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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv
From: adrian@bsdserver.ucsf.edu (Adrian Mariano)
Newsgroups: rec.games.go,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: The Game Go -- Frequently Asked Questions
Supersedes: <games/go-faq_764427171@rtfm.mit.edu>
Followup-To: rec.games.go
Date: 9 Apr 1994 10:09:02 GMT
Organization: Go Group
Lines: 859
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: 9 May 1994 10:08:23 GMT
Message-ID: <games/go-faq_765886103@rtfm.mit.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bloom-picayune.mit.edu
X-Last-Updated: 1994/04/08
Originator: faqserv@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu rec.games.go:6806 rec.answers:4822 news.answers:17848
Archive-name: games/go-faq
rec.games.go
Frequently Asked Questions
by Adrian Mariano
adrian@bsdserver.ucsf.edu
Many FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site
rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers. The name under
which a FAQ is archived appears in the Archive-name line at the top of
the article. This FAQ is archived as games/go-faq. Note that FAQs
are available at this site, but NOTHING ELSE. This is not the general
Go archive site which is described below. FAQs are also available by
WWW using http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html.
If you do not have ftp, you can request messages from rtfm by using
the local mail server. Send mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
containing the line "send usenet/news.answers/games/go-faq" to get
this file. Send a message containing "help" to get general
information about the mail server. The rtfm mail server can ONLY be
used to obtain FAQs. It cannot be used to get files from the go archive
site.
This FAQ is also available on the go archive site: bsdserver.ucsf.edu
(128.218.80.68)
The go archive site (bsdserver.ucsf.edu) has several megabytes of go
releated materials, some of which are mentioned below.
You can log into the archive site with the username 'ftp' and any
password using the 'ftp' command. The files are in various
subdirectories under Go. The file Go/README (posted on the first of
each month to rec.games.go) contains a description of all files.
Filenames which appear below are relative to the Go directory.
If you don't have ftp, send a message to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
containing the single line "help" to get information about ftping by
mail. This server allows you to connect to any ftp site and request
files by mail. Be sure to tell it to connect to bsdserver.ucsf.edu if
you want to get go files. If you absolutely cannot get the mail
server to work, send an email request to adrian@bsdserver.ucsf.edu and
I will mail you the files. When making such a request, be sure to
explain why you can't use the mailserver or you will receive a form
letter.
The go archive site is mirrorred on ftp.pasteur.fr in the pub/Go
directory. This mirror site is maintained by fmc@cnam.cnam.fr.
The archive site is also mirrorred at rzserv3.rz.tu-bs.de in the
directory pub/go.
Gopher is an alternative to ftp. If you have gopher installed, you
can connect to philosophy.cwis.uci.edu 7016, possibly by typing
gopher philosophy.cwis.uci.edu 7016
at a prompt. This is the UCI Philosophy Gopher. If you follow the
menus
The World of Philosophy
Recreation
Games by wire
Go
you will reach the go options, which include access to this FAQ, as
well as access to the archive site.
The FAQ and archive site can be accessed through WWW using the URL
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~orb/go (maintained by orb@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu).
Other go related materials are available from the experimental page
http://ltisun.epfl.ch/~warkent/go/go_intro.html which is operated
by warkent@ltisun.epfl.ch.
Questions, comments, and corrections should be sent to
adrian@bsdserver.ucsf.edu.
What has changed in the FAQ since the last posting:
I note availability of a WWW version of the FAQ above.
I have reordered the questions in what I hope is a more natural order.
I have completely rewritten the section on different rule sets (now
section 11). Minor changes to section 3. Section 7 updated.
Comments anyone?
0. Table of Contents
1. What is go?
2. What do those words mean?
3. What books should I read?
4. Where can I get go equipment, books, etc? How do I contact Ishi Press?
5. How does the ranking system work?
6. Is there a go club in...?
7. What is the IGS? How do I use it?
8. How do I play games by computer?
9. What are the different game record formats and how can I display them?
10. What programs can I get to display go game records?
11. What are the differences between different rules?
12. What public domain programs can I get to play go?
13. What commercial programs can I get to play go?
14. How strong are the commercial programs?
15. What computer go tournaments exist? What are the prizes?
16. What are the dimensions of a go board? How do I make my own board?
1. What is go?
Go is a two player strategy board game. Players take turns putting
black and white pieces (called stones) on a board. Stones are placed
on the intersection of the lines on the board, and can be placed on
the edge or in the corner. Once played a stone can not be moved, but
may be captured by the other player. A player can pass at any time.
