Playboard
  • Lesson 12 of 12
  • First strategy
  • 3 min

Ending a Game of Go: Borders, Passing and Dead Stones

A game ends when both players pass. Playboard then scores the board as it stands, so a few things have to be done before you pass. You play Black.

Step 1 of 4

  1. Close the border

    Black's wall on E has a gap at E5, right next to White's stone on F5. An area is your territory only if your stones alone surround it, and through E5 the left side touches White. If both players passed now, none of it would be Black's. Close the border.

    Your move

    Close the gap in your wall.

  2. Neutral points

    Here the walls don't touch. File E lies between them: nine empty points with Black on one side and White on the other. Whose territory is E5?

    Question

  3. When to pass

    Every border is closed and no neutral point is left. Black has 36 points of territory, White 27 and 6.5 komi. It is Black's move. What now?

    Question

  4. Capture them first

    White's three stones in the corner, B9, A8 and B8, are dead: they have one eye, A9, and no room for a second. But Playboard scores the board as it stands. If both players passed now, the stones would stay, A9 would count as White's and B7 as nobody's, and the points under White's stones would not be yours. Capture dead stones before you pass.

    Your move

    Capture White's corner stones before you pass.

What you learned

  • Close every border before you pass. An area is your territory only if your stones alone surround it.
  • Neutral points are nobody's territory. Fill them before you pass.
  • Pass when no move gains anything. A stone inside your own territory gains nothing.
  • The board is scored as it stands. Capture enemy stones left inside your territory before you pass, even dead ones.

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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