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Go
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 | Go
from the Mind Sports For Schools initiative |
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As an intellectual challenge Go is extraordinary. The rules are very simple, yet attempts to program computers to play Go have met with little success. Even the best programs make simple mistakes. Apart from beating the computer, Go offers major attractions to anyone who enjoys games of skill.
From "What Makes Go So Special", © British Go Association
1 INTRODUCTION - WHY SCHOOLCHILDREN SHOULD PLAY GO
1.1 Go has very simple rules so the game is easy to learn and teach.
1.2 It is an intellectual challenge even for the very able.
1.3 Players with very different levels of ability can enjoy playing together. The handicapping system allows for an evenly contested game by giving the weaker player some extra stones to play at the start of the game.
1.4 Draws are rare so there is nearly always a winner. In fact draws can be prevented altogether by using the "komi" rule.
1.5 The equipment (the board and stones) is inexpensive and can be easily improvised.
1.6 Go improves a child's attitude to learning.
1.7 Go builds self-confidence, for example dyslexics have been successful at learning and playing Go.
1.8 Go enhances Thinking Skills programmes in schools.
1.9 Go provides some insights into Asian cultures (Japanese, Chinese, Korean).
1.10 Go provides opportunities for inter-school co-operation and competition (for example the UK Go Challenge).
1.11 Go encourages strategic thinking.
1.12 Go can be played by those of any age and those with physical disabilities.
2 HOW TO PLAY GO
An excellent description of how to play the game, devised specially with children in mind, is "Go - An Introduction". It is a cartoon booklet written by Andreas Fecke and is found on the British Go Association web site. This is the best teaching publication we have ever seen for any Mind Sport! It makes the game unbelievably simple and fun to learn and is an ideal introduction for children.
The BGA web site also offers another excellent introduction to the game: "Introduction to the game of Go". We reproduce this introduction here by kind permission of the British Go Association.
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Although the normal size of a Go board is 19 by 19 lines, it
is possible to use smaller sizes. Beginners can learn the
basics on a 9 by 9 board, and a quick game can be played on a
13 by 13 board without losing the essential character of the
game. The following examples all use a 9 by 9 board.
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The rules and an example game
A game of Go starts with an empty board. Each player has an effectively
unlimited supply of stones, one taking the black stones, the other taking white.
The basic object of the game is to use one's stones to form territories by surrounding
vacant areas of the board. It is also possible to capture the opponent's
stones by completely surrounding them.
The players take turns, placing one of their stones on a vacant point at each
turn. Black plays first. Note that the stones are placed on the intersections of
the lines rather than in the squares. Once played, stones are not moved. However
they may be captured, in which case they are removed from the board, and kept by
the capturing player as prisoners.
| Diagram 1
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At the end of the game the players count one point for each vacant point inside
their own territory, and one point for every stone they have captured. The
player with the larger total of territory plus prisoners is the winner.
Diagram 1 shows the position at the end of a game on a 9 by 9 board, during
which Black captured one white stone which had been at a.
Black has surrounded 15 points of territory, 10 in the lower right corner and 5
towards the top of the board. Black's territory includes the point a formerly
occupied by the stone he has captured. Adding his prisoner, Black has a total of
16 points.
White's territory is 17 points, so White wins the game by one point.
The points which are horizontally and vertically
adjacent to a stone, or a group of stones, are
known as liberties. An isolated stone or group
of stones is captured when all of its liberties
are occupied by enemy stones.
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Diagram 2
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Diagram 3
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Diagram 4
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Diagram 2 shows three isolated white stones with their liberties marked by
crosses. Stones which are on the edge of the board have fewer liberties
than those in the centre of the board. A single stone on the side has
three liberties, and a stone in the corner has only two liberties.
Diagram 3 shows the same three stones of Diagram 2 each with only one liberty
left and therefore subject to capture on Black's next move. Each of these white
stones is said to be in atari, meaning they are about to be captured.
