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The rules of the game of go. "Stage" games: Go, part 4 - rules, equipment, game traditions

Remember I once conveyed to you the news that for the first time in history

But computers have been playing chess, checkers and any other games for a long time, where there is no element of randomness and everything is based on mathematical calculation. So why was Go a tough nut to crack? No matter how hard the programmers fought, the masters won over any programs for many years. Because go is an art they claim on popmech.ru

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When people find out that someone is playing Go, people react in the same way: “What are these pebbles? Whether it's chess or checkers! " Few understand the essence of the patterns that players lay out of stones - from the outside, the game system looks monstrously confusing. At the same time, go is one of the most widespread board games in the world. It is also gaining its place in Russia - more than 150 participants came to the last Moscow tournament. Go is much older than chess and also originated in Asia, but where exactly is not clear: over four thousand years, dozens of civilizations have changed, powerful empires have flourished and collapsed, there have been grandiose migrations of peoples, and the trace is lost on the border of China, India and Tibet. Nevertheless, chess is much more popular, and this raises the question - why? How does it attract and repel it?

    Legend of go

    Other names for the game, dzain ("seated hermit") and ran-ka ("rotted ax"), go back to an old legend. Once the woodcutter Wang Zhi met elders in the mountains who were indulging in an incomprehensible game, came up and began to observe. When the game ended, the players melted into thin air, Wang Zhi found himself turning gray, his clothes decayed, and his hatchet rotted. In his native village strangers met him, no one recognized him, and only the decrepit old woman remembered how she was told in childhood that a hundred years ago a certain woodcutter had gone into the forest and disappeared.

Tactics and strategy

Go is a game of capture. Players divide the board with stones, and the main value is territory, empty points (cross-hairs of lines on the board) that the player fenced off for himself. During the turn, the player either places one stone at any unoccupied point, or passes. The first move is made by Black, this gives an advantage, and in order to equalize the balance, the “Komi” rule was introduced in the 19th century: before the start of the game, White is compensated by 6.5 points. Therefore, there are no draws in go - for all actions in the game, only a whole number of points is given, and 0.5 points will always serve as a means of superiority.

The game techniques are relatively simple: surround, build a fortress, divide space. The stones are placed on the crosshairs, each in turn bordered by four free intersections (at the edge of the board - three, in the corner - two), which are called "dame" (breath). As long as a stone or group has contact with at least one libertarian, they "live", but if everything is blocked by the opponent's stones, they are removed from the board. It is forbidden to place a stone at a point that has no liberties, such a move is allowed only if the placed stone takes the last libertarian from the opponent's group and captures it. The environment is the basis of go, but not the goal, although it happens that the death of a large group brings victory. Remember, at school, many played "dots"? So, this game, in principle, evolved from simplified go.

The set stone remains motionless and can "survive" only by uniting in a group with stones in the neighborhood: in order to "kill" such a group, it is necessary to surround it from the outside and from the inside. Each new stone enlarges the group, it captures space and forms closed voids ("eyes") inside itself. A group with more than one "eye" is called a fortress. She is not threatened with death, since it is impossible to close both "eyes" in one move. When there are so many fortresses that their walls touch, and there is nowhere to build new ones, the players divide the remaining space. Where the chess game ends with the defeat of the enemy's army, a truce ensues in go: the players pass, exchange prisoners (stones removed from the board) and score points. Each surrounded point or captured stone is worth one point, and the one with the most wins.

Guo is considered a peaceful game, but when analyzing the game, the words "cutting", "strangulation", "captivity", "death" are heard. Who is on the other side of the board? A beginner player will answer "enemy", because you need to win, and therefore - to fight! An experienced one will say "friend", because his goal is correct interaction, but how to interact with the enemy? For the master of the game, there is no one there: you are on the other side of the board.

    If the white player places his stone on crosshair A, the black group will lose the last degree of freedom (liberty), go into the “captured” status and be removed from the board.

