How to play go japanese board game

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. 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 Black must defend his top right territory with 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 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. If you count these points, you will find that Black has 28 points, while White has 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. 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.

Players start the game by staking their claims on parts of the board they want to occupy. At the end of the game, the players count the vacant intersections on their territory and add it to the number of stones captured. The player with the larger total becomes the winner. The first reason players learn how to play the game is that it makes a great sport or hobby. The game brings out the different personalities of players while helping them balance defence and attack strategies.

Players also recognise their strength and weaknesses, and their ability to respond to changing situations promptly. The objective of the game is for players to use the stones to form territories by occupying the vacant areas on the board. Connecting stones into large groups help players occupy territory fast. Connecting stones make it easier to share liberties. The rules are very simple, and you can learn them in a few minutes - but they lead to a countless number of intriguing patterns and clever maneuvers.

The following pages describe how the game is played and scored. Learning to play is easy, but learning to play well requires much study and practice. One point negated from your opponent's score and one point for the new empty space surrounded upon removal. Capturing is what makes this game a battle of wits. While gaining territory is the main goal, one must think defensively at all times. Know your terms. As this is an ancient Chinese game adopted by the Japanese, there are many words to know.

Liberty - an adjacent intersection Atari - a state in which a piece can be captured in the next move For example, "Your white stone over there is in Atari! Suicide - placing a stone where it can be captured Ko - a situation in which a stone about to make a capture can be immediately recaptured, which would repeat the situation endlessly. Capturing cannot immediately take place after a ko.

Sente - playing first, taking the advantage in a given position. Gote - playing second, responding to your opponent's move, giving up an advantage in a position. Method 3. Find an opponent.

Someone who is well-versed in the game will be a better teacher and example. You can look for a game either face-to-face or on an online go-server. You will likely find a list of Go clubs on their websites. For online games, some Go servers are listed below. Start the game by choosing a color. In a handicap game, the stronger player takes white, and black places handicap stones on the star points before white answers.

For an even game, the colors are determined randomly. Since black has an advantage by playing first, white is compensated by taking komi , an amount of additional points added to white's score at the end of the game. The amount of komi varies, but most tournaments use values between 5 and 8 points. Sometimes a fractional value like 6. Western go players most typically play by Japanese rules, where komi is set at 6.

Place the first stone. This should be done by the player with black stones. It traditionally goes in the upper right hand quadrant. This initial move stakes out which side each player lays claim to. Handicap stones are considered the first move in a handicap game. Take turns alternating playing stones. Remember, the pieces are placed on the intersections of the grid, not the empty spaces on the board.

Either player may pass if they see no benefit to making a move. Passing signals a desire to end the game and count the score. If both players pass, the game is over. Decide on your strategy. There are generally two options: claiming the most territory or invading your opponent's territory by capturing their pieces turning them into "prisoners".

If a player places a stone that removes the last liberty from a connected group of the opponent's stones, then that group is dead and is removed from the board captured. The exception to the above rule is that you cannot capture a single stone that just captured one of your stones without playing elsewhere first.

This is called the rule of ko "ko" means "eternity" in Japanese ; it is needed to prevent games from never ending. End the game when both players pass. Black and white must both decide there is no advantage to laying another stone.

The player who has captured the most stones and territory wins. Captured pieces should be placed on the board in the opponent's territory, decreasing their score. Score the game. You can use either area counting or territory counting.