GoThe most challenging

board game in the world

An introduction to this ancient and fascinating game

The British Go Association © 1999

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TOYOKUNI III (1786 – 1867) – ACTORS PLAYING GO

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A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE GO BAN WITH STONES MADE FROM CLAM SHELL AND SLATE

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The history of Go stretches backsome 3000 years and the rules haveremained essentially unchangedthroughout this very long period.The game probably originated inChina or the Himalayas andmythology has it that the future ofTibet was once decided over a Goboard when the Buddhist rulerrefused to go into battle; instead hechallenged the aggressor to a game of Go to avoid bloodshed.

In the Far East, where it originated,Go enjoys great popularity todayand interest in the game is growingsteadily in Europe and America. Like Chess, Go is a game of skill –it’s been described as being like fourChess games going on together onthe same board – but it differs fromChess in many ways. The rules ofGo are very simple and though, likeChess, it is a challenge to players’analytical skills, there is far morescope in Go for intuition.

Go is a territorial game. The board,marked with a grid of 19 lines by 19lines, may be thought of as a piece ofland to be shared between the twoplayers. One player has a supply ofblack pieces, called stones, the othera supply of white. The game startswith an empty board and the playerstake turns, placing one stone at eachturn on a vacant point. Black playsfirst and the stones are placed on theintersections of the lines rather thanin the squares. Once played, stones

are not moved although they may besurrounded and so captured, inwhich case they are removed fromthe board as prisoners.

The players normally start by stakingout their respective claims todifferent parts of the board whichthey intend eventually to surroundand thereby make into territory.However, fights between enemygroups provide much of theexcitement in a game and can resultin dramatic exchanges of territory. At the end of the game the playerscount one point for each vacantintersection inside their ownterritory and one point for everystone they have captured. The onewith the larger total is the winner.

Capturing stones is certainly oneway of gaining territory but one ofthe subtleties of Go is that aggressiondoesn’t always pay. The strategic andtactical possibilities of the game areendless, providing a challenge andenjoyment to players at every leveland the personalities of the playersemerge very clearly on the Go board.The game reflects the skills of theplayers in balancing attack anddefence, making stones workefficiently, remaining flexible inresponse to changing situations,timing, analysing accurately andrecognising the strengths andweaknesses of the opponent. In short, Go is a game it isimpossible to outgrow.

Introduction to the game of GoGo is unique among games

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What makes Go so specialAs an intellectual challenge Go isextraordinary. The rules are verysimple yet attempts to programcomputers to play Go have met withlittle success; even the best programsfail to avoid making simple mistakes.Apart from beating the computer,Go offers major attractions toanyone who enjoys games of skill:

❍ There is great scope for intuitionand experiment in a game of Go,especially in the opening. LikeChess, Go has its openingstrategies and tactics but playerscan become quite strong knowingno more than a few basic patterns.

❍ A great advantage of Go is thevery effective handicappingsystem. This enables players ofwidely differing strengths to playeach other on equal terms withoutdistorting the character of the game.

❍ The object in Go is to make moreterritory than the other player bysurrounding it more efficiently orby attacking the opponent’sstones to greater effect. On such alarge board, it’s possible to dosomewhat badly in one area butstill to win the game by doingbetter on the board as a whole.

❍ Every game of Go quickly takeson a character of its own – no twogames are alike. Since a playerneeds only to have more territorythan the opponent in order to win,there are very few drawn gamesthough the outcome may hang inthe balance until the very end.

A brief history of the gameGo is probably the oldest boardgame in the world. It is said that thefirst Emperor of China – himself amythological figure – invented thegame in order to improve the mindof his slow-witted son.

Although originating in centralAsia, historically it was in Japanthat the game really flourished.Introduced into Japan around 740AD, Go was initially confined tocourt circles but gradually spread tothe Buddhist and Shinto clergy andamong the Samurai. From thisauspicious beginning, Go took rootin Japanese society. The Japanesecall the game Igo which has beenshortened to Go in the West.

