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  • Lesson 10 of 12
  • First strategy
  • 2 min

Go Strategy: Corners First, Then Sides, Then Centre

Territory is the empty space you surround. Where you surround it decides how many stones it costs. You play Black.

Step 1 of 3

  1. The edges do the work

    Black has walled off four points three times. In the corner, A8, B8, A9 and B9 take four stones, because two edges do the rest of the wall. On the side, H7, J7, H8 and J8 take six. In the centre, D4, E4, D5 and E5 take eight. That is the reason behind the old advice: corners first, then sides, then the centre.

  2. Where in the corner?

    The bottom-left corner is empty, and it is your move. Three of the points you could take it with are marked.

    Question

  3. Take the empty corner

    Three corners have a stone in them. The top-right one is still empty.

    Your move

    Claim the top-right corner.

What you learned

  • Territory costs fewer stones in a corner than on a side, and fewer on a side than in the centre.
  • That is why players usually take the corners first, then the sides.
  • Claim a corner from the third or fourth line, not from the first or second.
  • On a 9×9 board the corners are close together, so the centre point, E5, is also a strong first move.

In this course

Unit 1The rules

  1. Go Rules: Liberties, Capture, Ko and Scoring

Unit 2Capturing stones

  1. Atari in Go: How to Escape and Which Way to Run
  2. The Ladder in Go: Chase a Stone to the Edge
  3. The Net in Go (Geta): Capture Without an Atari
  4. Snapback in Go: Give Up One Stone, Capture More
  5. Capturing Races in Go (Semeai): How to Win Them

Unit 3Life and death

  1. Two Eyes in Go: Why a Group With Two Eyes Lives
  2. False Eyes in Go: Why Some Eyes Don't Count
  3. The Vital Point in Go: Kill or Live in One Move

Unit 4First strategy

  1. Go Strategy: Corners First, Then Sides, Then Centre
  2. Connect and Cut in Go: Keep Your Stones Together
  3. Ending a Game of Go: Borders, Passing and Dead Stones

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