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INTRO.GO
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1989-09-22
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THE GAME OF GO
Background
----------
Go is a board game which is extremely popular in Japan. In fact, it might be
said that Go is more popular in Japan than any game is in the U.S..
Professional players in Japan make their livelihood by playing Go. The Go
rating system involves levels attained in tournament play. The skill of
players is so varied that there are 29 different categories of rating
classes. The lowest rating class is a rating of 20 Kyu and the highest class
is 9 Dan (you might recognize this title as the same one used in Karate).
To compare these classes to chess ratings, a 1 Dan (one level above a 1 Kyu)
would be comparable to a 2200 chess player. A 10 Kyu (ten levels beneath a
1 Dan) would be comparable to a 1500 chess player.
One of the attractions of Go to the amateur player is the use of the rating
system for determining handicaps. A rating difference of 9 kyu, for example,
can be used to approximate an even game between the two opponents by allowing
the lower rated opponent to essentially make 9 free moves in a row at the
beginning of the game. The actual mechanics of the handicap are that the lower
rated player must play 9 stones in designated spots on the board. This
advantage is almost equivalent to a knight odds in chess.
The Board
---------
The normal Go board used in tournament play is a grid of size 19x19. To speed
up the game, a smaller board is often used in skittles play. After a 19x19
board, the 13x13 board is most popular. For really fast play, an 11x11 board
is sometime used. The following diagram shows the setup of the 13x13 board
which is commonly used on CIS:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 10
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 11
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 12
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 13
Captured Stones: O- 3
x- 5
Play of the Game
----------------
Similar to checkers, but unlike chess, there is only one type of playing
piece used in Go - a stone. One side uses White colored stones (characterized
by "O") while the other side uses Black colored stones (characterized by an
"x").
The object of the game of Go is to get more points than your opponent.
You get points in Go in two ways. The first way to get points is to capture
your opponent's stones; every stone captured is worth a point. The footnote
to the above diagram shows the number of captured O stones as 3 (meaning that
Black gets three points for captures) and the number of captured x stones
as 5. The second way to get points is to surround spaces which are not
occupied by your own stones. For each space which is in an area surrounded
(controlled) by your stones but is not occupied by you, you get one point.
The definition of being surrounded is a very rigorous one in Go. A stone
placed in the middle of the board has the possibility of four connections,
vertically and horizonally, akin to the compass directions North, East, South,
and West. These open spaces are given the term "liberties," and a single
stone placed in the center of the board away from any other stones would be
said to have four liberties. A single stone placed on the side of the board
would have three liberties and a stone placed in a corner would have two
liberties.
If the opponent's stones were occupying three of the four liberties and the
opponent, on his turn, placed a stone in the only remaining liberty, your stone
would be considered surrounded and would be captured and removed from the
board. If one of your stones is occupying a liberty of another one of your
stones, the unoccupied spaces of both stones are combined and form the
liberties of the connected formation. The stones of a connected formation
are captured only when all the liberties of that formation are occupied by the
opponent's stones.
The order of determining captures in Go is important. When a player places a
stone on a space for a move, all stones of the opponent are first looked at
to determine if any have been captured. It is possible therefore to place a
stone in a spot which causes the stone's connecting formation to have no
liberties IF AND ONLY IF the placing of the stone causes the capture of stones
of the opponent such that after the captured stones are removed, the connecting
formation does have liberties. There is one important exception to this rule
of the order of determining captures. This exception is called the rule of KO
and states that YOUR stones are looked at first for determining captures if
you place a stone in a space that would cause the position to be exactly the
same as on the IMMEDIATELY preceding move. Stated another way, the rule of KO
states that if your opponent has just captured a stone of yours, you cannot
immediately place a stone in the now unoccupied space, if the placing of the
stone would cause the position to be exactly the same as on YOUR immediately
preceding move. A diagram is presented here to illustrate these rules:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
- x x O - - - - - O x O - 1
x - x O - - - - - O x - x 2
x x O O O O O O O O x x x 3
O O O - - - - - - O O O O 4
- - - - O - - O - - - - - 5
- - - - - - - - - - O - - 6
- O O - - - - - - - - - - 7
- - - - - O - - - O - - - 8
- - - - - - - - O x O - - 9
- O O O - - - - O - - - - 10
O O - O O O - - - - - - - 11
x x O x x O - - - - - - - 12
- x x - x O - - - - - - - 13
Captured Stones: O- 3
x- 5
It is Black's (x's) move in this position. Let's look at the four quadrants
of the board to illustrate the rules of capturing. In the lower right hand
quadrant of the board (SE quadrant) Black's stone at j9 is in trouble. If
it were White's move, an O stone could be placed at j10. The j9 stone would
therefore have no liberties and would be taken off and captured. Black can
try to build a formation by playing at j10 in the above position, but White
would reply j11, threatening a capture again (There is a warning verbalized
in Go similar to the "Check" in chess. In Go for a move which threatens a
capture the word is "Atari"). There is no escape for Black in this position,
for if Black plays k10, White continues the "ladder formation" with l10, until
Black eventually is pinned to the edge of the board and runs out of room.
