Guide to playing Go for beginners

Go is one of the oldest board games that is still popular today. It is a popular choice among many people because it is both entertaining and helps train the brain. If you’re new, follow Slotvip‘s instructions on how to play Go Well.

Guide to playing Go for beginners

You need to understand some of the game’s rules and regulations before playing it. Besides, you need to prepare some basic tools, including a board (9×9, 13×13, or 19×19), chess pieces (black and white), and a friend to play with. For beginners, here is a detailed guide on how to play basic Go.

Rules

Like other types of chess, Go has its own rules that players need to understand before starting a game. Specifically:

Article 1: When starting a game, the board must be empty, meaning no pieces appear on the board. The person holding the black piece is allowed to go first.

Article 2: Players have the right to place their pieces anywhere on the board. The correct placement is at the squares’ intersection (see picture). If placed on a square or on the edge, it is incorrect.

Article 3: Once placed on the board, the pieces are immobile. The opponent will capture only pieces that run out of air.

Article 4: In each turn, a player can only place 1 piece on the board. If either side places 2 or more pieces, they may be considered to have lost.

Article 5: When it is their turn, the player has the right not to move if they have not found a solution. A game will end when both players pass. At that time, the person with more points wins the game.

Go’s objective is to capture land.

Land is the empty area on the board that each side can surround. The more land captured, the higher the player’s score. Therefore, Go’s primary goal is to capture land on the board. However, according to some versions, in addition to the goal of capturing land, you also need to pay attention to the number of pieces left on the board.

Go Rules

To understand the rules of playing Go, first of all, you need to understand the concept of “Qi.” When placing a piece on the board, the intersections around that piece are its qi. For example, in the picture below, the “x” marks represent each piece’s Qi.

If your piece is not blocked by any of the opponent’s pieces, you have 4 Qi points. The opponent will lose 1 Qi point for each piece they place on a square.

Rules for capturing pieces

The goal of each Go player is to make the opponent’s pieces lose all their energy. For instance, the following figure illustrates that if the white pieces move to the “x” positions on the board, they will capture the black pieces marked “o.” At that moment, the Black “o” pieces have depleted all their energy, turning them into White’s captives.

When to capture pieces

Playing Go requires capturing the opponent’s pieces, but it depends on the situation. For example, if the opponent’s pieces are surrounded with no way out, you do not need to spend another piece to capture the opponent’s components. Or, if the value of those pieces is insignificant (only a few pieces), you can also skip capturing them.

How to calculate points

This type of chess has many different scoring rules, depending on the rules of the players and organizations. But the following is a common scoring method that many people apply:

Points from land: Each land square that the player has completely surrounded with his pieces is counted as 1 point.

Points from pieces: Each piece remaining on the board at the end of the game is worth 1 point.