Go (Weiqi)

Overview

Go is a two-player strategy board game originating from ancient China. Players take turns placing black and white stones on the intersections of a grid, aiming to control the most territory.

Setup

• Players: 2 (Black and White)
• Board: 19×19 grid (default), with 13×13 and 9×9 available as variants
• Black plays first
• White receives komi (compensation points) for going second: 7.5 (Chinese rules) or 6.5 (Japanese rules)

How to Play

On your turn, either:

1. Place a stone on any empty intersection
2. Pass your turn

Capturing

A group of connected stones (same color, orthogonally adjacent) is captured (removed from the board) when it has no liberties — no empty intersections orthogonally adjacent to any stone in the group.

Restrictions

• No suicide: You cannot place a stone that would leave your own group with zero liberties, unless doing so captures opponent stones first.
• Ko rule: You cannot recreate the exact board position from the previous turn (prevents infinite back-and-forth captures).

Ending the Game

When both players pass consecutively, the game enters the scoring phase:

1. Players mark dead stones (stones that would be captured with continued play)
2. Both players confirm the dead stone selection
3. If players disagree, play resumes

Scoring

Chinese Rules (default)

Score = Territory (empty intersections surrounded by your stones) + Live stones on board

Japanese Rules

Score = Territory + Captured stones (prisoners taken during play + dead stones)

The player with the higher score wins. Komi (0.5 fractional part) prevents draws.

Variants

Option	Values	Default	Description
Board Size	19, 13, 9	19	19×19 is standard. 13×13 and 9×9 are smaller boards for quicker games.
Rules	Chinese, Japanese	Chinese	Chinese rules count territory + live stones. Japanese rules count territory + captures.