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1. What is GO?
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Go is a game of territory.
As in a war, territory is gained and lost by invasion and 'fighting'. A game of Go comprises many small 'battles' - you may lose a battle but win the war. By comparison, a game of chess is more like a single battle - loss of your King means the loss of the battle and game.
The winner in Go is the player with the most territory plus prisoners at the end.
The game ends when no more territory or prisoners can be claimed by either player.
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2. What is territory in Go?
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Before we go into details of how the game is played, let us look at what is meant by territory.
We'll use 'stones' (normally matt black and shiny white elliptical glass pieces), as in the game, but
here we'll use a small board. Notice that we place these stones on the line intersections (called 'points'), and not the
squares. You'll see why in a moment.
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Diagram 1. Black surrounds 8 points of territory, white surrounds 4. |
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In terms of territory, black 'surrounds' the 8 empty points in columns 1 and 2.
Likewise, white surrounds 4 empty points in column 6.
The middleground in column 4 is not surrounded by either player. It is 'neutral' territory.
'Surround' here means that the group of empty points in an unoccupied territory face only one colour of stone.
Look from every empty point in columns 1 and 2, along any line, and you will meet only a black stone, or the edge of the board
(which acts as a natural boundary). If even 1 empty point could 'see' a white stone, then this would become neutral territory.
Black is winning at the moment, because he has 8 points of territory - white only has 4 points.
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3. Invading territory
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Supposing white were to place a stone inside black's territory:
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Diagram 2. White invades the black territory |
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In this one move, the group of points in columns 1 and 2 would now be neutral territory. This is because some
of the empty points in what was black territory now face the white stone. All this change with just one stone.
Black now surrounds no territory, so white is winning by 4 points, rather than losing by 4.
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4. Surrounding the invader
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To prevent such an easy loss of territory, 'Go' allows the capture of enemy stones. This is done by tightly surrounding
them - like suffocating them.
Let us do this with the invading white stone:
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Diagram 3. Black surrounds the invading white stone |
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Ah, you may say, but it has not been completely surrounded - the diagonal points at B1 and D1 are not filled. This is where the
lines come in.
Lines connect one empty point to another to form a territory. And lines connect one stone to another (of the same
colour) to form a group of stones. Diagonals do not connect because there are no diagonal lines.
Whichever way you look from the white stone along a line, there is immediately a black stone. It is completely surrounded. Suffocated.
So it is now 'captured', and removed from the board as a 'prisoner' for black:
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Diagram 4. The captured white prisoner is removed |
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This prisoner is counted in addition to the territory surrounded by a player. One point scored for each prisoner, and one for
each empty point in territory surrounded on the board.
Capturing prisoners is the only time that a stone moves (by taking it off the board). Stones otherwise stay where they
are placed on the board (unlike in chess, where pieces move). In Go, we start with an empty board, and gradually place more and
more stones onto the board as we try to mark out territory.
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5. Turning the tables
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You might now be able to see that the line of white stones in Diagram 4 now looks like an enemy invasion in original black
territory in columns 4, 5 and 6. If black is greedy, he may want to try to capture them as well.
Let us start to surround them:
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Diagram 5. Starting to surround the white group |
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Remember that to capture a stone, or a group of stones, then you must tightly surround them. So black plays either side of them.
In the diagram, black has only 2 places left to play before surrounding the group of 4 white stones.
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6. Taking turns to play
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So far, we have let black play stones without letting white do. This was done to illustrate concepts. In the game of Go, players
take turn to place a stone on the board.
Now it just so happens that the 3 black stones in column 6 are also nearly surrounded. They have only one vacant surrounding point left.
This is called a 'liberty' in Go. The white group has 2 liberties remaining.
So let us allow white to play, and surround these black stones:
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Diagram 6. White fights back and surrounds black |
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White now captures these stones:
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Diagram 7. White captures the 3 black stones |
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It is black's turn to play now. He may wish to continue to capture the white stones - there are 5 in the group now (each
connected to the others by lines without gaps).
