.

Area and territory scoring often give the same winner, but the score difference is not always one point. Prisoners, passes, seki, handicap and the chosen komi can affect the comparison. Do not mix the two scoring methods during a game.

Play both colours on this 9 × 9 board. It removes captured stones and rejects suicide and positional superko using the same rules as a full game. After two passes, mark dead groups and accept the score for both colours, or resume play. Nothing here affects your rating or saved games.

All major rulesets share placement, connection and capture. They differ in scoring, komi, repetition, self-capture and end-of-game procedures. The first row describes the rules implemented on ChessPlayX; the other rows are an introduction to rules you may encounter elsewhere.

Komi values in the table are common conventions. Consult the event’s rules for exact repetition, handicap and scoring procedures. The variants below are for learning about Go; they are not additional selectable modes in this ChessPlayX Go game.

Other ways to play

• Atari Go

  The first player to capture a stone wins. This teaching game trains liberty counting, but uses a different winning condition and no final area count.

• 9 × 9 and 13 × 13

  The same basic rules on a smaller board. Games are shorter and easier to read. Both sizes are available alongside 19 × 19 on ChessPlayX.

• Rengo and Pair Go

  Teams share one colour and take turns in a fixed player order. Common formats prohibit partners from discussing moves. Check the format’s team and turn rules.

• Phantom Go

  Players cannot see the opponent’s stones. A referee or program handles placement and capture information. Hidden information changes how positions are read.

• Toroidal Go

  Opposite edges join, so there are no corners or edges. Each intersection has four neighbours; how many are liberties depends on which are empty. Connections and territory wrap around the board.

1. Corners, then sides, then centre

   Board edges help surround space with fewer stones. Corners are often efficient opening choices, followed by the sides. This is a guide, not a compulsory move order.

2. Understand the third and fourth lines

   The third line from the edge tends to secure territory; the fourth develops influence. Avoid spending too many early moves on the first and second lines without a reason.

3. Count liberties after each move

   Check both sides’ nearby chains. One liberty is atari; two may already be dangerous. Read possible captures and connections before deciding whether to escape.

4. Protect important connections

   A cut can divide a strong-looking group into weak chains. Connect when necessary, but compare that move with larger points elsewhere instead of connecting automatically.

5. Read the whole ladder

   A ladder chases a chain in a zigzag through repeated ataris. Stones farther along its path can break the ladder. Read to the end before starting the chase.

6. Value area over prisoner counts

   Prisoners do not directly add points under area scoring. Captures still matter when they protect your stones or create territory. Do not chase a small group while losing a larger area.

• ×

  Mistake: Treating diagonal stones as connected.

  ✓

  Instead: Only horizontal and vertical contact connects a chain. Watch the cutting points between diagonal stones.

• ×

  Mistake: Adding each stone’s liberties separately.

  ✓

  Instead: Count each distinct liberty once for the whole chain. The number can change through escapes, connections and captures.

• ×

  Mistake: Assuming one move elsewhere always permits ko recapture.

  ✓

  Instead: Immediate recapture is forbidden, and the eventual recapture must still obey positional superko. A ko threat need not be answered.

• ×

  Mistake: Calling every group without two eyes dead.

  ✓

  Instead: Check whether it can make eyes, escape, connect, capture or live in seki. Only give it up after reading the position.

• ×

  Mistake: Filling your own secure territory for no reason.

  ✓

  Instead: Under area scoring this usually exchanges one empty point for one stone; under territory scoring it normally costs a point. Defend weaknesses when needed.

• ×

  Mistake: Passing while boundaries are still unsettled.

  ✓

  Instead: Close useful boundaries, resolve weak groups and check neutral points before passing. Resume play if scoring reveals a disagreement.

Liberty

An empty intersection horizontally or vertically adjacent to a stone or connected chain.

Atari

A chain has exactly one liberty and can be threatened with capture there.

Ko

A local capture-and-recapture cycle. Immediate repetition is forbidden; superko also considers earlier board positions.

Eye

An internal space protected by a group. Two separate true eyes secure a connected group while they are preserved.

False eye

An apparent eye whose surrounding stones can be broken or forced to fill it.

Seki

Mutual life: opposing groups survive because neither can safely initiate capture through shared liberties.

Komi

Points added to White’s score to compensate for Black playing first in an even game.

Dame

Neutral empty points between opposing groups. Unoccupied dame belong to neither side.

Prisoner

An opposing stone removed by capture. Prisoners count in territory scoring, not as extra area points.

Hoshi · star point

A marked intersection used for orientation and, in fixed-handicap games, stone placement.

Sente

A move that invites an important reply, allowing the player to retain the initiative. The opponent can still choose to ignore it.

Gote

A move or sequence after which the opponent can take the initiative elsewhere.

Shicho · ladder

Repeated ataris that chase a chain along a zigzag path toward capture, unless the ladder is broken.

Geta · net

A loose surrounding move that prevents a chain from escaping even while it still has liberties.

Joseki

A studied local sequence, usually in a corner, considered balanced in an appropriate whole-board context.

Fuseki

The opening phase, when players develop positions across the corners, sides and centre.

Tenuki

Playing elsewhere instead of answering the opponent locally.

1. Two players alternate. Black starts on an empty board and places one stone on a legal empty intersection.
2. Placed stones do not move. They leave the board when captured or when agreed dead during scoring.
3. Stones of one colour connect horizontally and vertically, never just diagonally.
4. Distinct empty neighbouring points are liberties. A chain with no liberties is captured as a whole.
5. Remove captured enemy stones first; the newly played chain must then have a liberty. Suicide is forbidden.
6. A placement may not repeat any previous board position: positional superko.
7. You may pass. Two consecutive passes open scoring; agree on dead groups and confirm for both sides, or resume.
8. Area score = living stones + surrounded empty points. Add White’s komi, normally 7.5. The higher total wins.

1. 1Practise captures, ko and suicideReturn to the interactive board and try all four positions.›
2. 2Solve Go puzzlesOpen the puzzle catalogue filtered to Go.›
3. 3Play a complete 9 × 9 gameUse one device for both colours and practise the scoring procedure.›
4. 4Choose a Go gameExplore the available boards and play options.›
5. 5Watch live Go gamesSee how other players open, defend and finish their games.›