Go is generally played on a 19 by 19 board, but smaller boards such as
9 by 9 or 13 by 13 are used by beginners or for shorter games.
The object of the game is to surround territory and/or your opponent's
stones. The game ends when both players pass. Under Japanese rules,
each intersection surrounded and each prisoner counts as a point. The
player with the most points wins.
An empty intersection adjacent to a stone (orthogonally) is called a
liberty. For example, a single stone in the middle of the board has 4
liberties. Stones that are adjacent form groups. Every group must
have at least one liberty. When a group's last liberty is filled it
is captured and removed from the board.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . O O . . .
. . # # . . . . O # # O . . . . O . . O . .
. . . # . . . . . . # O . . . . . O . O . .
. . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . O . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The stones in Now the black (#) With one move,
this group have group has only white captures the
seven liberties. one liberty. black stones.
It is illegal to make a move which recreates a preceding board
position (to prevent loops). The simplest repeating position is
called a ko.
. . . . . .
. . . . . . This is an example of a ko. One of the White (O) stones
. . # O . . can be captured by black. When a stone can be captured
. # O . O . it is said to be 'in atari'. If we didn't have the ko
. . # O . . rule, then Black and White could repeatedly capture one
. . . . . . stone in this situation, creating a loop.
When a group of stones can never be captured, it is 'alive'. Stones
can live either with two eyes or in seki.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . # # # # # # # . . . . O O O O O O O O O . .
. . # O O O O O # . . . . O # # # # # # # O . .
. . # O . O . O # . . . . O # . O O O . # O . .
The white (O) group in This is a seki situation.
this diagram is at the If either Black (#) or white (O)
edge of the board. It plays in one of the two open
has two holes or 'eyes' spaces, then the other player can
inside, and therefore capture. Therefore, neither
cannot be captured. player will play here.
It is advantageous to make the first move in a game. To offset this
advantage, extra points are usually added to white's score. These
extra points are called the 'komi'. The komi is often set at 5.5
points, which makes tie games impossible.
More detailed introductions to the game are available from the archive
site in postscript (RULES.PS.Z) and in Smart-Go format (RULES.SG).
Beginners can also get comp/igo.zip from the archive site. This is a
stripped down version of Many Faces of Go for the IBM PC which
includes play on the 9 by 9 board and some instructional material.
2. What do those words mean?
Go discussion in English typically uses many japanese go terms. The
most common ones are:
joseki: An established, or standard, sequence that ends in a more or
less even result locally. Usually appears in a corner, but
occasionally on a side or in the center. Literal translation is
"established stone(s)"
tesuji: A particularily clever local move. Usually makes possible
something no other move would accomplish. Literally "strong
hand".
sente: Initiative, ability to go elsewhere. Opposite of gote.
gote: Forced to answer. Opposite of sente.
atari: A group which has one liberty left and hence is about to be
captured is in atari.
aji: Potential. Something that does not work, but may come to
work in the course of the game. Literally "taste".
A much longer list can be found on the archive site in info/definitions.Z.
A massive dictionary which translates between Japanese, English,
Chinese (pinyin), Korean, Dutch, German, French, Swedish and Italian
can also be found on the archive site in prog/intergo-1.11.tar.Z.
3. What books should I read?
Beginners may want to start with "Go for Beginners" or "The Second
Book of Go". The four book series "Graded Go Problems for Beginners"
is good as is the Elementary Go Series.
A lengthy list of books is on the archive site: info/books.Z
4. Where can I get go equipment, books, etc? How do I contact Ishi Press?
Ishi Press International Ishi Press International
76 Bonaventura Drive 20 Bruges Place
San Jose, CA 95134 London England NW1 OTE
Tel: (408)944-9900 Tel: 071 284 4898
FAX: (408)944-9110 FAX: 071 284 4899
Toll Free: (800)859-2086
e-mail: ishius@ishius.com e-mail: ishi@cix.compulink.co.uk
Ishi Press
1301-5 Yabata
Chigasaki-Shi
Kanagawa-ken 253
(0467)83-4369
(0467)83-4710 (fax)
Japan
Anton Dovydaitis operates a mailing list for information about Ishi
Press. Mail to ishius@ishius.com to be added to the list. Interested
people both inside and outside of the US should join this list. When
joining, specify that you are interested in go.
