Playboard
  • Lesson 1 of 12
  • The rules
  • 5 min

Go Rules: Liberties, Capture, Ko and Scoring

Go has few rules and takes a lifetime to master. This lesson teaches all of them on the board you play on. You play Black.

Step 1 of 7

  1. Stones go on the points

    Go on Playboard is played on a 9×9 board. Stones go on the intersections, not in the squares: 81 points. The board starts empty, Black moves first, and the players take turns placing one stone each. A stone never moves. It only leaves the board if it is captured.

  2. Liberties

    The empty points directly next to a stone, up, down, left and right, are its liberties. The stone on E5 has four, marked with stars. Diagonals do not count. On the edge a stone has three, in the corner two.

  3. Capture a stone

    Fill a stone's last liberty and it is captured: off the board, and a prisoner worth one point to you. The white stone on E5 has one liberty left.

    Your move

    Capture the white stone.

  4. Escape from atari

    Now your stone on E5 has one liberty left. It is in atari: White can take it next move. Save it by extending onto that liberty. Touching stones of one colour form a group, and a group shares its liberties.

    Your move

    Save your stone on E5.

  5. Capture a group

    A group dies the same way as one stone. The white pair on E5 and E6 has two liberties, E4 and F5. Atari it from F5 and White runs out to E4, into open space. Atari it from E4 and White can only run into your stones.

    Your move

    Capture the white group.

  6. Two illegal moves

    You may not play where your stone would have no liberties, called suicide, unless it captures. Black's E5 has no liberty of its own, but it captures D5, so it is legal. White may not take straight back at D5: that would undo the capture, and the ko rule says White must play elsewhere first. The small square marks the ko point.

  7. How the game is scored

    Two passes in a row end the game. Each player scores a point for every empty point they surround, their territory, plus one per prisoner. White adds komi, 6.5 points, for moving second. Here nothing was captured. Black's wall on column E surrounds A to D, 36 points. White's wall on F surrounds G, H and J, 27 points (go boards skip the letter I). Who wins?

    Question

What you learned

  • Stones go on the intersections, and Black moves first.
  • Liberties are the empty points next to a stone. A group shares them.
  • Fill the last liberty to capture. Extend to escape atari.
  • Suicide is illegal unless it captures. Ko forbids retaking at once.
  • Score is territory plus prisoners, and White adds 6.5 komi.

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

Lessons for every game

Take it to the table.

Put what you just read into practice. No sign-up needed.

Play GoRead the Go rulebook