Diagram 4 shows the position which would arise if Black went on to play at
b in Diagram 3. Black has taken the captured stone from the board, and in a real
game would keep it as a prisoner. The same remarks would apply to the
other two white stones, should Black play at c or d in Diagram 4.
| Diagram 5 |
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Groups
Stones occupying adjacent points constitute a solidly
connected group. Two examples of such solidly connected
groups of stones are shown in Diagram 5. It is
important to remember that only stones which are
horizontally or vertically adjacent are solidly connected;
diagonals don't count as connections. Thus,
for example, the two marked black stones in the top
left of Diagram 5 are not solidly connected.
| Diagram 6 |
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| Diagram 7 |
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Capturing groups of stones
As far as capturing is concerned, a solidly connected group
of stones is treated as a single unit. As with isolated stones,
a group is captured when all of its liberties are occupied by
enemy stones.
In Diagram 6 the groups of Diagram 5 have both been
reduced to just one liberty. Note that the Black group in
the top right is not yet captured because of the internal
liberty at f. The two stones at the top left of Diagram 6
can each be captured independently at g or h.
In Diagram 7 we see the position which would result if
Black captured at e and White captured at f and at
g. The remaining black stone could be captured at h.
As with the capture of a single stone, the points formerly occupied
by the Black group have become White territory, and vice versa.
A player may not 'commit suicide', that is
play a stone into a position where it would
have no liberties or form part of a group
which would thereby have no liberties,
unless, as a result, one or more of the
stones surrounding it is captured.
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Diagrams 8 and 9 illustrate the rule governing capture.
In Diagram 8, White may not play at i or j, since either
of these plays would amount to suicide; the stones would
then have no liberties. However, if the outside liberties
have been filled, as shown in diagram 9, then the plays at
i and j become legal; they fill the last black liberty in
each case, and result in the black stones being captured and
removed from the board as White's prisoners.
| Diagram 8 | Diagram 9 |
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| Diagram 10 |
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In Diagram 9, White was able to play at i and j because
these plays result in the capture of the adjacent black stones.
Since White's plays make captures, they don't
count as suicide.
A different situation is shown in Diagram 10. The black
group here could only be captured if White were able to
play at both m and n. Since the first of these plays would be
suicide, there is no way that White can carry out the
capture. These two separate spaces within the group are
known as eyes.
Any group of stones which has two or more eyes
is permanently safe from capture and is referred
to as a live group. Conversely, a group of stones
which is unable to make two eyes, and is cut off
and surrounded by live enemy groups, is called a
dead group since it is unable to avoid
eventual capture.
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| Diagram 11 |
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In Diagram 11, the black group at the bottom is in
danger of being captured. To ensure that his group has
two eyes, Black needs to play at o. If White plays at o,
the black group will no longer be able to make two eyes,
and cannot avoid eventual capture; White can always fill
in the outside liberties and then play at p and at q. Black
plays at p or q would only hasten the group's death.
The black group at the top left of Diagram 11 is already
alive even though there is a white stone inside one of its
eyes. Since White can never capture the black stones, the
white stone caught inside the group can't be saved.
In the course of a real game, players are not obliged to complete the capture of an
isolated dead group once it is clear to both players that the group is dead. In
this case, once White has played at o in Diagram 11, the situation may be left as
it is until the end of the game. Then, the dead stones are simply removed from the
board and counted together with the capturing player's other prisoners.
| Diagram 12 |
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At the top of Diagram 12, Black can capture a stone by
playing at r. This results in the situation at the top of
Diagram 13. However, this stone is itself vulnerable to
capture by a White play at u in Diagram 13. If White
were allowed to recapture immediately at u, the
position would revert to that in Diagram 12, and there
would be nothing to prevent this capture and recapture
continuing indefinitely. This pattern of stones is
called ko - a term meaning eternity. Two other
possible shapes for a ko, on the edge of the board and in
the corner, are also shown in this diagram.
| Diagram 13 |
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The ko rule removes this possibility of indefinite repetition
by forbidding the recapture of the ko, in this case
a play at u in Diagram 13, until White has played at
least one move elsewhere. Black may then fill the ko,
but if he chooses not to do so, instead answering
White's intervening move elsewhere, White is then permitted
to retake the ko. Similar remarks apply to the
other two positions in these diagrams; the corresponding
moves at w and v in Diagram 13 must also be delayed
by one turn.
| Diagram 14 |
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Usually a group which can't make two eyes will die
unless one of the surrounding enemy groups also lacks
two eyes. This often leads to a race to capture, but can
also result in a stand-off situation, known as seki, in
which neither group has two eyes, but neither can
capture the other due to a shortage of liberties. Two
examples of seki are shown in Diagram 14. Neither
player can afford to play at x, y or z,
since to do so would enable the other to make a capture.