Go in Russia

In autumn, Moscow hosted the Japanese Ambassador's Go Cup, the largest Russian tournament attended by world-class masters. Last year, Meijin Tetsuya Mitani and Vice-President of the European Go Federation Ms. Li Ting attended the tournament - they held master classes, debriefing and simultaneous games. The festival "Japanese Autumn", within the framework of which the tournament was held, is organized with the aim of acquainting Russians with the cultural traditions of the Land of the Rising Sun. In Russia, go is an official sport; in the summer of 2016, the European Go-Congress will take place in St. Petersburg, but, despite this, the popularity of the game is growing rather slowly. This is partly due to the fact that there are no teachers willing to work with beginners, moreover, there is a lack of commercial conditions in which teaching Go will become a worthy business (at least self-supporting). But there are more and more enthusiasts for white and black stones, and enthusiasts, as you know, are a terrible force.

Nuclear go and other stories

Emperor Yao of the Han Dynasty (2356-2234 BC) is mentioned as the inventor of go. Allegedly, his son had a foolish disposition, and for his guidance they invented a game that teaches rational thinking. Go was obligatory for the aristocrat and was one of the "four virtues" (go, music, calligraphy and painting).

But the principles of the game are far from fun. Most likely, her cradle is a monastery or a hermit's cave. Buddhists saw the unity of form and emptiness on the board, astrologers - the starry sky and the battle of earth and water. The very same strategic planning with a harmonious distribution of resources goes back to the ancient Taoist principle: "achieve great with little effort." Apparently, initially, go was not a game, but something else - fortune telling, ritual, psychological practice, or a means of communication (one of the names of go is syudan, "talking with stones").

In the 8th century, go penetrated Japan, where it became a court entertainment. In the XII century, a period of internecine wars began, the shogun took power, and go was equated with martial arts. The story that happened 500 years ago is indicative. The two sword masters, Miyamoto Musashi and Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi, were renowned for their art, and the aristocrats argued over who would prevail. One day their paths crossed. They had never met, but they recognized each other by their demeanor, description of swords and appearance. The situation was a dead end: to disperse without a duel meant to lose face, and a duel could end in the death of both fighters. Legend has it that they went to a teahouse to think about what had happened and decided to play Go. Seeing that neither one is inferior to the other, the masters interrupted the game and dispersed, full of respect for each other.

Go was the basis of Japan's military doctrine in the 20th century: analysis of the Pacific theater of military operations showed that the principles of Japanese generals are similar. By marking the base and the direction of the main attacks on the map, one can see that the strategic superiority was on the side of Japan, but the lack of resources did not allow the "stones" to gain ground.

    An example of a "seki" (dead-end) situation. Neither Black nor White can place a stone on the marked points without placing their own stone in the “atari” situation (that is, a position in which the stone has only one last lame).

They also played during the war. The match for the honimbo title in 1945 turned out to be unprecedentedly tragic: on August 6, the game was interrupted by a blinding flash and a terrible explosion, the shock wave knocked out glass, threw stones, threw people on the floor. Everyone was confused, stunned, could not understand what had happened, but they restored their position and finished the game - this was in Itsukaichi, a suburb of Hiroshima. "Nuclear Go" went down in history as an example of true Japanese fortitude.

Since the 16th century, many Japanese institutions have maintained a tradition of taking into account the ability to play Go when selecting for a position. Go is considered a respected profession in Japan, and sponsors are willing to invest in its advertising. There are about 500 professional players in the country, they fight for titles, write books, comment on games, judge tournaments, participate in festivals and give lessons. The four schools formed two go academies: Nihon Ki-in in the eastern part of the country and Kansai Ki-in in the western. By the way, in Japan the game is called "i-go", in China - "weiqi", in Korea - "baduk".

Go does not stand still: new openings and rules appeared already in the 20th century, first in Japan, then in Korea, and nowadays China has taken the lead: earlier Go was persecuted in the Celestial Empire, but the Party's call to become the first in everything also touched the ancient game. This is how the game becomes the property of mankind: China forged a blade, Japan tempered it, Korea honed it to shine, and now everyone has the right to look for their own path.

    Ladder

    Black cannot "escape" until the edge of the board breaks off the order of moves.

