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An ancient Chinese strategy game of profound depth. Players place stones to surround territory on a 19x19 grid, with simple rules yielding incredible complexity.

Popularity
#9
2 players
30 minutes to several hours
Very Hard

What You'll Need

🎯 Go board (19x19, also played on 9x9 or 13x13)
🪨 Black and white stones (181 black, 180 white for full set)

About This Game

An ancient Chinese strategy game of profound depth. Players place stones to surround territory on a 19x19 grid, with simple rules yielding incredible complexity.

How to Play

  1. Black plays first, then alternate placing one stone on intersections
  2. Stones don't move once placed
  3. Connected same-color stones form a group
  4. Groups must have 'liberties' (empty adjacent points) to survive
  5. Capture opponent's group by filling all its liberties
  6. Ko rule: cannot immediately recapture a single stone
  7. Game ends when both players pass consecutively
  8. Score = territory (empty points surrounded) + captured stones
  9. Komi: White receives points (typically 6.5) for going second
  10. Handicap stones can balance skill differences

Where to Buy

Buy on Amazon

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Learn More

BoardGameGeek

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Rules & How to Play

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Videos

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Background

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Added about 1 month ago • Updated 22 days ago
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