Go (game)

Go is a strategic board game for two players. Also known as Weiqi (Chinese), Baduk (Korean) and Igo (Japanese), it originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago. The game is characterized by its simple rules and complex strategies.

Objective: The objective of Go is to surround more territory than your opponent. This is achieved by placing stones on the vacant intersections (points) of a gridded board.

Board and Pieces: The Go board is a grid, typically 19x19 lines. Smaller boards, such as 9x9 and 13x13, are often used for teaching or faster games. The players use black and white stones, representing their respective armies.

Gameplay: Players take turns placing one stone of their color on a vacant intersection. Once placed, stones are generally not moved. However, stones or groups of stones can be captured and removed from the board if they are completely surrounded by the opponent's stones.

Capturing Stones: A group of stones is captured when all its liberties (adjacent vacant points) are occupied by the opponent.

Territory: Territory is defined as areas of the board enclosed by a player's stones. At the end of the game, the player with more territory (and captured stones) wins.

Komi: To compensate for the advantage of playing first, White is typically given a point compensation called komi. The amount of komi varies depending on the rule set used.

Passing: A player may pass their turn at any time. Both players passing consecutively ends the game.

Rule Sets: Several rule sets exist for Go, including Japanese rules, Chinese rules, and AGA (American Go Association) rules. These rule sets primarily differ in how scoring is handled, especially regarding dead stones and disputed territories.

Strategic Elements: Go involves a wide range of strategic and tactical elements, including:

• Territory control: Enclosing areas of the board.
• Influence: Exerting strategic pressure on distant parts of the board.
• Life and death: Ensuring that groups of stones can survive (have at least two eyes, or internal liberties) or capturing opponent's groups.
• Reading: Predicting the consequences of moves several steps ahead.
• Joseki: Standard sequences of moves in the corners of the board.
• Tesuji: Clever or tactical moves.

Go is considered one of the most complex games in the world, offering a lifetime of learning and strategic exploration.