What is Go?

Go is a board game for two players. With 30 million players around the world, and origins in Asia as early as 2000 BC, it is both the oldest pure strategy board game still played and one of the most popular.
The rules are very simple and can be taught in minutes, but the game is so subtly layered and well balanced that people happily spend their lives discovering its secrets.

Playing The Game

The two players, Black and White, face off over an empty grid. They alternate placing stones onto the board, each trying to spread out to control a greater area, while avoiding becoming too vulnerable to attack and capture.
As the game progresses, Black and White form areas of control over the board. Elaborate patterns are created from the balance of give and take, offense and defense. The balance shifts repeatedly, as unclaimed or weakly defended areas are disputed by both players.
Once there are no more contested areas, the game is over and the winner is the player who controls more of the board. The resulting patterns show the map of a meeting of minds, the visible record of a conversation that transcends language.

As Challenging As You Like

Beneath the simplicity of the rules, Go rewards learning to any level a player wishes to reach. In Japan, China and Korea, professional players devote an entire career to studying and advancing the levels of play.
For amateur players, the game is as challenging as a person wishes to make it. As a regular event among friends, as a competitive focus in a club, or as an occasional leisurely distraction, Go is enjoyable no matter how serious you want to be.

Easy To Teach, Easy To Learn

Because the rules are very simple, the game is easy to teach. An elegant handicap system allows players at different levels of strength to have a fair challenge: the weaker player plays Black and has a number of free moves to start the game. Playing on smaller board grids also lets games be played quickly without changing the rules, allowing a beginner to progress easily.

Visit us!!

Players of Go love to teach others about their favourite game. Contact us to find out more about this fascinating game, and you are sure to find willing teachers and opponents.

Contact Adress

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For more information about Go continue with the Learning section.

You can download free Go programms and the rules with an introduction in our Download section.

Part of the text above is protected by Copyright 2002 Ben Finney.

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