Go

Ancient East Asian board game — surround more territory than your opponent on a 19×19 grid of intersections.

📐goban⏱~90 min🌤indoor

What is Go?

Go (called Weiqi in Chinese, Baduk in Korean, and I-go in Japanese) is a two-player abstract strategy game invented in China over 2,500 years ago and now played by an estimated 40 million people worldwide. Players alternately place black and white stones on the intersections of a 19×19 grid, aiming to surround more territory than the opponent. Despite rules that fit on a postcard, Go has more possible legal positions than atoms in the observable universe; it took DeepMind's AlphaGo — a milestone in artificial intelligence — until 2016 to defeat a top human, Lee Sedol. Go is recognised as a mind sport by the IOC and the International Mind Sports Association.

Quick facts

How it works

Objective

Control more territory (empty intersections surrounded by your stones) than your opponent, adding captured stones to your score.

Match structure

Black plays first; players alternate placing one stone at a time on empty intersections. Stones do not move once placed. A group of stones with no liberties (empty adjacent intersections) is captured and removed. When both players pass consecutively, the game ends. Territory is counted (dead stones removed) and komi (compensation for playing second) added to White's score. Highest score wins.

Rules

Basic rules

Placing stones
Black moves first. Each turn place one stone on an empty intersection. Once placed, stones don't move (except when captured).
Liberties and capture
Each stone or connected group has 'liberties' — empty adjacent intersections. When a group has zero liberties, it is captured and removed from the board.
Suicide rule
You may not play a stone that leaves your own group with zero liberties (unless the move captures enemy stones and creates a liberty).
Ko rule
You cannot immediately recapture a single stone that would recreate the previous board position — this prevents endless loops.
End of game
The game ends when both players pass consecutively. Dead stones (those that cannot survive) are removed; remaining stones and their surrounded empty intersections are counted.
Scoring (territory vs area)
Japanese/Korean rules: count empty territory + captured stones. Chinese rules: count territory + your stones on the board. Both usually yield similar results.
Komi
White receives a compensation score for playing second — typically 6.5 (Japanese) or 7.5 (Chinese) points.

Advanced rules

Superko rule
Some rulesets extend the ko rule to prevent any board position from repeating — used to prevent complex triple-ko situations.
Handicap games
Weaker players place 2-9 stones on the hoshi points before White moves, evening out play across ranks.
Bent four in the corner
A famous life-and-death shape officially declared dead by the Japanese Go Association without needing to be played out.
Seki (mutual life)
Two adjacent groups that can't capture each other — neither counts as territory or captures.

Scoring

Points = territory (empty intersections surrounded) + captured stones (Japanese) or stones on board (Chinese) + komi (White).

Action	Points
Empty intersection surrounded	1
Captured stone (Japanese rules)	1
Komi (White)	6.5 or 7.5

Win condition · Highest final score after both players pass and dead stones are removed. Resignation is also common at pro level once the losing player concedes.

Playing area

Called

goban

Dimensions

19×19 grid producing 361 intersections. Smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards used for teaching and casual play.

Wooden board (kaya wood traditionally), marked with 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines. Nine handicap points (hoshi) marked with dots.

Equipment

Goban (board)
19×19 wooden board with 361 intersections.
Stones (goishi)
181 black + 180 white lens-shaped stones, traditionally slate and clamshell.
Bowls (go ke)
Wooden bowls that hold each player's stones.
Clock
For timed games — from 10 minutes blitz to multi-hour classical.

Officiating

Most casual games are self-officiated. Professional and top amateur tournaments have referees to resolve rules disputes and enforce time controls.

Referee (major tournaments)
Recorder (professional matches)

Strategies

Fuseki (opening)
Establish influence in the corners and sides — 4-4, 3-4, and 3-3 openings each have deep theory.
Joseki (corner sequences)
Learn common corner sequences — the standard 'book moves' from centuries of play.
Middlegame fighting
Attack weak groups; use forcing moves (sente) before defending own weaknesses.
Endgame (yose)
Count value of each remaining move; play highest-value moves first — precise counting decides most close games.
Life and death (tsumego)
Reading skill is trained by solving daily life-and-death problems — the single most important improvement drill.