Note that even though the groups involved in a seki
may have an eye, as a general rule none of the points
inside a seki count as territory for either player.
The end of the game
The game ends by agreement. When neither player believes that he can make
more territory, capture more stones, or reduce his opponent's territory by
playing on, he will pass instead of making a move on the board. Two
consecutive passes end the game.
As remarked in the introduction, one of the best features of the game of Go is its
handicap system. A weaker player may be given an advantage of anything up to
nine stones. These are placed on the board in lieu of his first move.
Through the grading system, any two players can easily establish the difference
in their strength, and therefore how many stones the weaker player should take in
order to compensate for this difference. Since a player's grade is measured
in terms of stones, the number of stones for the handicap is simply the difference
in grade between the two players.
There is an established pattern for the placement of handicap stones, shown
by the dots which are marked on any Go board. This is shown
in Diagram 15, seen from the Black player's point of view. For handicaps of
two or three stones, where the stones can't be placed symmetrically, the convention is
that the far left corner is left vacant.
Japanese and Chinese rules of Go
The rules described in this page are the Japanese rules. These are the rules
most commonly used in the West. The Chinese use a different system of rules
which are essentially the same but which involve a different method of
counting the score. The two sets of rules usually lead to the same game result.
Those who would like an interactive introduction to the game (which requires Javascript enabled) can use "The Interactive Way To Go" by Hiroki Mori. This introduction delves rather deep into capturing tactics before it gets to the point of stating the aim of the game.
Hints on Basic Go Strategy and Tactics
Useful hints for beginners on how to improve at Go can be found by visiting http://www.ukgochallenge.com/tips/tips.html.
3 HOW TO TEACH GO
Teaching in Groups
A first class method by Mindy McAdams, "How to Teach Go", is aimed at people teaching groups of pupils. The method is very well suited for use with Andreas Fecke's cartoon booklet and is so simple that it could be used by a teacher who had read the cartoon booklet only yesterday.
Teaching Individuals
"How to Teach Go" by David Carlton is aimed at people teaching individuals. It is necessary to have a good knowledge of Go to understand this page - we have included it here because it contains the very good advice of "don't over-instruct".
4 HOW TO ORGANISE A GO TOURNAMENT
(See also "How to Organise a Tournament")
The UK Go Challenge
The British Go Association has inaugurated a new national Go tournament for schools and their pupils. This is called the UK Go Challenge and is modelled on the highly successful UK Chess Challenge which regularly attracts more than 60,000 chess playing pupils each year. Like the UK Chess Challenge, this is a tournament where everyone can take part and everyone can win a prize. The best players can go through to a national final.
How will it Work?
In its first stage the tournament is played once a week in a school or at a club, either during lunch break or in an after school or evening session. There is no travelling involved. During the summer term five rounds of Go on a medium or small size board are played and some of the contestants will win various small prizes.
The rules of the tournament have been kept simple so that a teacher who has just learnt Go should be able to run it! Help is available by phone, e-mail and the website www.ukgochallenge.com, for any queries about the game of Go or the rules of the competition. The organisers can also arrange for a visit by a Go volunteer or an expert Go teacher to any school or club getting started.
For more information or to enroll in the tournament contact:
UK Go Challenge,
2 Townsend Close,
Milton,
CAMBRIDGE
CB4 6DN
Telephone: 01223 563932
e-mail: info@ukgochallenge.com
or visit www.ukgochallenge.com
Types of Go Tournament
Go players enjoy both even-game and handicapped tournaments. But the majority of tournaments in the UK use a hybrid system, called the McMahon tournament, which allows players of all strengths to play in a tournament but maximises the number of even games each player will have.
Even-game Tournaments
Even-game tournaments are played where there is a substantial prize or a championship title at stake.
Knockout tournaments are rare among amateurs, because players who have travelled a long distance to a tournament want to play as many games as possible. The Swiss system and round-robin are commonly used (see the section on "How to Organise a Tournament"). Occasionally these tournaments are "zoned" (the players are divided into groups, and each group plays according to the Swiss system or round-robin).