Mathematics plus philosophy

It is surprising that the Go algorithm has not yet been disclosed, and even the most powerful program plays weaker than a human (one victory can be considered an accident, and it is too early to talk about the victory of artificial intelligence over human). The board is large, there are no initially winning openings, and it is impossible to achieve harmonious development by a simple enumeration of options - there are more of them than there are atoms in the Universe. The stones are the same, the only thing that matters is where they stand and the shape they form. Assessing the potential of constructions, choosing priorities are complex tasks associated with such branches of mathematics as graph theory and pattern recognition. Optimal actions are important here, and this is not yet possible for a computer. Perhaps go is the key to artificial intelligence, and when the machine learns to regularly beat a person, it will reach out and say: “Hey, maybe that's enough? I am an intelligent creature, let's discuss my rights. "

In addition, there are many psychological, non-mathematical subtleties that a computer cannot predict. For example, there is a “seki” situation, when groups freeze on the line of attack, because the beginner is guaranteed to die. There is a mutual capture of a stone - "ko": a player can take it only through a move, which must be made to any other point on the board, otherwise there will be no end to captures.

Finally, there is a philosophical connotation to the game of Go - it also influences the style of play and decision-making. Go teaches understanding that it is impossible to achieve everything - you have to take as much as you can keep, and share the rest. Sooner or later, the player realizes that he is losing strength in a fight for stubs (separate stones). Mastery comes with an understanding of the principles of harmony, skills of development, optimization of efforts, planning and arrangement. And if chess educates a fighter, then a ruler, an organizer.

The art of playing

There is an upsurge in interest in Go around the world, but the best players are still born in Asia. On the one hand, go is a counting game, with tough pressure, filigree changes of pace, requiring an accurate analysis of the operational situation, in this the Europeans are strong: the culture of the West develops the left, analytical hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for logic, speech, and counting. But in the game we must first understand all the parts of the whole, and only then put them together, and here the Asians, for whom the particular is only a part of the general, are stronger. Hieroglyphics, tonal languages, calligraphy, meditation - all this develops the right, "mute" hemisphere, which is in charge of intuition, artistic, musical and other illogical abilities. As a result, where the European begins to rush and make confused decisions, the Asian sees fragments of an unfinished picture and calmly corrects the shortcomings.

We are diligently building islands of stability around ourselves, as if we intend to live forever. The student of go needs to constantly change, because only with changes does growth and development occur. Overcoming fear and resentment at the first stage, greed and anger at the second, inertness and skepticism at the third, boredom and fatigue at the fourth - these are the stages of learning go. Over time, it is not the technical problems of the game that begin to interfere with the player, but character flaws - absent-mindedness, fervor, uncertainty, greed, adventurism. Sooner or later, each student will run into this “ceiling” (there are several of them). Go is not like other games where you can do without memorizing standard positions and techniques, which is why it is a tool, not a goal.

Go titles

One of the strongest players of the past, Nikkai (1559-1623) became the first meijin (master) and headed the House of Honimbo, the first Japanese school of go. Two players of this school, Honimbo Dosaku and Honimbo Shusaku, remained in history under the nickname "kisei" ("saint"). Today, Meijin, Honimbo and Kisei are rolling titles that professional players compete for.

It is impossible to tell what is go - a game, sport, philosophy, meditation or combat simulator. Sometimes it seems that this game selects people, and not they choose it. And perhaps in the future go will unite the West and the East, the right hemisphere of the brain with the left, reconcile physicists and lyricists and bring together all religious and philosophical movements. So is it any wonder that this game is so significant for Japan? Let's stop and listen. For our world is vain, and life is impetuous.

Dmitry Skiryuk is a specialist in the history of board games, the author of a number of reconstructions of lost rules, outlines of game boards and figures of various disciplines

Some interesting facts about the game of Go:

