The rules of Go

Everything you need for your first game. Reading time: about five minutes.

Grab that stone: that’s nearly all there is to it!

The goal

Two players take turns placing stones to surround territory. Whoever has more points at the end wins. Black goes first, you play on the intersections of the lines, and a stone stays where it is unless it gets captured.

Liberties

The empty points right next to a stone are its liberties: up, down, left and right, not diagonally. Stones of one colour that touch form a chain and share their liberties.

A black stone in the open with its four liberties marked.

Capturing

A stone or chain with only one liberty left is in atari. Once that last liberty is taken too, the stones come off the board.

A black stone surrounded by three white stones. Only one liberty is left, marked on the right.

White has played the last liberty. The black stone is gone and its point is empty.

No suicide

You may not play where your stone would have no liberties straight away. The exception: your move captures enemy stones, because that opens up a new liberty.

Ko

Sometimes both sides could recapture the same stone again and again. To stop that going on forever, the ko rule says a position may not repeat. You have to play elsewhere first before you may capture back.

A ko shape: White can capture the middle black stone by playing the empty point, and Black could then capture straight back.

Living: two eyes

A group with two separate empty points inside it, called eyes, can’t be captured: your opponent would have to fill both at once, and can’t play into either one alone.

A black group in the corner with two separate eyes, surrounded by white stones. White can never fill both at once, so the group lives.

Ending and scoring

When neither player sees a useful move, both pass in turn and the game is over. You then count territory, meaning the empty points you surround. Hoshi does the counting for you and shows the result. White gets extra points to make up for going second, called komi.

Black has walled off the left of a small board, White the right. The empty points on each side are that player’s territory.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account?

No. You can start playing right away. An account is optional and useful if you want to play on several devices or have a rating.

Does Hoshi cost anything?

No. There are no ads and no tracking.

Which board size should I start with?

Start with 9×9. A game there often takes just a few minutes, and you quickly see what your moves do.

Will I play against real people?

That’s up to you. Finding an opponent matches you with people when someone is looking for a game. Bots are always labelled as bots.

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