Another source for go equipment is
Yutopian Enterprises
4964 Adagio Court
Fremont, CA 94538
USA
Tel: (510)659-0138
FAX: (510)770-8913
E-mail: yutopian@netcom.com
Yutopian carries boards, stones, English video tapes, computer
programs and books in Chinese and English.
5. How does the ranking system work?
The ranks are "kyu" and "dan". Kyu means pupil and dan means master,
but there is no qualitative difference. The ranks are like positive
and negative numbers (with no zero). A beginner starts out with a
high kyu rank (20-30 kyu) and advances to the strongest kyu rank of 1
kyu. The next rank above 1 kyu is 1 dan (shodan), and the dan ranks
proceed upward to 7 dan. On the 19x19 board, the number of handicap
stones is the difference between the ranks. A 3 kyu gives seven
stones to a 10 kyu. A 2 dan gives 2 stones to a 1 kyu. The
professional go players have a separate dan scale which goes from 1
dan to 9 dan. The professional scale has finer gradations than the
amateur scale: the difference between 9 dan and 1 dan is about 2
stones.
You can determine your strength only by playing aginast others with
known strength. There are books like "Test Your Rating", but those
tests are very unreliable.
On a 13x13 board, if the rank difference is "diff", then the following
table gives the handicap and komi:
diff Handicap Komi diff Handicap Komi diff Handicap Komi
0 0 8.5 7 3 5.5 14 5 2.5
1 0 5.5 8 3 2.5 15 5 -0.5
2 0 2.5 9 3 -0.5 16 6 5.5
3 0 -0.5 10 4 5.5 17 6 2.5
4 2 5.5 11 4 2.5 18 6 -0.5
5 2 2.5 12 4 -0.5 19 6 -3.5
6 2 -0.5 13 5 5.5 20 6 -6.5
On a full sized board, a handicap of 2 stones is about 15 points. The
third stone is worth 11 more, and each additional stone is worth one
point more than the last. A 9 stone handicap is thus worth 113 points.
This is a chart showing
the number of handicap Amateur | Professional Rank
stones needed for a rank |------------------------------------
real (non-teaching) (dan) | 1 - 3 dan 4 - 6 dan 7 - 9 dan
game between amateur ---------------------------------------------
dan players and 1 | 8 - 9 - -
professionals. Max 2 | 7 - 8 8 - 9 -
Golem who posted this 3 | 6 - 7 7 - 8 8 - 9
chart to rec.games.go 4 | 5 - 6 6 - 7 7 - 8
says, "If you want to 5 | 4 - 5 5 - 6 6 - 7
find out how strong a 6 | 3 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 6
pro really is, play him 7 | <= 3 <= 4 <= 5
for money!"
6. Is there a go club in...?
Before asking the net, you should consult the appropriate lists of Go
clubs which are on the archive site. All of the lists except the AGA
list are in the info directory. They are:
aga/clubs.93 Clubs affiliated with the AGA
clubs.german.Z Clubs in Germany
clubs.ishi.Z Clubs on Ishi's mailing list
clubs.british.Z Clubs in Britain
clubs.australia.Z Clubs in Australia
clubs.sweden.Z Clubs in Sweden
7. What is the IGS? How do I use it?
The IGS is operating from
hellspark.wharton.upenn.edu 6969
(165.123.8.103 6969)
The Internet Go Server (IGS) is the most popular way of playing
realtime interactive go games by computer. If you couldn't find a
club listed above, then you can use the IGS as an electronic club.
