Step 1: Get to know Go
Click a concept below and the board sets up a small example. Some are interactive — try playing on the board.
👆 Pick a concept to start.
Basic rules
1. Goal: control more territory
Go is about who surrounds more territory (empty intersections). At the end, your stones plus the empty points you surround, added up, decide the winner. It's not about capturing everything — it's about who encloses more.
2. Black first, then alternate
Black plays first, then players alternate, one stone at a time, placed on an intersection. Once placed, a stone never moves. You may also “pass” if you don't want to play.
3. Liberties: a stone's lifeline
The empty points next to a stone are its liberties. Connected stones of one color form a group and share all their liberties. As long as a group has at least one liberty, it stays on the board.
4. Capturing: remove all liberties
When a group has no liberties left, it is immediately removed from the board as a prisoner. To capture, block its liberties one by one.
5. Forbidden point (no suicide)
If placing a stone would leave your own group with no liberties, and it doesn't capture any enemy stones, the move is illegal. But if the move captures the opponent — freeing up liberties for you — it is legal.
6. Ko
In certain single-stone recapture situations, allowing an immediate recapture would loop forever. The rule: the captured side may not recapture on the same point immediately — you must play elsewhere first (a ko threat), then you may recapture next turn.
7. Ending & counting
When both sides feel there's nowhere useful to play, each “passes”. Two passes in a row end the game; then count territory: your stones + the empty points only you surround.
8. Komi
Because Black plays first (an advantage), White receives a fixed compensation (komi) at the end — commonly 6.5 or 7.5 points. The half-point also prevents ties.
Beginner tips
A saying: corners are gold, sides are silver, the center is grass. Take the valuable corners first, then the sides, and fight for the center last. Practice capturing and making life, and build your basics on the 9×9 board.
Play
Black to move. Click any intersection to place a stone. Click an existing stone to see its liberties.