Go!

Dr. Adam Boddison

Objectives

• Discover the history of Go• Develop skills in capturing stones and

obtaining territory• Play Go against each other and calculate the

scores to establish the winner• Play Pair Go

The History of Go

• No reliable history – but it is a game of honour• Myths and legends suggest that Go existed as

2250BC and was invented by the Chinese Emperor Yao as an exercise for his son

• Modern historians suggest it is more likely that Go was used by Chinese astrologers in 1000BC

• The game was played extensively by travelling government officials, which encouraged the spread of Go to Japan and Korea.

The History of Go

• The game became extremely popular in Japan during the 8th Century

• By the 11th Century, Go was an established part of Japanese culture

• The game played then is almost identical to the game played now.

• The only difference is the starting position…

The History of Go

• The Buddhist Monks in Japan were considered to be the best Go players in the world between 900AD and 1300AD

• Go became so important in Japan that a new government office was set up in 1603 dedicated to the development of Go

• Four separate Go schools were established as rivals to each other with a formal ranking system

The History of Go

• If a player was clearly stronger than any of his rivals, then he was called ‘Meijin’ (brilliant man) and was eligible to be in charge of this government office

• Dosaku (1645 – 1702) is considered to be the strongest Go player ever

• Shusaku (1829 – 1862) was also a very strong player and was the best player in Japan for 17 years.

• His games are still studied today by aspiring professional Go players

The History of Go

• The game is still popular in Japan today, but South Korea is now considered to be home to some the strongest professional Go players

• Lee Changho (born in 1975) lives in Korea and is considered to be the strongest player in the world

• The latest development in the game is called ‘Pair Go’, which we will play later today…

• Some are campaigning for Go to be an olympic sport

The Basics of the Game

• The board can be many different sizes. Today we will use a 7x7 grid for simplicity.

The Basics of the Game

• Black and white counters are used. They are usually called ‘stones’

• Black plays first• Players take turns to place their own colour

stones on the board• Stones cannot be placed on top of each other

and cannot be moved

The Basics of the Game

• The stones are placed on the intersections and NOT in the squares (as shown below)

Liberties• Liberties are unoccupied intersections that are

horizontally or vertically adjacent to the a stone.

This stone has 4 liberties

This stone has 2 liberties

Liberties

Which stones have:

no liberties?1 liberty?2 liberties?3 liberties?4 liberties?

2

3

1

6

54

9

108

7

12

13

11

1514

17

16

18

Chains• A chain consists of 2 or more stones that are

connected to each other horizontally or vertically (but NOT diagonally)

Capturing Pieces• If you have a chain, you must consider the liberties

of the whole chain and not just the individual stone.• An individual stone or a chain with no liberties is

captured and must be removed from the board.

Game 1: Capturing Stones

• Take turns to place stones on the board (remember that black should play first)

• Try to capture your opponent’s stones by removing their liberties

• You may pass if you do not want to place a stone on the board

• The game is over when both players pass consecutively

• The player who has captured the most stones wins the game

Strategy Questions

• Are there any good strategies for capturing your opponent’s stones?

• What can you do to protect your own stones from being captured?

• Do you prefer to play with the black stones or the white stones?

• What is the best first move?• Are chains helpful or annoying?

Territories• Obtaining ‘territory’ is the main objective of Go• In the full version of the game, the winner is

decided by counting territory• Whoever has the most territory at the end of the

game is the winner• The difference between the amount of territory

that you and your opponent have shows how close the game was

• Territory is calculated by counting the number of points surrounded by your colour stones and then adding the number of stones that you have captured from your opponent

Territories

Territories

Territories

Territories

Territories

Territories

Suicide• You cannot play a stone in a position where it

will be immediately captured. This is called ‘suicide’ and is not allowed.

Ko

Ko

Ko

Ko

Ko

Ko

Game 2: Obtaining Territory

• Try to obtain the biggest possible territory• You may pass if you do not want to place a stone

on the board and the game is over when both players pass consecutively

• At the end of the game, calculate your territory by counting your surrounded intersections on the board and then adding the number of stones you have captured

• The player with the biggest territory wins the game

Strategy Questions

• Are there any good strategies for obtaining territory?

• What can you do to protect your own territory from being reduced?

• If you are playing with the black stones, do you have an advantage over your opponent?

• Is it better to concentrate on capturing stones or gaining territory?

Komi• Black is considered to have a significant

advantage over white• At the end of the game the black score is reduced

to reflect this• The reduction is known as the komi• In the full game, the komi is 7½ points• For our version of the game, we will take the

komi to be 3½ points• Why might half points be used for the komi?

Half Points

• Why are half points used for the komi?

Traditional Starting Position

Dead Stones and Groups

Dead Stones and Groups

Creating Eyes

• A group of stones creates an eye if:– an intersection is completely surrounded, and– all of the stones in the group are in a chain.

Creating Eyes

Creating Eyes

Double Eyes

Game 3: Creating Eyes

• Try to obtain the biggest possible territory• You may pass if you do not want to place a stone

on the board and the game is over when both players pass consecutively

• Use double eyes to create living groups that cannot be captured

• The player with the biggest territory at the end of the game wins

Strategy Questions

• If a group of stones is dead, is it worth trying to save them?

• Once you have a double eye, should you continue to make more eyes (3, 4 or even 10 eyes!) or should you play elsewhere on the board?

• If your opponent has a dead group of stones, should you capture them as quickly as possible or not?

Tournament Conventions

• Games are normally played on a 19x19 board• To decide who plays black and who plays white,

one player grabs a handful of white stones and their opponent has to guess whether the number stones in the hand is odd or even.

• If the opponent is correct, he can choose what colour he would like to be. Otherwise, the player holding the stones can choose what colour he would like to be.

Tournament Conventions

• Clocks are used is the same way as they are in professional chess tournaments. If a player runs out of time, they lose the game.

• If a player is late for the game, then the time they have is reduced.

• If a player is more than 30 minutes late for a game, then they automatically lose the game.

• A committee of judges are usually on hand to settle disputes between players.

Seki

Seki

• Create your own examples of Seki• If no player can obtain territory from Seki, how

might it be useful during a game?

Cutting and Connecting

• Connecting is when you try to join smaller groups together to make larger groups

• Cutting is when you place your stones to prevent your opponent from connecting groups together

• Connecting and cutting can make a huge difference to a game…

Connecting and Cutting

Connecting and Cutting

Game 4: Pair Go

• This version of the game has become very popular in Europe.

• The game has four players; two players for white and two players for black.

• Players take turn to place stones of their own colour, but no discussion of tactics is allowed during the game.

• As usual the team with the most territory at the end of the game wins.

Go Today

• There are many computer programmes that are good enough to play chess against strong human opponents

• No computer programmes have yet been made to challenge the strongest Go players

• Professional Go players play the game for a living by competing in major tournaments

• Some of the top prizes are £125,000 (LG Cup), £100,000 (Samsung Cup) and £250,000 (Ing Cup)

Go Today• If you would like to play Go more after today, you

might want to contact the British Go Association www.britgo.org

• On this website, you can play against the computer or against other players over the internet

• You can also find out about local Go clubs in your area

• If you or your school would like to buy a Go set, you might want to check out www.britgo.org/importfiles/youth/paydayeduc.pdf

QUESTIONS?