GO RULES

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OBJECTIVE

By the positioning his stones, on the board each player aims to surround more unoccupied territory and enemy stones than his opponent.

ORDER OF PLAY

The two players take alternate turns. The opening move is made by the player who has the black stones. Players take turn playing black unless there is a know disparity of playing skill (see HANDICAPPING). A turn consists of placing a stone on a vacant intersection on the board. Once in position the stone is not moved again during the game unless it is captured in which case it is removed from the board.

HANDICAPPING

The player taking the first turn is at an advantage. If one of the players is known to be weaker than the other, the weaker player takes the black stones.

If further handicapping is necessary the weaker player may place two or more of his stones on the board. The Internet Gaming Zone uses Japanese rules which dictate that these stones are placed on the dotted handicap points before the game starts. The Chinese rules state that the handicap stones may be placed anywhere. Move then goes to white. Should the stronger player continue to  win the number of handicap stones should be increased. The maximum number of handicap stones is nine.

PLAYING PROCEDURE

Each player places his stones to form connected groups or chains in such a way as to surround as many vacant points and opponent's stones as possible. Should all the intersections adjacent to one or mores stones be occupied by stones of the other color, the former stone or group of stones is captured and removed from the board. It is possible to win the game without capturing any stones since the object of the game is territorial gain.

KO SITUATION

A Ko (threat) situation is one that can be repeated indefinitely. In Ko situations the second player may not recapture until he has made at least one move elsewhere on the board. (Forcing play at other parts of the board is therefore important). A single Ko situation may involve many stones. if there are three Ko situations on a board at any one time, the game is declared a draw.

SEKI SITUATION

A Seki (deadlock) situation exists on any part of the board where opposing groups are so placed that neither player can occupy an uncontrolled point without losing his own stones. Seki situations are left untouched until the end of the game and points in them are disregarded in scoring.

DAME POINTS

Dame points are vacant intersections between territories that cannot be played with benefit by either side. Dame points are left untouched until the end of the game and then disregarded in scoring.

PROHIBITIONS

A stone may not be played on an intersection that is completely surrounded by stones of another color, unless the move causes the immediate capture of enemy stones surrounding that intersection.

END OF PLAY

The game ends when both players agree that there are no further advantages to be gained by either side. At this time the players pass play. When the two players pass in succession the game is over. If only one player considers the game to be over, his opponent may continue to make moves until he too is satisfied that no points or stones remain to be secured. The first player may continue play, if he wishes, until both players agree that the game is over.

SCORING

What is Chinese counting?

In Chinese counting, you count the score by adding the number of stones a player has on the board and the number of empty intersections that a player has enclosed. As opposed to Japanese counting, prisoners are not counted; this is compensated for in Chinese counting because the player who has captured the most stones during the game will be the player with the most stones on the board during counting.

What is Japanese counting?

In Japanese counting the number of points a player has is defined as the number of empty intersections he enclosed and the stones he captured during the game. The number of stones a player has on the board at the end of the game doesn't matter.The Internet Gaming Zone uses the Japanese counting for score.

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