So black plays in the corner:
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Diagram 8. Black starts to surround white again |
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Diagram 9. White simply captures that stone |
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7. Suicidal move
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If black tries to play in the corner again to try to surround white, then he is himself immediately surrounded:
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Diagram 10. Suicide - illegal move for black |
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White can simply take the stone off the board as a prisoner before playing his next move, and say thank you very much.
Because this is absolutely of no help to black, this move is not allowed in Go - it is called suicide, and is an illegal play.
Black plays on the outside instead:
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Diagram 11. Black plays on the outside instead |
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8. Passing is allowed
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At any time of the game, a player may choose not to place a stone. This is called 'passing'. It normally only happens towards the
end of a game.
White decides to do this now.
So now that it is black's move, how can he continue to capture the white group? It is 6 stones in size now. If black captured it,
there would be 6 points for the prisoners, and 7 points for the territory left when the stone are removed. So this is an important
capture to make.
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9. The white group lives with two suicide points
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Lets look at the board again:
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Diagram 12. Two suicide points around the white group |
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The white group has 2 liberties left - at B6 and D6. For black to surround the white group, both of these must be filled.
We saw earlier that the corner - D6 - was a suicide position. White would just simply take the stone off otherwise. But B6 is
the same - playing there would be suicide because the black stone would be surrounded before it surrounded the white group.
Since black cannot play two moves at once, the white group is completely safe from capture.
In Go terms, the two suicide points are called 'eyes'. This is an extremely important part of Go.
When you put stones on the board, you try to make sure that they cannot be captured. Making two eyes ensures this.
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10. How black could have captured the white group
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Let us return to an earlier position of the board. This time, black will play one place above the corner - exactly where
a white stone was later placed:
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Diagram 13. Black starts in a different place |
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The following sequence shows white trying to defend against being surrounded:
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Diagram 14. White defends against the attack |
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Diagram 15. Black continues to surround |
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Diagram 16. White captures the black stone |
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At this point, the white group has only 1 liberty left, even though it has just captured a black stone.
This remaining point still looks like a suicide point. It is not because playing there completes
the surrounding the white group. This too is important in Go - what may look like suicide is often the last liberty
of a group, and a good place to play!
Black plays this capturing move:
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Diagram 17. Black surrounds the white group |
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Let us take the captured white stones off the board and count points:
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Diagram 18. Black now dominates the board |
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11. Counting the score
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Black |
White |
| Captured stones |
8 |
4 |
| Territory points |
12 |
0 |
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| Total |
20 |
4 |
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Black is winning by 16 points.
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12. Ending the game
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Winning games of chess is generally simple - the King cannot escape capture, and is check-mated.
In Go, the Oriental nature of the game shows itself. Here, the game ends when both players agree
that there is no more territory to be claimed - or stones to be captured!
In this little game, white agrees that there are no places to play that can create a group that
will live. Or to capture any stones.
If white tries to capture the stone on the side, black can defend and protect it:
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Diagram 19. White tries to surround the lone black stone |
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Diagram 20. Black defends by attacking white |
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The white stone has only one liberty left - one move left for black to capture it.
Even if white plays below at D5, to make a 2 stone group, this will still only have
one liberty left. Black would capture at D6.
So both players agree that the game has ended.
In a real game, both players would agree that the white stone cannot be saved from capture. It is an important rule
at the end of a game of Go that such 'lost' stones do not have to be surrounded. They can simply be removed
as captured as part of the game end. This saves a player filling in territory around the enemy stones, losing
points in the process. But both players must agree on this.
If the enemy player believes that his invading stone can live, then the players must play on until he lives or is
captured.
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13. Making bigger territories
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Go is normally played on a bigger board than in our example. A full sized board would have
19 by 19 lines, medium board 13 by 13 lines, and a beginners board 9 by 9.
The diagram below shows a beginners board.
Each player has played 6 stones. But note how differently each player has played:
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Diagram 21. Early stage in a 9 by 9 board game |
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It is worth stepping back a bit to remind you that Go is a game of territory. The winner of the most territory
(including prisoners) wins the game.