You can connect to the IGS and look for opponents to play or just
watch a game. To connect directly to the IGS from a unix machine,
type "telnet hellspark.wharton.upenn.edu 6969". The IP number is
165.123.8.103. When you connect for the first time, log in as
"guest". In order to gain full access to the IGS you will have to
register for an account. Type "help register" to get information
about registering. When connecting to the IGS, you must connect to
telnet port 6969. Be SURE to use the port number 6969. Please be
ABSOLUTELY sure to use the port number 6969. If you are on a VMS
system, the port is specified with "/port=6969" after the tenet
command. The IGS is also run on a site in France: flamingo.pasteur.fr
(157.99.64.12).
Once connected to the IGS, you will need to use the help command to
learn how to use the interface. There is NO other accurate
information about the IGS available. Ancient (and hence innacurate)
LaTeX and Postscript versions of the server's help files are available
from the archive site as igs/igs.ps.Z and igs/igs.tex.Z. A more
recent (but still outdated) copy of the IGS helpfiles is in
igs/helpfiles.Z.
New users should read the file Etiquette on the archive site which
explains how to behave when using the IGS, and when playing Go.
The IGS interface is quite awkward, so several client programs are
available to ease your interaction with the server. They are
all available on the archive site in the Go/clients directory:
igc0751.sh.Z ASCII client for Unix
xigc_v3.5.tar.Z X11 client
xgospel18g.tar.Z X11 client
kgo.tar.Z X11 client
pcigc51x.exe IBM PC client WITH MODEM
tgigc18.zip IBM PC client for EGA/VGA WITH MODEM
igc075.zip IBM PC, ethernet with Clarkson packet drivers
gs1.33.sea.hqx Macintosh client
stigcbin-1.9.zoo Atari ST client
nextgo-2.5.3.tar.Z NeXT client
amigaigc075.lha Amiga client
winigc35.zip MS Windows, modem or Winsock
wigc1_3.zip MS Windows with Winsock (without modem)
DOS users may wish to consult clients/help.dos for information on
using either tgigc or pcigc.
In order to use the IGS, you must be able to use telnet. You can pay
to get this capability through Holonet. To find your closest number
for a free demo, conneect by modem to 1-800-NET-HOLO. For more
information, send email to info@holonet.mailer.net. Another service
that provides telnet ability is Delphi. Call 1-800-695-4005 for more
information.
8. How do I play games by computer?
Since computers make poor opponents, we use them to connect us to
other humans. There are two types of computer games: email, and
interactive. Email games can be handled manually, by creating a board
in an editor, or only exchanging move coordinates. The other option
is the use the unix program 'mailgo' which is included with mgt
(mgt/mgt231.sh.Z). It sends Smart-Go records of your game back and
forth, and invokes mgt for moves.
There are several ways to play interactive games. Probably the most
popular is the Internet Go Server (IGS) which was described in the
previous section. Another interactive options is the internet go
program, available on the archive site as prog/inetgo72.sh.Z, which
allows BSD Unix users to play interactive games with ascii text
screens. The xgosh program (prog/xgosh17.sh.Z on the archive site)
allows people with X-Windows to play interactive games with a
graphical board. The two interactive programs are NOT compatible.
To help find suitable opponents, check out the go players email
address list, available on the archive site as go-players, and also
posted monthly.
There is a standard go modem protocol which is used by go programs for
modem play. It is implemented in Many Faces of Go, Nemesis, Smart
Game Board and Telego (a shareware go modem program for the IBM PC).
The protocol spec and sample code are available from the archive site
as prog/protocol.Z.
Fotland's program, Many Faces of Go for X Windows on HP machines
supports two players on two screens.
The Imagination Network provides on line game players for IBM-PC
owners with a modem. They have Go, Chess, Checkers, Othello, bridge,
Cribbage, Hearts, as well as a Dungeon game and a multiplayer flight
simulator. Graphics are pretty good, software is free. Connect
charge is $12.95 per month for 30 hours. Call 1-800-SIERRA1 to sign
up.
An electronic Go club is present on NovaNet, a Computer-Aided Learning
system that is installed in schools. NovaNet uses a special terminal
program, with color graphics, mouse and sound support. To find out
more, contact Dietrich Schuschel at schuschel-dialup@nova.novanet.org
or schuschel/dialup/nova. NovaNet accounts are available from Bill
Strutz, (217) 244-4300. Cost is $2.50/hour usage and $10 for the
terminal program (spec Mac, IBM, Sun, X format). The lesson name is
goclub.
