How to Play Go — Beginner's Guide

Go is one of the oldest strategy games in the world, yet its basic rules take only a few minutes to learn. This article will get you playing today.

The Board and Playing Stones

Unlike chess, Go stones are placed on the intersections of the grid lines. Black and White alternate turns, placing one stone per move. Our game offers three board sizes: 9×9 (small, fast to learn), 13×13 (medium) and 19×19 (full). You play Black and move first.

Liberties and Capturing

Each stone or connected group needs at least one liberty — an empty adjacent intersection — to stay alive. When you fill the last liberty of enemy stones, they are captured and removed from the board.

Key Rules

• No suicide: you may not play a stone that ends up with no liberties (unless that move simultaneously captures enemy stones).
• No repeating positions (positional superko): a board position that has already occurred in the game may not be repeated.
• Passing: instead of playing, you may pass. Two consecutive passes end the game and the score is counted.
• Handicap: when players differ in strength, the weaker player may receive 0 to 9 handicap stones placed before the game.

Scoring

The goal is not to capture the most stones but to control more of the board than your opponent. Under Chinese area scoring:

• Your score = your stones remaining on the board + the empty points you surround (territory).
• Because Black moves first, White gets 7.5 points of compensation called komi.

Beginner Tips

Corners first, sides second, center last: corners are the easiest places to secure territory, then sides, and the center only comes last.

Keep your stones connected, cut your opponent's: isolated stones are easy prey; connect your own and cut the opponent's groups apart.

Don't fill your own eyes: a group with two separate empty regions inside can never be captured — don't fill them in yourself.

Start on 9×9: on the small board you learn capturing and reading moves very quickly.

Where to Start Playing?

The fastest way is to play against the computer starting at a low level. Play Go right here — there are 12 computer levels from easy to hard, online rooms with friends, and daily puzzles for practice. Good luck surrounding your first territory!