Because there is advantage in Go to playing to Black (because Black moves first) in Go, in even games a specified number of points, known as the "komi", is added to White's score at the end of the game. The komi may be either a whole number or it may include a half-point. The half-point ensures that there are no tied scores so the game cannot be drawn. Some people prefer to avoid draws in this way while others consider that a difference of half a point is insignificant in games between all but the very strongest amateurs, and that a draw is a more reasonable reflection of such a close game. The usual value of komi is 6 points, or a half-point either side of that.
The Go Grading System and Handicap Play
Handicaps are set with reference to the Go grading system, which is similar to the ranking system for martial arts. (Although Go does have statistical rating systems similar to Elo, they are seldom used for any purpose in Go tournament organisation.)
The strongest amateurs are graded 6-dan. (7-dan and 8-dan grades are recognised for amateurs under certain circumstances, but they are conferred by the professional organisations only. They signify players who play as amateurs but are of professional strength.)
The next grade below 6-dan is 5-dan, and so on down to 1-dan. Below 1-dan is 1-kyu, then 2-kyu and so on. No grade is defined as meaning a complete beginner but beginners entering tournaments are often assigned an estimated grade of 35-kyu.
On the full 19x19 board, in a handicap game between players one grade apart, the weaker player simply plays Black without giving any komi. In a handicap game between players who are two or more grades apart, the weaker player takes Black and places some "handicap stones" on the board. The number of handicap stones is the same as the number of grades difference between the players. These handicap stones are usually placed in fixed positions, as shown in How to Play Go above. Alternatively, the weaker player may be allowed to place them wherever on the board he wishes. Once the handicap stones have been placed, White then plays the first move.
Handicaps usually only go up to 9 stones. More are possible, but many people feel that a larger number distorts the game too much. When players' grades differ by more than 9 stones, it is common to use a 9-stone handicap and for White to give and additional "reverse komi", usually set at 10 points per extra grade difference.
Go is normally played on a 19x19 board but some players, particularly beginners, prefer to play on a smaller board. The other common board sizes are 13x13 and 9x9. Playing on a 9x9 board is easier and therefore very suitable for beginners. It is also suitable for playing relatively quick games, for example in a school lunch break.
On 13x13 boards, divide the grade difference by 2.5 to get a realistic handicap, and on 9x9 boards, divide the grade difference by 5 to get a realistic handicap.
Handicap Tournaments
Handicap tournaments are held using the same tournament systems (Swiss, round-robin, etc.) as for even-game tournaments. Handicap tournaments are suitable when the desire is to award small prizes to everyone who does well on the day, rather than a large prize or important title to the strongest player.
McMahon Tournaments
The McMahon system is popular among Western Go players because it enables people of widely differing strengths to play in the same tournament, while at the same time allowing for most players to play even games most of the time. The McMahon tournament format also combines the virtues of being able to award a valuable prize for the strongest performance in the tournament and also prizes to others who have played well relative to their grade.
Players enter a McMahon tournament at their own grade, and this is used to set their initial "McMahon score". In each round, players with the same McMahon score are drawn against one another as far as possible. The McMahon score of the winner goes up by one point for the next round, while that of the loser remains the same.
A few top graded players in the tournament are instead assigned equal, initial McMahon scores. This initial value is called the "bar". So, for example, to say that "the bar is at 2-dan" would mean that everyone who is 2-dan or stronger would start with the same initial McMahon score of a 2-dan. This method provides a pool of the strongest players who are in realistic contention to be the overall winner of the tournament.
A fuller description of the McMahon system is available.
Time Limits
In Go tournaments it is normal to use clocks. Chess clocks or electronic game timers are ideal. For amateur tournaments in Europe, 60 minutes per player for all the moves of the game is the most common time allocation for 19x19 boards. A rough equivalent would be 20-25 minutes on 13x13 boards and 10-15 minutes on 9x9 boards.
These time limits encourage a generally good pace of play while allowing some time for thinking about difficult positions. "Rapidplay" tournaments, with time limits around 25-30 minutes on a 19x19 board, are also fairly popular, as are "Lightning" tournaments which allow 12-20 minutes per player for all the moves.
Overtime: Amateur tournaments played in Asia almost always use the "sudden death" system under which a player loses the game if he has used up all of his allotted time and his flag drops. This is less popular in Europe and the USA, where "Canadian overtime" is usually used. Under this system, when a player's flag first drops he must count out a number of stones for the next stage of the game and his clock is reset to give him a further time allocation. Overtime allocations typically range from 20 stones in 10 minutes to 30 stones in 5 minutes. If a player's flag falls before he has played all these stones, he loses, otherwise, he receives a new allocation of stones and his clock is reset again.