In the upper right hand quadrant (NE quadrant) of the board, Black's formation
is also in trouble. If Black plays 1...M1, then White can play 2.L2 capturing
the entire formation. Note that White's 2.L2 move causes his L2, L1 formation
to have no liberties. But since Black is completely surrounded and Black is
looked at first, Black's pieces are taken off first thereby giving liberties
to the L2, L1 formation. If Black does not move in the NE quadrant, White
can move 1.M1 (threatening L2). In that case, Black can play 1...L2 capturing
White's L1, M1 formation, but White then moves 2.M1 again. After 2.M1, Black
can capture the M1 stone with 2...L1, but then White will capture all of
Black's formation a later move at M1. In the real play of the game, White
need not play at all in the NE quadrant formation. For any formation to be
safe from capture the formation needs two pockets of surrounded liberties.
These pockets (called eyes) determine the "life" of the formation. Since
Black cannot create two eyes in the NE quadrant formation, regardless of his
play, the NE quadrant formation is dead for Black and therefore will be removed
at the end of the game as if White had captured it by surrounding it.
In Go, it is not necessary to play a stone every move. You can take a pass
and refuse to play a stone. The game ends when both players pass. At that
time the dead formations are captured and the points are counted up.
The upper left hand quadrant shows an example of a Black formation which does
contain two eyes. If it is White's move, neither the moves A1 or B2 cause
Black's formation to be completely surrounded. However, White's placed A1
or B2 stone will be completely surrounded and therefore cannot be moved
there. The Black formation in the NW quadrant is therefore not dead but alive
and is therefore not captured at the end of the game.
Finally, let's look at the SW quadrant. Here we have a war for the life of
Black's pieces. This formation is used to explain the Rule of KO. If it is
Black's move, he can move 1...C11, capturing the White stone at C12. Because
of the rule of KO, White cannot play 2.C12 but must wait a move to play C12.
In that one move, Black can play 2...C12 and has created a formation with two
eyes which therefore lives.
Let's look at this another way. Suppose the above position was created by
White capturing Black's stone at C11. Black cannot play 1...C11 because of
the rule of KO and his entire formation is therefore dead since there is no
defense to 2.D13. If Black plays 1...D13 then White can capture the entire
formation with 2.A13.
Let's assume that the game reaches completion in the above position by the
moves 1...C11 2.Pass C12 3.Pass Pass. In that case, the dead formations would
be removed and the board would look like this:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
- x x O - - - - - O - O - 1
x - x O - - - - - O - - - 2
x x O O O O O O O O - - - 3
O O O - - - - - - O O O O 4
- - - - O - - O - - - - - 5
- - - - - - - - - - O - - 6
- O O - - - - - - - - - - 7
- - - - - O - - - O - - - 8
- - - - - - - - O - O - - 9
- O O O - - - - O - - - - 10
O O x O O O - - - - - - - 11
x x x x x O - - - - - - - 12
- x x - x O - - - - - - - 13
Captured Stones: O- 4
x- 12
In this hypothetical situation, White has 110 surrounded liberties and 12
captured x pieces for a total of 122 points. Black has 4 surrounded liberties
and 4 captured O pieces for a total of 8 points. White wins by 114 points.