How to play Go
Go is the oldest board game in the world and one of the simplest to explain. Two players take turns placing black and white stones on a grid. The stones you surround are captured; at the end, the side with more territory wins.
The goal: surround more of the board than your opponent. Territory is the empty space your living stones fence off — plus the stones themselves, under Chinese scoring.
The board
- Play on the intersections of a grid, never inside a square.
- Three sizes: 9×9 (quick), 13×13 (medium), 19×19 (the full classical board).
- Columns are lettered A–T (skipping the letter I, so it never reads as J); rows are numbered 1–19 from the bottom.
- Black moves first, then the players alternate, one stone per turn.
- Once placed, a stone never moves. The board only ever fills up.
Liberties and capture
The empty points directly next to a stone or a connected group of stones are its liberties. When a group has no liberties left, it is captured and removed from the board.
One stone, four liberties
A lone stone in open space has four liberties — one on each side.
Captured at zero
Once the last liberty is filled, the stone (or group) is lifted off the board.
Ending the game
- When neither side can gain anything more, both players pass. Two consecutive passes end the game.
- Then you confirm which of your opponent's groups are actually dead — mark them and they are removed.
- Count territory: your living stones + the empty space you surround.
- White receives 7.5 komi as compensation for moving second. Because the komi is a half point, the game can never end in a draw.