The Japanese government recognisedthe value of the game and in 1612the top Go playing families wereendowed with grants and constitutedas Go schools. Over the next 250years, the intense rivalry betweenthese schools brought about a greatimprovement in the standard of play.A ranking system was set up whichdivided professional players into 9grades or dans of which the highestwas Meijin, meaning ‘expert’. Thistitle could be held by only oneperson at a time and was awardedonly if one player outclassed all hiscontemporaries.

The most significant advances in Gotheory were made in the 1670's bythe Meijin Dosaku who was thefourth head of the Honinbo Schooland possibly the greatest Go playerin history. The House of Honinbowas by far the most successful of the

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four Go Schools, producing moreMeijins than the other three schoolsput together.

The whole structure of professionalGo in Japan was undermined in 1868when the Shogunate collapsed andthe Emperor was restored to power.The Go colleges lost their funding asthe westernisation of Japanesesociety took hold. Today, the mainorganisation of professional Goplayers in Japan is the Nihon Kiin,which increasingly fosters interest inthe game throughout the world.

Go in the Far East todayThe most important Go-playingcountries in the Far East are Japan,China and Korea all of whichmaintain communities of professionalplayers. Major tournaments in thesecountries attract sponsorship fromlarge companies and a following akinto big sporting events here. Untilrelatively recently, the strongestplayers from Korea and China tendedto go to Japan as professionals. Todaythey are more likely to remain in theirown countries where they becomenational heroes. There are perhaps 50million Go players in the Far East andmany people who don't play stillfollow the game with keen interest.

Japan On his retirement in1938, Honinbo Shusaiceded his title to the

Nihon Kiin for an annual tournamentbetween all leading players. Sincethen other major contests have been

introduced, the most important beingthe Meijin and Kisei tournaments.More recently, young people haveturned away from Go as they havefrom other traditional elements ofJapanese culture. In spite of thisthere are still about 10 million Go players in Japan, some 500 ofwhom are professional.

China In its original homeGo is known as Wei

Qi which means ‘surrounding game’.Go in China developed more slowlythan in Japan and during the CulturalRevolution the game suffered throughbeing regarded as an intellectualpursuit. As a result, it is only recentlythat Chinese players have matchedthe strength of the Japanese. Today,Wei Chi is being re-introduced inschools and tournaments are held

throughout the country. There is alsothe annual match between China andJapan which is followed with greatinterest. With the opening up ofChina, Chinese professionals arenow frequent visitors at EuropeanGo tournaments. Go is also playedprofessionally in Taiwan.

Korea Here Go is known asBaduk and is very

popular. Koreans have a reputationfor playing very fast. Fast or not theyare also producing some of the world’sstrongest players. Both China andKorea have a growing population ofvery strong young players, aphenomenon which bodes well forthe future development of the game.

Wei Qi – the Chinesecharacters for Go

Igo – the JapaneseKanji for Go

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Go in EuropeAlthough the game of Go had beendescribed by western travellers tothe Far East in the 17th century itwas not played in Europe until 1880when a German, Otto Korschelt,wrote a book about the game. After this some Go was played inGermany and Yugoslavia. Howeverthe game was slow to spread and itwas not until 1958 that the firstregular European Championship was held.

Nowadays, Go is played in mostEuropean countries. The standard ofplay is significantly below that ofprofessionals in the Far East but thegap is steadily closing as more of thetop European players are spendingtime studying the game in Japan.

In 1992, a European Go Centre wasopened in Amsterdam with supportfrom Iwamoto Kaoru.

Go in BritainGo has been played in Britain at leastsince the thirties but was not playedon an organised basis until 1964when the British Go Association – the BGA – was formed. Today, Goplayers can be numbered inthousands. There are over 50 Goclubs in Britain and the standard ofplay compares reasonably with therest of Europe. Matthew Macfadyen,Britain’s top player in recent years,won the European Championship in1980, 1984, 1987 and 1989.