9. What are the different game record formats and how can I display them?
There are several different formats for game records. The two most
popular formats are Smart-Go and Ishi "Standard" Format. Definitions
for these two formats are on the archive site in info/smartgo.def.Z and
prog/standard.sh.Z respectively.
The Smart-Go format can be read by mgt, winmgt, xmgt, Pon Nuki, xgoban,
NeXTGo, wingo and the Smart Go program. Ishi Format can be read by
Many Faces of Go, Goscribe, Goview, Contender, Smart Go Board (version
4.0 or later), and Nemesis (version 5 and above). Smart Go Board
cannot write Ishi format. Ishi publishes games regularly in Ishi
format.
The Liberty format is a binary format which is not common. Many of
the files on the archive site are presently in this format. They can
be converted to other formats with prog/convert.tar.Z.
There is a program prog/sg2ishi05.sh.Z or prog/sg2ishi05.zip on the
archive site which attempts to convert Smart-Go to Ishi format. It
cannot handle variations, and has problems with the short form of
Smart-Go. A second option is the SG2GO program contained in the
prog/gobase20.zip utilities. This is available as C source or as an
IBM PC executable and does handle variations.
10. What programs can I get to display go game records?
The program mgt will display game records under Unix (either ascii or
X11), MSDOS, MS-Windows or Atari ST. The Unix and MSDOS versions do
not use graphics, however. The mgt program was created originally by
Greg Hale at the request of rec.games.go readers who wanted an
interactive program that would read a series of tutorial files posted
to the net. The program was expanded by Adrian Mariano to edit and
save game records. The purpose of mgt is to display and edit game
records in Smart-Go format. It can be used to display a game board.
Pieces can be placed and removed, and games can be scored. Mgt is in
mgt/mgt231.sh.Z (Unix ascii), mgt/xmgt23.sh.Z (Unix X11),
mgt/mgt231.zip (MSDOS) mgt/stmgt.zoo (Atari ST), mgt/winmgt42.zip (MS
WINDOWS).
The program xgoban by Antoine Dumesnil de Maricourt (dumesnil@etca.fr)
can display and edit Smart-Go under X11. It can also communicate with
wally to provide a graphical interface to this program.
The program Pon Nuki (prog/ponnuki10.hqx) for the Mac can display and
edit Smart-Go or Ishi format.
NeXTGo (clients/nextgo-2.5.3.tar.Z) is available for the NeXT and can
display Smart-Go.
Sgview (prog/sgview11.zip) can display Smart-Go with true graphics
under MS-DOS. The program text and documentation are in German.
Wingo (prog/wingo1.zip) can display Smart-Go for Microsoft Windows.
Many Faces of Go can display only Ishi format.
Telego and Tgigc can display Ishi format files.
The Smart-Go program itself is available for the Mac as shareware.
It is on the archive site as prog/smartgo41.hqx.
Also, Goscribe for MSDOS is available through Ishi press for $59.95.
It can display and edit Ishi format.
11. What are the differences between different rules?
Several minor variations in the rules can change the game slightly.
Scoring
Under Japanese rules, the score is calculating by counting points of
territory and subtracting the number of captured stones. Points in
seki are not counted, even if they are completely surrounded by one
player.
Under Chinese rules, the score is calculating by counting points of
territory and stones left on the board. The number of captures is
not counted. Points surrounded in seki are counted as territory and
points shared in seki are counted as 1/2 point for each player.
Because the sum of the scores is always 361, only one color needs to
be counted.
The komi for Japanese scoring is a number of points to add to
white's score. With Chinese counting, the komi is a number of extra
white stones to place in black's territory. Placing a white stone
in black's territory gives white one point and deprives black of one
point, so the total value is 2 points. A 2.75 stone komi
corresponds to a 5.5 point komi.
In handicap games, the Japanese system makes no adjustment, but the
Chinese system deducts half of the handicap from black's score and
adds it to white's.
In the absence of sekis, and assuming that white plays last, these
two scoring systems will produce the same score difference.
The big difference between the systems is that under the Japanese
system, players are penalized for playing inside their own
territory. This makes it difficult to resolve disputes about the
life status of groups on the board at the end of the game. Until
recently, the Japanese rules handled this by enumerating cases at
great length.