The time limits illustrated here are for adults and stronger players and would be dull for most children. The British Youth Go Championships are played on 19x19 boards at 25 minutes sudden-death, and it has been many years since a game was lost on time. The British Go Association allows very young children to dispense with the clock altogether if they prefer, and this has never caused a problem. (Teenagers and strong players must use clocks though, otherwise a tournament schedule could become chaotic as there might be significant delays to the starting times of later rounds).
Club Ladders
It is a good idea for a school Go club to introduce a club "ladder", to provide some idea of the relative strengths of the children and how much they are improving. A common system is simply to play all games at the appropriate handicap and to adjust a player's "ladder grade" up or down by something between 0.2 and 0.5 stones for each win or loss. When calculating the appropriate handicap simply use the difference in the gradings between the players, rounded to the nearest whole number.
5 A GLOSSARY OF GO TERMS
Alive/Dead
Stones are alive if there is no realistic hope of capturing them, and dead if there is no realistic hope of saving them.
Atari
A stone or a group of stones is "in Atari" if it has only one liberty, and thus at risk of immediate capture.
Capture
Stones that have no liberties are removed from the board and kept as prisoners. At the end of the game, whoever has more territory plus prisoners wins.
Gote
The opposite of Sente. So as a strategic concept Gote means not having the initiative and as a tactical concept it means a play that does not need to be answered urgently. In Japanese, Sente means roughly "the master's hand" and Gote roughly "the pupil's hand".
Invasion
Playing in an area of the board that the opponent is trying to make his territory. The side defending the territory will attack the invader, leading to complicated and exciting fights.
Liberty
A vacant point on the board which is horizontally or vertically adjacent to a stone or a group of stones.
Nigiri
The method by which Go players decide who plays which colour in a friendly game. One player (in oriental tradition, the older or stronger one) takes a handful of white stones, and the other guesses odd or even by placing one or two black stones on the board. If his guess is correct he plays Black, otherwise he plays White.
O-negai shimasu
Before a game starts, Japanese players will bow to one another and say "O-negai shimasu", a formal expression that means roughly "Please do me the honour". It is also the custom to thank the opponent after the game, in one's own language or in theirs.
Sente
This word has two different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. As a strategic concept "Sente" means having the initiative. As a tactical concept it means a play that needs to be answered urgently.
Territory
Vacant points on the board surrounded by stones of one colour. Making territory is the main aim in Go.
Fortunately there is an easy and fun way to teach this methodically.
The first stage is to have your pupils play games against each other with only the kings and pawns on their starting squares, all other pieces are removed from the board. The winner is the first player to advance one of his own pawns to the far side of the board where it can be promoted into a queen. This game is an excellent way to teach the strengths and weaknesses of various pawn formations, and to enable your pupils to learn how the king can be used as an attacking piece in the endgame, when the king can attack the opponent's pawns and often pick some of them off. Encourage your pupils to advance the king quickly, to use it in collaboration with the pawns to create weaknesses in the opponent's pawn structure. This is very much a trial and error process but your pupils should soon pick up the idea.
We recommend that a pupil should play several games with just the kings and pawns, preferably 20 or more, before moving on to the next stage.
Next play several games with kings, rooks and pawns. This introduces castling. Again, the game is won by whichever player first promotes a pawn to a queen. If neither player can do this, the game is drawn.
The next stage is to play several games with kings, knights and pawns. This will teach the pupils how knights can jump around the board quite quickly, attacking the opposing pawns and sometimes forcing them to advance to vulnerable squares or to leave other pawns undefended. After several games with the kings, knights and pawns, your pupils should play with kings, bishops and pawns and then with kings, queens and pawns.
Once your pupils have been through all five stages they will be ready to try playing with the full set of pieces. Those who are particularly enthusiastic should be encouraged to download a free chess-playing program from the Internet, one that has beginner levels that will not discourage the pupils by playing too strong a game. One of the most important things about enjoying chess is that your opponent should not be very much stronger than you are, nor very much weaker.
6 USEFUL CONTACTS
The British Go Association web site is the only contact you need if you are based in the UK.
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