Previous discussions have gone into great detail to show how a territory can be secured (with eyes).
This protection is the ultimate goal. The goals at the start of the game are to mark out as much
potential territory as possible. You can make your eyes later, when pressed by your opponent, as long as
you reserve enough space to do so.
Black has played up in the top corner of the board, making two eyes, and securing the life of his group. This has
secured black with only 2 points of territory!
White has played much more thinly, sketching out a much bigger territory, loosely surrounding a possible 32 points.
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14. Attacking the sketched out white territory
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Let us see how this thinly bounded territory can be attacked.
We will first place a black stone in one of the gaps in the wall:
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Diagram 22. Black tries to break into the white wall |
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Here, black is testing the strength of the white wall - to try to exploit the thin-ness of it. Now, the white stone at G2 is starting to look separated from the other white stones. If it gets completely separated, it may get surrounded and captured.
White responds by patching up the wall underneath this intruder:
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Diagram 23. White patches up the wall of stones |
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This defends the wall at the same time as attacking the intruder - white can capture the black stone by playing at F3 if black does not defend:
So black protects his intrusion:
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Diagram 24. Black protects the intruding stone |
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Now that black is relatively safe from attack, white will probably tidy up the wall to further strengthen it:
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Diagram 25. White tidies up the wall |
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Black and white both played 2 moves in this skirmish. White has now got a tighter grip on the territory, whilst black has 2 stones poking out of the territory. They do not as yet give black any more territory, or potential territory.
Whilst this sequence of play has only explored one method of attacking the white wall, it can be seen that sketching out a larger territory has greater potential gain than tightly marking out a small territory. The territory actually tightens up in the process of defence.
Normally, black would not have allowed white to build up such a strong wall - intrusion would happen earlier, before white was strong enough to defend solidly.
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15. Taking turns to mark out territory
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During the early stages of a game of Go, both players try to sketch up as much potential territory as possible, as well as disrupting their opponent's efforts to do likewise. Spreading stones too thinly leaves you open for later attack - too tightly may allow the opponent to sketch out more potential territory than you. This is one of the reasons that Go is a game of great balance.
The easiest territory to sketch out are the corners, since the edges provide 2 natural defences. Most games of Go see a play in the 4 corners before anywhere else.
Next easiest to defend are the sides - play generally moves there after the corners.
These corner and side moves set out the framework of the game.
Let us play typical examples of these opening moves in a sample game opening:
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Diagram 26. Black stakes out the top left corner |
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Diagram 27. White takes the top right corner |
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Diagram 28. Blacks takes the bottom right corner |
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Diagram 29. White takes the remaining corner |
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Diagram 30. Black stretches out along the left side |
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Diagram 31. White protects and strengthens the corner |
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Diagram 32. Black extends along another edge |
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Diagram 33. And so does white |
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Diagram 34. Black protects his corner |
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Diagram 35. And white takes another side |
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At this stage, on this small board, the opening has just about been completed. Black and white will now try to extend and strengthen their territories, and attack their opponent's.
The best moves to play do all of these things at the same time - the final white move, at E8 strengthens the top right corner, extends this potential territory down the right side, and threatens to move on into the black corner.
Notice how each move swings the balance of power towards the player making the move. Go games often see rises and falls in power across the board.
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16. Playing on a full sized board
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Go is traditionally played on a board of 19 by 19 lines. This size allows for a game of great richness and complexity, with many battles and skirmishes, and many swings in fortune.
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Diagram 36.
A full sized game |
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The same number of moves have been played on this full sized board below as in the 9 by 9 board above. Notice that there are often very long gaps between corner and side stones. The side is too long to sketch out with one, two or even three stones, so there is plenty of scope for a successful invasion.
Experienced Go players expect and allow for such invasions, rather than feel that they have lost territory. As long as you hang on to more territory than your opponent, you can afford to concede some territory when you defend against invasions.
This sense of give and take is difficult but worthwhile to acquire. It is key to the game, as it is in life itself. Some players try to capture all territory and all enemy stones, and often lose the game by this overreaching.
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