  • Go is the oldest game in the world, the rules of which have been preserved in their original form. The age of the game is 2500-3000 years old, although some estimate as much as 4000 years.
  • Go is the second most popular game in the world, second only to the Chinese Xianzi chess.
  • Go in Japan is called I-go (囲 碁), in Korea - Baduk (바둑), in China - Weichi (围棋).
  • The best professional players make about a million dollars a year. In 2004 the best was Cho Woo, 9th professional dan from Japan, who won $ 1.04 million.
  • The rules of Go are so simple that a four-year-old can understand them, but at the same time, they are complex enough so that computer programs cannot beat the best players.
  • It is believed that there are more possible positions in the game than there are atoms in the visible universe.
  • In Japan, China and Korea, there are TV channels dedicated entirely to the game of Go.
  • Players take Go very seriously. They can buy what is essentially a 42cm x 45cm x 18cm rectangular piece of wood for $ 127,000.
  • The largest Go game was played in the Japanese city of Oita on a 40 x 40 m field. Each stone had a diameter of 1.8 m and weighed about one kilogram.
  • Go is considered one of the main challenges to artificial intelligence.
  • The immortality and constant veneration of the game of Go for millennia is evidenced by the fact that the two strongest players of all time often called Huang Longshi (1651? - 1691?) from China and Honinbo Dosaku (1645 - 1702) from Japan.
  • There is a historical story that tells that in the 17th century the laws of Tibet were decided by three parties of Go.
  • Go is believed to stop or even prevent the common dementia of senility. In addition, Go can reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Go has a tremendous impact on the mental development of children, especially in the field of reasoning.
  • Chess is basically a game for the left hemisphere of the brain. When playing Go, both hemispheres are actively involved.

And a little more about the game:

1. Guo supposedly appeared in China, even before our era and belonged there to the 4 virtues, along with calligraphy, painting and playing the lute.

2 ... Many years later, Go came to Japan and did not fail. The Japanese eventually became the greatest masters of the game. Therefore, they are mistakenly considered the creators of Go.

3. The Japanese loved Go so much that even during the Second World War they held major tournaments. During the fall of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the second game of the match for the title of champion was played in the city. This game is called in the Guo textbooks " Atomic bomb party»

4. Surprisingly, in Korea in the late 80s began Go mass madness... The country's population was half the size of Japan, while Korea had more players. In the last 54 major international tournaments, the Koreans have won 41 victories.

5. In Go there is a very interesting system of equalizing the chances of White and Black to win - the Komi. Black has an advantage due to the first move and therefore White initially plays with a small handicap - now this value ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 points. Basically, they use a fractional number of points in komi to exclude the possibility of a draw. In my opinion, a wonderful rule excluding contractual games.

6. Go has its own traditions of etiquette. According to Go etiquette, the strongest rated player must play with white and, if necessary, the weak player is given a head start - Komi. Surrender in case of defeat can be done in two ways, either simply say “surrender”, or put more than one stone on the board at the same time. You can always ask the player who won you to parse the game and indicate the moves that are wrong in his opinion - the opponent should not refuse.

7. There is very an interesting version of the game Go- playing with stones of the same color. Both opponents must mentally remember what color the stones are, while all stones on the board are laid out in the same color.

8. Go is considered one of the most difficult games for a computer. Until now, the strongest programs cannot play at least at the level of the first dan (in the previous article I briefly described the Kyu-Dan system).

- goban, stones, bowls.

Go is played on a rectangular field called a board or goban, lined with vertical and horizontal lines. The go board is not square; the sides are in a 15:14 ratio, because in this proportion, from the player's angle, the board is in an ideal perspective. The long side compensates for the inevitable distortion of perspective that prevents players from seeing the position clearly. The standard board has a 19x19 line pattern, for training and short informal games smaller boards can be used: usually 13x13 or 9x9 lines, much less often - 11x11, 15x15, 17x17 lines, but, theoretically, nothing prevents you from using an arbitrary rectangular board. Usually the board is made of wood.
Also, to play Go, stones are needed - special tokens of two contrasting colors, most often black and white. In the Japanese tradition, the stones have a lenticular (biconvex, lenticular) shape (the most common version), in the Chinese - flat-convex. A complete set for the game should contain 361 stones - 180 white and 181 black (real sets often contain 180 stones of each color, there are also sets of 160 stones on sale - for most games this is enough). Stones can be made from plastic, glass, ceramics, shells, common, semi-precious or precious stones.
Traditionally, the set for the game includes bowls - vessels with lids, most often made of wood. They serve to store stones, and during the game, players put the captured opponent's stones into the lids removed from the bowls.

Fundamental rules

Two players are playing, one of whom receives black stones, the other white stones.

Before the start of the game, the board is empty. Black goes first. Then the moves are made in turn.

When playing with a handicap, the weaker one always plays black, and several black stones are placed on the board before the start of the game. In this case, placing handicap stones on the board is formally considered to be Black's first move, after which White comes into play.