A British Championship and aBritish Youth Championship are heldevery year and there are Gotournaments throughout the country.These often attract upwards of ahundred players, including manybeginners and young players. Anopen British Go Congress has beenheld at a different venue each yearsince 1968.

A ROUND AT A RECENT BRITISH GO CONGRESS HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

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What the BGA doesThe BGA is a voluntary organisationwhich promotes the game of Go inthe United Kingdom. Membership isopen to all on payment of an annualsubscription and the BGA aims tosupport players of all standards. Itsmost important activities benefit allBGA members:

❍ A bi-monthly newsletter is sentto all members.

❍ Each year members receive 4issues of the British Go Journal, a magazine of news, comment,instructional articles and gamecommentaries.

❍ The BGA makes available a wideselection of books and equipmentto members at moderate prices.These can be ordered by post orbought at most Go tournaments.

❍ In conjunction with internationalGo organisations, the BGAsupports the playing and teachingof Go.

❍ The BGA helps to attract moreplayers to the game throughvarious promotional activities.

Services mainly for beginnersThe BGA maintains lists of membersand of Go clubs. These are availableto members wishing to find newopponents. The BGA alsoencourages the formation of newclubs – including school Go clubs –by providing ‘starter sets’ andadvising organisers.

Two trust funds, the Castledine Trustand the Susan Barnes Trust exist topromote the playing of Go by youngpeople.

Helping players to improveThere is an extensive programme ofGo tournaments during the year,some of which are organised by theBGA which maintains a tournamentschedule. Other tournaments areorganised by Go clubs, supported bythe BGA in various ways. Mosttournaments are organised in such away as to allow players of allstrengths to take part by matchingthem against players ofapproximately the same strength.

The BGA runs a game analysis serviceprovided by some of the country’sstrongest players. Strong players arealso encouraged to visit clubs to giveteaching and simultaneous games,subsidised by the BGA. The BGAalso supports teaching visits byprofessional Go players.

Services for stronger playersThe BGA records the results of toplevel tournament games andorganises a grading system in whichstrong players achieve promotionthrough dan grades according totheir results in tournament play.

A three stage British Championshipis organised annually and the BGAalso liaises with the European GoFederation and the International GoFederation. A British YouthChampionship is also held annually.

The British Go Association

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A game of Go starts with an emptyboard and each player has an effectivelyunlimited supply of stones, one takingthe black stones, the other taking white.The basic object of the game is to useone’s stones to form territories bysurrounding vacant areas of the board. Itis also possible to capture the opponent’sstones by completely surrounding them.

The players take turns, placing one oftheir stones on a vacant point at eachturn, Black playing first. Note that the

stones are placed on the intersections ofthe lines rather than in the squares. Onceplayed, stones are not moved althoughthey may be captured, in which case theyare removed from the board and kept bythe capturing player as prisoners.

At the end of the game the players countone point for each vacant point insidetheir own territory and one point forevery stone they have captured. Theplayer with the larger total of territoryplus prisoners is the winner.

Diagram 1 shows the position at the endof a game on a 9 by 9 board, duringwhich Black captured one white stonewhich had been at a.

Black has surrounded 15 points ofterritory, 10 in the lower right cornerand 5 towards the top of the board.Black’s territory includes the point aformerly occupied by the stone he hascaptured. Adding his prisoner, Black hasa total of 16 points.

White’s territory is 17 points however soWhite wins the game by one point.

How to play Go

The rules and an example game

Although the normal s ize of aGo board is 19 by 19 lines, it ispossible to use smaller sizes.Beginners can learn the basics ona 9 by 9 board and a quick game canbe played on a 13 by 13 boardwithout losing the essential characterof the game. The following examplesall use a 9 by 9 board.

a

Diagram 1

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Diagram 2 shows three isolated whitestones with their liberties marked bycrosses. Stones which are on the edge ofthe board clearly have fewer libertiesthan those in the centre of the board. A single stone on the side is reduced tothree liberties and a stone in the cornerhas only two liberties.