A famous example is the "bent four in the corner".
# # . O # . . What is the status of the white group? If black (#)
# O O O # . . plays inside, then white must capture. Then black
. O # # # . . can start a ko fight. Only black can start the fight.
O O # . # . . If white plays, the white stones are dead. Therefore,
# # # # . # . black will not start the fight until the end of the
. . . # # # . game after black has removed enough of white's ko
. . . . . . . threats so that black will win the fight.
Under the old Japanese rules, the white group would have been ruled
unconditionally dead. Under Chinese counting, the status of the
group depends on the number of ko threats. If white has unremovable
ko threats, the white group may live. A seki can provide an
unremovable ko threat.
The Nihon Kiin adopted new rules in 1989 which remove the special
rulings like the bent four ruling. The new rules say that to
resolve life and death questions at the end of the game, you play
them out on a different board. While playing these disputes, the ko
rule is altered: the only legal ko "threat" is "pass". This means
that direct ko fights are automatically won by the first player to
capture. With this new rule, the bent four is still unconditionally
dead.
The GOE rules use Chinese counting. Before 1991, these rules had a
more complex way of counting shared points in seki. Instead of
dividing them equally, they were divided in proportion to the number
of stones each player had around the disputed point.
. . . . . With the pre-1991 GOE rules, this situation would have
. # # # # split the left point 2/3 for white (O) and 1/3 for black.
. # O O O The right point would have been divided evenly.
# # O # O So black would get 5/6 points and white would get 7/6.
# O O # O This method was abanded because dealing with the various
# O . # . fractions was annoying.
Suicide
Suicide is playing a stone which does not capture an enemy group,
but does remove the last liberty of one of your own groups. Since
your group has no liberties, it is immediately removed from the
board. It is possible to use suicide to make ko threats available
sooner. There are even situations where suicide plays a direct role
in life and death problems.
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
O O O O O . . . . If suicide is legal, black lives in seki. If
# # # # O . . . . suicide is forbidden, all the black stones die.
. . . # O . . . .
O O O # O O O . . See games/suicide.mgt on the archive site for
# . O # # # O . . details.
# # O # . # O . .
Ko
The purpose of the ko rule is to prevent infinite loops in the game.
The simplest way to do this is to forbid repeating a board position.
This is generally called the "superko" rule.
The Japanese rules only prohibit immediate repetitions. If the
players managed to form a longer loop, which can happen with three
simple kos on the board, then the game is is replayed. This triple
ko situation has arisen in professional games.
The GOE rules specify a very complicated ko rule involving a
distinction between "fighting" kos and "disturbing" kos.
Handicap stones
Japanese rules dictate that the handicap stones be placed on the
star points in fixed patterns. Other rule sets simply give black
free moves without restriction.
Pass stones
In order to bring Japanese counting and Chinese counting into
agreement, the AGA rules dictate that whenever a player passes, that
player must give a prisoner to the other player. This stone is a
captured stone and will be counted as such if Japanese counting is
used. AGA rules also require that white make the last move.
This allows life and death disputes to be played out on the board
without changing the score, even though Japanese counting is used.
Note also that AGA rules do award points for surrounded territory in
seki.
The full statement of the current GOE rules is on the archive site as
igs/goe.rules.Z. The AGA rules are in aga/aga.rules.Z.
12. What public domain programs can I get to play go?
Very few public domain programs exist. Those that do are extremely
weak. On the archive site, you will find comp/wally.c, which can be
compiled anywhere. If you think wally.c is too strong, you can get
the even weaker gnugo from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu/gnugo-1.1.tar.gz.
If you have X11, you can get xgoban from the archive site
(prog/xgoban-1.0.sh.Z) to act as a graphical interface to either wally
or gnugo. Macintosh users can try MacGo or Dragon Go (available on
the archive site). Amiga users can get Amigo (comp/amigo.lzh on the
archive site). Amigo has been ported to X11 (comp/xamigo.sh.Z). If
you have access to an HP9000 either 680x0 based or HP-PA risc based,
you can get Many Faces of Go for X11 from the archive site in
comp/hp-xgo.tar.Z. Many Faces of Go is available commercially for
other platforms and is one of the strongest Go programs. A restricted
version of Many Faces of Go for the IBM PC which can play only on a
nine by nine board is available from the archive site (comp/igo.zip).