The order of the game.

Making a move, the player places one of his stones on the board at any unoccupied intersection point of the lines (intersections are called points). Stones, once placed on the board, do not move, but can be captured by the enemy and removed from it. A move is considered made if the player has placed a stone on the board and released the hand holding it. It is impossible to move an already placed stone, from which the hand has been taken; the player who does this is automatically lost.

Each stone must have at least one liberty (point of freedom, breathing point) - a vertically or horizontally adjacent (but not diagonally!) Unoccupied point. Neighboring stones or stones connected by a continuous chain of neighbors form a group and divide the liberties among themselves (that is, any lame of any stone in a group refers simultaneously to all stones of this group). When a stone or group of stones is surrounded by the opponent's stones so that it does not have any freedom points, it is considered captured and removed from the board.

In most variants of the rules, it is forbidden to make a move, as a result of which one's group loses the last point of freedom (a suicidal move). An exception is the case when, as a result of this move, the enemy group is deprived of all liberties; in this case, the player captures the opponent's group, and his own remains on the board (it is easy to see that after removing the opponent's group, the player's group will already have at least one libertarian).

Rule ko: it is forbidden to make a move that leads to a repetition of a position previously encountered in the game. The exact interpretation of this prohibition in different systems of go rules may differ slightly.

The player can refuse the next move by saying "pass".

End of the party

When both players pass in a row, the game is over. This is usually done when there are no points left on the board, the moves to which can bring the players points. A group of opponent's stones, which by the end of the game has not been removed from the board, but deliberately doomed to death if played out correctly, is considered a "prisoner" (option: "dead"). She is removed from the board at the end of the game and joins the stones captured by the player.

Go scoring

At the end of the game, the points scored by the players are calculated. The player receives one point for each of the points on the board surrounded by stones of only his color, and one point for each captured enemy stone, or for each own stone that remained on the board by the end of the game. In addition, a few points can be added to the player playing white as compensation for the right of the first move of black (komi).

The player with the most points wins. If the players have scored an equal number of points, a draw may be awarded. In modern tournaments, the Komi value is usually chosen to be non-integer, as a result of which white and black cannot have an equal number of points (white adds a non-integer number of Komi points, black always has an integer number of points, so that an equal number of points for white and black cannot be obtained in principle), respectively, there are no draws.

Additional rules of the game of go

There are a number of optional rules that may vary from party to party and are established by agreement between the players or in accordance with the rules of a particular competition.

Komi

Compensation to the white player for the fact that he moves second is "Komi". The right of the first move gives black an advantage, to compensate for which a certain number of points is added to white at the end of the game. Currently, as a rule, a non-integer Komi value is used (5.5; 6.5; 7.5 points) to exclude the possibility of a tie in the game. Currently, in official tournaments, games (with the exception of handicaps) without Komi are not practiced.

Handicap

If there is a significant difference in the strengths of the players, a handicap game is possible. In this case, the weakest player plays black without Komi or with "reverse Komi" (a few extra points are given not to White, but to Black). If the difference in strength is large, the handicap is given in the form of handicap stones - several black stones are placed on the board before White's first move. The handicap stones give Black a serious advantage: one handicap stone is equivalent to about 10-15 extra points.

In a series of several games, the so-called "tournament handicap" can be used: they play without komi and the weaker player plays more games with black than with white. With a black-white-black handicap, the weakest plays with black two out of every three games, with a black-black-black handicap - plays only with black.

Notation

The traditional go board does not have contour lines and verticals like those used on chess boards. If it is required to verbally designate a certain point on the board, its coordinates can be indicated as a pair of numbers from 1 to 19. For example, point 2-4 is located at the intersection of the second vertical and the fourth horizontal, counting from the upper left corner. Since the stones of go do not move around the board, at the same time a convenient and most visual way of recording the move of a game is a graphic method - a game board is drawn on the sheet, and the numbers of moves are placed in the points where the moves were made. The moves to the points where the move has already been made (moves to the territory from which the stones of one of the players were removed) are recorded separately aside. For example, an entry next to the diagram of the form 45 - 32 means that the 45th move was made to the point, which is already marked on the diagram by the 32nd move. With the manual method of recording, the moves of the players can be inscribed with ink of different colors. In the printed publications of games in the places where the moves are made, stones of the corresponding color are depicted, and the numbers of the moves are put on the stones. In books, games are often depicted in several sequential diagrams: the first one shows the initial moves, the next - the continuation, while only those moves that refer to this diagram are numbered (see, for example, the diagrams given in the previous section). This way of depicting makes it easier to understand the course of the game without repeating it on a real board. In the games for the highest titles, the assistants present specially for this record, and not only the moves themselves are recorded, but also timestamps, by which it is possible to establish how long each move took.