Diagram 3 shows the same three stonesof Diagram 2 each with only one libertyleft and therefore subject to capture on

Black's next move. Each of these whitestones is said to be in atari, meaning theyare about to be captured.

Diagram 4 shows the position whichwould arise if Black went on to play at b in Diagram 3. Black has taken thecaptured stone from the board and in areal game would keep it as a prisoner.The same remarks obviously apply to theother two white stones should Black playat c or d in Diagram 4.

The points which are horizontally and vertically adjacent to a stone, or a groupof stones, are known as liberties. An isolated stone or group of stones iscaptured when all of its liberties are occupied by enemy stones.

Diagram 5

Capturing stones and counting liberties

Diagram 3

bxx

xx xx

x

x

x

Diagram 2 Diagram 4

cd

GroupsStones occupying adjacent points constitute a solidlyconnected group. Two examples of such solidlyconnected groups of stones are shown in Diagram 5.It is important to remember that only stones which arehorizontally or vertically adjacent are solidly connected;diagonals don't count as connections. Thus, for example,the two marked black stones in the top left of Diagram 5are not solidly connected.

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Capturing groups of stonesAs far as capturing is concerned, a solidly connected groupof stones is treated as a single unit. As with isolated stones,a group is captured when all of its liberties are occupied byenemy stones.

In Diagram 6 the groups of Diagram 5 have both beenreduced to just one liberty. Note that the Black group inthe top right is not yet captured because of the internalliberty at f. The two stones at the top left of Diagram 6can each be captured independently at g or h.

In Diagram 7 we see the position which would result ifBlack captured at e and White captured at f and g. Theremaining black stone could be captured at h. As with thecapture of a single stone, the points formerly occupied bythe Black group have become White territory and vice versa.

A player may not ‘commit suicide’, that isplay a stone into a position where it wouldhave no liberties or form part of a groupwhich would thereby have no libertiesunless, as a result, one or more of the stonessurrounding it is captured.

Diagram 6

e

fh

g

Diagram 7

h

Diagram 9

i

j

Diagram 8

i

j

Diagrams 8 and 9 illustrate the rulegoverning capture. In Diagram 8, Whitemay not play at i or j since either of theseplays would amount to suicide; thestones would then have no liberties.However, if the outside liberties have

been filled, as shown in Diagram 9, thenthe plays at i and j become legal; they fillthe last black liberty in each case andresult in the black stones being capturedand removed from the board as White’sprisoners.

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Life and death and the concept of eyesIn Diagram 9, White was able to play at i and j becausethese plays result in the capture of the adjacent blackstones. Since White’s plays carry the force of capture theydon’t count as suicide.

A different situation is shown in Diagram 10. The blackgroup here could only be captured if White were able toplay at both m and n. Since the first of these plays wouldbe suicide, there is no way that White can carry out thecapture. These two separate spaces within the group areknown as eyes.

In Diagram 11, the black group at the bottom is indanger of being captured. To ensure that his group hastwo eyes, Black needs to play at o. If White plays at o,the black group will no longer be able to make two eyesand cannot avoid eventual capture; White can always fillin the outside liberties and then play at p and q. Blackplays at p or q would only hasten the group's demise.

The black group at the top left of Diagram 11 is alreadyalive even though there is a white stone inside one of itseyes. Since White can never capture the black stones, thewhite stone caught inside the group can't be saved.

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In the course of a real game, players arenot obliged to complete the capture of anisolated dead group once it is clear toboth players that the group is dead. In this case, once White has played at o

in Diagram 11, the situation may be leftas it is until the end of the game. Then,the dead stones are simply removed fromthe board and counted together with thecapturing player's other prisoners.

Any group of stones which has two or more eyes ispermanently safe from capture and is referred to as a livegroup. Conversely, a group of stones which is unable tomake two eyes and is cut off and surrounded by liveenemy groups is called a dead group since it is unable toavoid eventual capture.