13. What commercial programs can I get to play go?
The information in this section may be somewhat out of date. Prices or
version numbers may be wrong.
The Many Faces of Go, $59.95 (add $4.00 for shipping; in CA add
sales tax)
ISBN 0-923891-28-5
Version 8.03 July '92 for MSDOS is available from Ishi Press
Star of Poland, Version 3.1, $110
OPENetwork
215 Berkeley Pl.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 638-2266
Nemesis Go Master is at version 5. Apparently version 4 is stronger
than version 5, though. It is available for DOS, Windows or the Mac
for $69. The Nemesis Toolkit which does not play go, but includes a
Joseki tutor, life and death analyzer is available for $139. Contact
Toyogo for more information.
Toyogo, Inc.
P.O. Box 1088
West Dover, VT 05356
1-800-869-6469
1-802-348-9380
FAX: 1-802-348-7887
Go Intellect 1990 Computer Olympiad 1st place; 1990 International
Computer Go Congress world championship tied for 1st/2nd place. Go
Intellect version 2.98 can be ordered directly from the author. An
reduced cost upgrade from 2.0 to 2.98 is also available (Version for
macintosh)
Dr. Ken Chen
4407 Oak Lane
Charlotte, NC 28213
Go Explorer runs on top of Smart Go and is available from Anders
Kierulf. (For macintosh)
Anders Kierulf
Smart Game Board
P.O. Box 7751
Menlo Park, CA 94026-7751
Many Faces of Go, Nemesis, and Contender (Mac), and Goliath for the
Mac are available from Ishi Press.
Handtalk for IBM PC, $69 plus $1.50 shipping or $6 overseas airmail.
This program is the 1993 world champion program.
Yutopian Enterprises
4964 Adagio Court
Fremont, CA 94538
USA
Tel: (510)659-0138
FAX: (510)770-8913
E-mail: yutopian@netcom.com
14. How strong are the commercial programs?
It's difficult to rank the programs because they are all very
inconsistent in their play. They may play a sequence of moves that
look dan level, or solve a dan level problem during play, but then a
few moves later they will make a move that a 20 kyu would never make.
Since none of the current programs can learn from their own mistakes,
when the same situation comes up they will make the same bad move
again.
A few years ago, the top program in the world (Goliath) claims to be
around 8 or 10 Kyu. Many Faces of Go and Nemesis claim to be 13 Kyu.
Poka claims to be about 17 Kyu, and Dragon Go is about 17 kyu as well.
These claims are generally based on games that are the first game the
human has played against a computer. Nemesis has played in AGA rated
tournaments for its rating.
David Fotland (Author of Many Faces of Go) says, "I know someone who
was having trouble beating Many Faces at 13 stones until I suggested
he could beat it at 29 stones. He spent a few weeks trying odd moves
and found some weaknesses, and now he has no trouble beating it at 29
stones. Each of the programs has different weaknesses, but they all
tend to collapse tactically in a complicated position, so if attach
and crosscut a lot you can usually win big."
Results of the 1993 US Computer Go Championship
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wins Place
1 Stone - Kuo Yuan Kao X 1T 1 1C 1 1 1 6 1st
2 Go Intellect - Ken Chen 0T X 1 1 1 1 1 5 2nd
3 Prototype - Art McGrath 0 0 X 1T 1 1 1 4 3rd
4 Many Faces of Go - David Fotland 0C 0 0T X 1 1 1 3 4th
5 Poka - Howard Landman 0 0 0 0 X 1 0C 1 5/6/7th
6 Nemesis - Bruce Wilcox 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 5/6/7th
7 Petronius - ? 0 0 0 0 1C 0 X 1 5/6/7th
Stone took 7th place in the world competition in 1988, 5th in Europe
in 1989, 10th in the World in 1989, and 3rd in the USA in 1991. It is
one of the stronger programs and is also very stable software. It
beat Many Faces of Go in the first round due to Many Faces crashing
when MF was winning (due to a last minute change made in the plane on
the way to the congress). It beat Go Intellect on time when Go
Intellect was winning, since the time limits are very strict (125
moves in one hour). Many Faces lost another won game against
Prototype, whcih created a very complex position, with many small
unsettled groups, causing Many Faces to spend too much time reading.
