Play GO

Two players play on a square board whose size is 19x19, 13x13 or 9x9. The larger the size, the more the time.

Player with black stone plays first. The player is called first hand. To be fair to the other player who hold white, the first hand needs to handicap certain number of mu. Who holds black is determined by lottery.

Decided beforehand. A timed game will make sure a game ending as planned.

The idea is to gain territory w/o fight. Area scoring counts the number of stones and surround each player occupied.

Number of vacant points adjacent to a stone in a grid is called 'qi' - breath room. Any stone w/o any qi is removed from the board.

A unit of each stone.

A shape of one point is surrounding by three same color stones. This is a basic shape to keep other stone away from the point.

Special situation that each side can capture the other on the same spot. To prevent such never-end capture, one side has to wait one more step to do capture.

Same color stones connected horizontally or vertically is called a chain. It prolongers qi.

opening game: Lay strategic important stones on the board.
middle fight: enhance and expand territory
end game: close out loose points.

A collection of games that are served as a learning samples

A certificate to a player's ability. It is determined by competition