Diagram 10

nm

Diagram 11

op

q

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The ko ruleAt the top of Diagram 12, Black can capture a stoneby playing at r, resulting in the situation at the top ofDiagram 13. However, this stone is itself vulnerable tocapture by a White play at u in Diagram 13. If Whitewere allowed to recapture immediately at u, theposition would revert to that in Diagram 12 and therewould be nothing to prevent this capture and re-capturegoing on indefinitely. This pattern of stones is calledko – a term meaning eternity – and two other possibleshapes for a ko, on the edge of the board or in thecorner, are also shown in this diagram.

The ko rule removes this possibility of indefiniterepetition by forbidding the recapture of the ko, inthis case a play at u in Diagram 13, until White hasplayed at least one move elsewhere. Black may then fillthe ko but if he chooses not to do so, instead answeringWhite’s intervening move elsewhere, White is thenpermitted to retake the ko. Similar remarks apply to theother two positions in these diagrams; the correspondingmoves at w and v in Diagram 13 must also be delayedby one turn.

Seki - a kind of local stalemateUsually a group which can’t make two eyes will dieunless one of the surrounding enemy groups also lackstwo eyes. This often leads to a race to capture but canalso result in a stand-off situation, known as seki, inwhich neither group has two eyes but neither cancapture the other due to a shortage of liberties. Twoexamples of seki are shown in Diagram 14. Neitherplayer can afford to play at x, y or z since to do sowould enable the other to make a capture.

Note that even though the groups involved in a sekimay have an eye, as a general rule none of the pointsinside a seki count as territory for either player.

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The end of the gameThe game ends by agreement – whenneither player believes that he can makemore territory, capture more stones orreduce his opponent’s territory by

playing on. A player who considers thegame to be over may pass instead ofplaying a stone and two consecutivepasses end the game.

Diagram 12

t

r

s

Diagram 13

v

w

u

Diagram 14x

yz

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Diagram 15

The rules described in this booklet arethe Japanese rules and these are the rulesmost commonly used in the West. TheChinese use a different system of rules

which are essentially the same but whichnotably involve a different method ofcounting the score. The two sets of rulesusually lead to the same game result.

Japanese and Chinese rules of Go

As remarked in the introduction, one ofthe best features of the game of Go is itshandicap system. A weaker player maybe given an advantage of anything up tonine stones which are placed on theboard in lieu of his first move.

Through the grading system, any twoplayers can easily establish the differencein their strength and therefore how manystones the weaker player should take inorder to compensate for the difference instrength. Since a player's grade is measured

in terms of stones, the number of stonesfor the handicap is simply the differencein grade between the two players.

There is an established pattern for theplacement of handicap stones, representedby the dots which may be found markedon any Go board. This is shown inDiagram 15, seen from the Black player'spoint of view. For handicaps of two orthree stones, where the stones can't beplaced symmetrically, the convention isthat the far left corner is left vacant.

The handicap system

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Go is normally played on a 19 by 19board (note it’s 19 lines not 19 squares)but smaller boards are recommended forbeginners. Even boards as small as 5 by 5can provide an interesting game and 9 by9 or 13 by 13 boards are often used evenby strong players for a quick game.

The example game shown here is playedon a 9 by 9 board and illustrates most ofthe rules in action. It's a game playedbetween two professionals so don’texpect to grasp all that is going on at a

first reading. Try to see how the playersuse the threat of capture to develop theirpositions. Notice also how they try toconnect their own stones and separatethose of the opponent.

Most games of Go start fairly peacefullywith each player loosely mapping outterritory in different parts of the board.On a full size board play usually starts in the corners. In this example on a smallboard, Black chooses to play his firstmove in the centre.

An example game of Go

The numbered stones in the figures show the order in which the stones are played. In later figures, stoneswhich have already been played are not numbered.