Terminology

Liberty: Empty intersection adjacent to a stone or group — required for a group to stay on the board.
Atari: A group with exactly one liberty left — one move from capture.
Sente / gote: The initiative — moves that force reply (sente) vs. those that end your turn passive (gote).
Joseki: A recognised corner sequence — the 'book' openings of Go.
Fuseki: The opening phase — establishing framework across the whole board.
Yose: The endgame — precise territorial reduction.
Tsumego: Life-and-death problems — corner or edge puzzles trained daily.
Ko: A repeating single-stone capture — governed by the ko rule.
Komi: Compensation score for White (6.5 or 7.5) for playing second.
Seki: Mutual life — two adjacent groups that neither can capture.
Hane: A diagonal move that wraps around an enemy stone — a fundamental shape.
Dan / kyu: Amateur ranks (30 kyu → 1 kyu → 1 dan → 7 dan) and pro ranks (1 dan → 9 dan).

Major competitions

Ing Cup
quadrennial · worldwide · since 1988
First truly international pro tournament.
LG Cup
annual · worldwide · since 1996
Samsung Cup
annual · worldwide · since 1996
World Amateur Go Championship
annual · worldwide · since 1979
Japanese Seven Major Titles (Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, etc.)
annual · Japan
World Mind Sports Games
quadrennial · worldwide · since 2008

Where it is played

Governing bodies

International Go FederationIGF
Founded 1982 · Tokyo, Japan
Official site ↗
Nihon Ki-in
Founded 1924 · Tokyo, Japan
Official site ↗
Chinese Weiqi Association
Founded 1962 · Beijing, China
Korea Baduk Association
Founded 1954 · Seoul, South Korea
Official site ↗

Famous names & records

Famous athletes

Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan)
Cho Chikun
Lee Chang-ho
Lee Sedol
Ke Jie
Iyama Yuta
Shin Jinseo
Nie Weiping
Fujisawa Shuko

Records

Youngest world Go champion
Shin Jinseo (KOR) — 16 y 10 m — Chunlan Cup 2016 (2016)
Most Nihon Ki-in Kisei titles
Cho Chikun — 8 consecutive (1994)
AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol
AlphaGo (DeepMind) — 4-1 in a 5-game match (2016)

Learn this sport

beginner

1
Rules (5 minutes)
Place stones; capture by removing liberties; ko rule; count territory. That's it.
2
First game on 9×9
Play a full game on the smaller board to get comfortable with capture and territory.
3
Basic shapes
Empty triangle (bad), bamboo joint (good), tiger's mouth (good), one-space jump (efficient).
4
First tsumego
Solve 10-20 simple life-and-death problems per day — this is how everyone improves.

intermediate

1
13×13 games
Bridge the gap to full 19×19 — introduces multi-corner strategy.
2
Basic joseki
Learn 3-4 corner sequences per opening (4-4, 3-4) — do not memorise, understand.
3
Endgame counting
Compare move values to prioritise correctly in yose.
4
Reviewing games
Analyse your losses with a stronger player or AI — the single fastest improvement source.

advanced

1
Whole-board direction
Think about which side of the board each stone favours.
2
Fighting spirit
Learn when to attack, when to sacrifice, when to defend.
3
Studying pro games
Replay master games move by move; guess the next move to sharpen intuition.
4
Using AI review
KataGo, Leela Zero and Go pro analysis engines give per-move evaluations.

Frequently asked

Is Go harder than chess?+

By some measures, yes: Go has ~10^170 legal positions vs. chess's ~10^47, and computers only surpassed top humans in 2016 (DeepMind's AlphaGo) — 19 years after Deep Blue beat Kasparov at chess.

How long does it take to learn Go?+

You can learn the rules in five minutes and be playing on 9×9 by evening one. Reaching a strong amateur level (say 5 kyu) usually takes 1-3 years of regular play.

What's the difference between Chinese and Japanese rules?+

Chinese rules count area (territory + your own stones); Japanese rules count territory + captured stones. Both usually give the same winner but score differently. Japanese komi is 6.5, Chinese 7.5.

Where can I play Go online?+

Online Go Server (OGS), KGS, Fox Weiqi (China), Tygem (Korea), Pandanet-IGS (Japan) are the main servers. AI opponents like KataGo, Leela Zero and Sabaki are open-source.

Sources & provenance

Wikipedia — Go (game)— Wikipedia
International Go Federation— IGF
Sensei's Library — Go rules— Sensei's Library

Last verified 2026-08-24.community