Petronius is a new program this year, and had one victory over Poka,
when it committed suicide, and Poka would not accept the move as
legal. Prototype is only in its second year, and is doing very well,
taking third place.
1993 World Computer Go Congress Results:
This year one program, Handtalk, was clearly superior to all the
others. It won all 6 of its games, and has a very strong middle game
for a computer go program. Only one game, against Stone was close (4
points), since Handtalk gave back a lot of points in the endgame after
getting way ahead in the middle game. Handtalk is also very fast,
completing a game in less than 20 minutes.
Star of Poland, Go Intellect, Many Faces, Modgo, and Stone are similar
in strength. Star of Poland is a little stronger tactically, and took
second, with 5 wins. In the game between Many Faces and Star of
Poland, Many Faces was ahead right up until the last few dame were
filled, when Star of Poland brought a large group back to life through
better tactics. In the game between Star of Poland and Stone, Stone
was a little ahead until the late endgame, when Star of Poland
captured a group. The 6 round tournament ended with a tie between
Many Faces and Go Intellect on all 4 tiebreakers, so Many Faces and Go
Intellect played a game to settle the tie, which Go Intellect won by
one point.
In the 15 play handicap games between Handtalk and 3 local young
experts (12 year old amateur 3 dans), Handtalk won one and lost two,
so the 15 play handicap prize remains unclaimed.
Goliath and Nemesis did not compete this year.
1st Place: Handtalk, China
2nd Place: Star of Poland, Poland
3rd Place: Go Intellect, USA (last year's champion)
4th Place: The Many Faces of Go, USA
5th Place: Modgo, Germany
6th Place: Stone, USA
If you are interested in computer go you may want to join the
computer-go mailing list. The computer-go mailing was established in
Feb 93 to discuss programming computers to play go. The volume of
mail on this list is rather low, but sometimes goes up in bursts. To
join the list, send a request to
computer-go-request@comlab.oxford.ac.uk
To post to the list, send a message to
computer-go@comlab.oxford.ac.uk
Please do not post to the whole list your request to join or leave the
list. An archive of the mailing list from Feb 93 to Jan 94 is on the
archive site in comp/compgo-mail-1.Z.
15. What computer go tournaments exist? What are the prizes?
There is a North American Championship every year at the Go Congress
the first week of August. Plaques and the title of North American
Computer Go Champion are the prizes. There is a similar competition
at the European Go Congress. There is a Computer Games Olympiad every
year in London in the summer that includes Computer Go. The Usenix
conference used have a computer go competition every year, and may
still - no prizes.
The big money is in the World Computer Go Congress, sponsored by Ing
Chang Chi and Acer in Taiwan. They have a preliminary competition
every August (formerly held in Europe, USA, and Japan, but now held in
Taipei with programs that are mailed in by their authors). If you do
well in the preliminary (defined as beating two of 3 benchmark
programs - this year the benchmarks were Stone, Friday, and Goliath)
you will be reimbursed for 1/2 of your air fare to the Congress. The
congress is held on November 11 and 12 in various places. In 1990 it
was in Beijing. In 1991 it was in in Singapore. First prize for the
best computer program is about $8,000. Second is about $1,000 and 3rd
is about $500. The winning computer program plays a 3 game series
against the Taiwan youth champion (usually a 12 year old 5 Dan) and
gets another $8000 if it wins. This prize went unclaimed for five
years, but in 1991 Goliath beat all three human challengers, so the
handicap has been decreased to 14 moves. The top prize if for winning
a 7 game series against a professional (of unspecified rank) is about
$1.6 Million. The contest only runs through the year 2000 so the top
prize will go unclaimed.
16. What are the dimensions of a go board? How do I make my own board?
The official size according to Nihon Ki-in is 45.45 x 42.42 (cm).
Measurements of an Ishi board indicate that the lines are 0.8 mm
thick and the hoshi points are 3 mm in diameter.
Stones are supposed to be 20-21 mm in diameter.
Net discussions about making your own board are on the archive site
in info/board.Z.