Figure 1 (1 - 7)

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Figure 2 (8 - 16)

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11 13

14

15 16

With 1 and 3 in Figure 1, Black exerts influence over theright side of the board while with 2 and 4, White lays claimto the top left corner. With 5 Black aims to exclude Whitefrom the bottom half of the board. White leans against thelone black stone with 6, reducing it to two liberties. With7, Black strengthens his stone at 5 by extending to 7 andnow his group has 4 liberties.

If Figure 2 seems somewhat alarming, you may find iteasier to look back at Figure 1 and imagine adding the stonesone at a time. Better still, play the game out on a board.

After the 8 – 9 exchange,White pushes towards the bottomwith 10 but rather than defending the bottom left corner,Black changes direction with 11, now trying to fence offthe top right. Again White leans against the black stoneand again Black strengthens his stone by extending to 13.

White pushes into the gap with 14 and Black blocks at 15.If Black succeeds in surrounding all of the area to the rightand bottom of the board, Black will have more territorythan White has in the top left. Accordingly, White cutsBlack into two with 16, aiming to destroy the Black area atthe bottom in the course of this attack. Note that the threeblack stones to the left of 16 now have only two liberties.

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Black must do something to avoid the imminent capture ofthe three stones cut off by White 16. In Figure 3, Black 17and 19 are both threats to capture White who flees in turnwith 18 and 20 (can you see why 17 and 19 are threats?).With 21, Black has stabilised his group and White's threestones are trapped inside Black's sphere of influence.

The outcome of the game now hinges on the fate of thesestones. If they die and White obtains no compensation,White will lose. If they live, or can be sacrificed in order toreduce Black's territory, White can still win the game.

White plays 22 in Figure 4 in an attempt to expand hisposition along the edge and to reduce the liberties of theblack stone at a. Black blocks at 23, preventing Whitefrom forming a living shape along the second line. With24, White threatens to play at 25. Due to the presence of22, this move would simultaneously threaten the captureof the black stone at a and of the two stones to the left of25. Since either of these captures would save the whitestones below, Black plays 25 himself, putting an end toany possibility of the white stones' escape.

Unable to escape and with insufficient space to be able toform two eyes, White plays 26 on the outside. His plan isto sacrifice the stones on the right and in the process todestroy Black's prospective territory at the bottom.

Figure 5 shows White's plan put into effect. Black reallyhas no choice about 27. Black would like to defend thestone to the right of 26 but if White gets the chance toblock at 27, Black's advantage in the fight will be lost.White's plays at 28 and 30 are a device to increase thevalue of the sacrifice; Black must play at 31 to preventWhite from getting an eye by playing there.

With 32 and 34, White captures Black 21 and now Blackmust capture the sacrificial white stones with 35, 37 and 39while White creeps along the bottom with 36 and 38. Notethat a play to the right of 38 is White's privilege. It is noturgent since Black cannot play there. Can you see why?

With 39, the fight in this part of the board comes to an end.Although White has lost 7 stones, he has captured one ofBlack's and succeeded in destroying the bottom area, evenmaking a couple of points of territory in the bottom leftcorner. Furthermore it is still White's turn to play and he isfree to take the initiative elsewhere: to expand his own areaor reduce his opponent's; to exploit Black's weaknesses orto patch up his own.

Figure 3 (17 - 21)

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1917

20

21

Figure 4 (22 - 26)

23

a 22

24

26

25

Figure 5 (27 - 39)

27 2833

29

30

31

32

34

35

36 38

37

39

Before looking at thenext figure, try todecide for yourselfwhere it is mostprofitable for Whiteto play next.

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If your guess for White's next move was somewherenear White 40 in Figure 6 you can congratulateyourself. This is where the boundary between White'sterritory and Black's is still most uncertain and the firstto play here will make the greatest gain. White 40removes White's only weakness, the possibility of aBlack cut at the same point. It also prepares for Whiteto slide into the top right which would destroyprospective Black territory there.

Black 41 blocks White's path and 42 to 45 completethe boundary between the two territories here. Thegame is almost over. Can you see the best place forWhite to play next?

White 46 in Figure 7 pushes into the one remaining gapin Black's wall. Black 47 shuts White out and 48prevents the capture of 46. Strictly speaking the game isover at this point since there is nowhere either playercan play which would increase his own territory ordecrease the opponent's. Black would like to play at 50but if he did so, the black stones would have only oneliberty and White would capture them with a play tothe right of 50.

Black 49 and 50 complete the formalities. After 49 andthe removal of the 6 white stones, Black could play at50. This would make the point to the right of 50 Blackterritory, so White plays at 50 to prevent a Black playthere.

Similarly, the moves in Figure 8 make no difference tothe score but are played to clarify the situation andmake counting easier. It is not necessary for Black tocomplete the capture of the white stone at a – Whiteadmits that it is dead. There is no point in either playerplaying inside the other's territory. Territory is so calledprecisely because it is an area which is secure againstinvasion. Any stone the opponent played inside itwould be killed. Neither player could hope either toform a living group inside, or to escape from, theother's territory. Neither can the players hope to killany of the opponent's stones. All their stones – exceptWhite's dead stone at a – are effectively connected,forming living groups with at least two eyes.

Figure 6 (40 - 45)42 4344

40 41 45

Figure 7 (46 - 50)

46 4748

49

50

5152

Figure 8 (51 - 52)

a

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The result of the gameAt the end of the game, any dead stones are removed fromthe board. This results in the position shown in Figure 9.

There are 18 vacant intersections inside Black’s territoryand Black has taken 7 prisoners altogether, making a totalof 25 points. White’s total is only 20, made up of 19 pointsof territory and 1 prisoner so Black has won the game onthe board by 5 points.

Step 1 Any neutral points, that is unoccupied pointswhich lie between black stones and white stones,are filled by either player. In this game there areno neutral points to fill.

Step 2 Each player puts his prisoners into his opponent'sterritory. This produces the position shown inFigure 10. The players' territories are reduced byone point for every stone they have lost.

Step 3 The territories may be re-arranged to facilitatecounting. This produces Figure 11 in which we seethat Black has 17 points and White has 12 points.

The scores in this figure are the result of each playersubtracting from the value of the opponent's territory thenumber of prisoners he has captured, rather than addingthem to his own total but the end result is the same:Black wins by 5 points.

KomiBlack has a natural advantage in playing first and in gamesbetween players of the same strength it is usual to compensateWhite for the disadvantage of playing second by deductingpoints from Black's score. These points are called komi andfrom experience in actual play, the value of having the firstmove can be assessed at about 6 points on a full size board.On a nine by nine board, komi is nearer 8 points.

Looking again at our example game, although Black haswon the game on the board by 5 points, if komi were 8points then White would win the game by 3 points.

Figure 9

Figure 10

2

3

4

5 6

7

1

1

The process of counting isusually simplified as shownin Figures 10 and 11.

Figure 11

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Have a go at the following!

Problem 1

Black to play

There is a clever way for Black to capturethree white stones, if you can you findthe right move.

Problem 2

White to play

There is a way for White to capture fiveblack stones. You need to read a fewmoves ahead to see the answer to thisproblem.

The Black group in this diagram cannotescape White's encirclement. If thesestones are to live, they must make twoeyes. Where should Black play toguarantee two eyes for the black stones?

If it is White's turn, can you see where toplay in order to kill the Black group?There is more than one way to do this.

In this fight, three white stones arevulnerable to capture. From whichdirection should Black give atari in order to capture these stones?

Go Problems

Problem 3

Problem 4

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BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS ATTRACT YOUNG PLAYERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

PLAYERS OF ALL STRENGTHS COMPETE IN REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS

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For further information about clubs, books and membership, contact:

British Go Association,

phone/fax: e-mail: mem @britgo.org www.britgo.org

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