Game options

Atari-go

A simplified version of the game for novice players, often small children begin to teach go with it. They play on a small board (9 × 9 lines), the winner is the one who takes at least one opponent's stone first.

The game of beginners who, instead of fighting for territory, are engaged in "killing" stones (constantly placing the opponent's stones in the atari position) can be ironically called the same way.

Rengo

Rengo is a team game over one board. Several players play at the same board on each side, making moves in turn. Players of the same team are not allowed to speak during the game. One of the varieties of rengo is double go, when teams consist of two people.

Playing with one color

Both players play with stones of the same color, keeping in mind who owns which stones.

Blind play

One or both players play without looking at the board (from memory). Go is much more difficult to play blind than chess.



Number of players From 2

Party time 10 minutes to 2 hours

Difficulty of the game Complex

Go refers to strategy and logic games, like chess. The exact date of the origin of the game is unknown, the first information appeared about 4 thousand years ago.

Originally appeared in ancient China and was known only in East Asia, it became widespread around the world only in the twentieth century. The popularity of the game is growing every year, today it is included in the basic disciplines at the World Mind Games. The strongest players in the modern world are considered to be the Japanese and the Chinese. Also, programmers are showing great interest in the game, since today people play almost on a par with computers.

Go inventory

For the game, you will need an inventory in the form of a goban, stones and bowls, which are used to store stones.

Go: the rules of the game

  • Goban is a field lined with vertical and horizontal lines. The intersection of lines is called points, on points during the game opponents place their stones. A classic goban is considered to be 19 * 19 in size. But due to the fact that the game on such a field takes a long time, it often resorts to smaller sizes: 13 * 13 and 9 * 9. The sizes 11 * 11, 15 * 15 and 17 * 17 are very rarely used. It is worth mentioning the increased size of the field, for example, on the Internet, games are held on fields of 37 * 37 lines.
  • Classic boards are made of wood; in ancient times, leather was often used, which is convenient for storage, and the game took place on special tables or on tree cuts. The main feature of the goban is its shape, all beginners think that it is square, but in fact it should have an aspect ratio of 15:14. This feature allows you to more clearly see the picture of the battle during the game.
  • The second necessary item of inventory for the game is stones. The stones are in two contrasting colors, usually black and white. The standard number of stones is 361, 180 white stones and 181 black ones. But on sale there are usually sets of 360 stones or even 320 stones. 320 stones are enough for most parties, but there are also rare cases when a full set of stones may be needed. The shape of the stones is a whole culture, in each country they prefer their own shapes. The most common shapes are the Chinese plano-convex shape and the Japanese lenticular shape. The most common lenticular form of stones in the world. Stones are made from a variety of materials, ranging from plastics to precious stones.
  • Special vessels, which are called bowls, serve as the storehouse of stones. During the game, stones are stored in the bowl, and the opponent's stones, which were captured, are placed on the lid of the bowl.
  • Go has always been a popular game among the upper strata of society, who used unique sets made from the most valuable types of wood, precious metals, stones for the game, and bowls were made by the best potters of their time. These traditions of making expensive sets have survived to this day. Some sets are not only of great material value, but are also works of art that are kept in museums and displayed at exhibitions.
  • When playing in official competitions, a chess clock is used to control the time.
  • Fundamental rules
  • The game is played by two players, one manages the white stones, the other black ones. The moves are made in turn. The essence of the game is to fence off the territory, whoever is more able to fence off the territory won. The game begins with an empty goban, Black makes the first move.
  • In go, there is a concept of a handicap, which is used when players of different strengths meet and during training. The weakest player always plays with black before the start of the game and can place a predetermined number of stones of his color on the board. When playing with a handicap, White starts the game, since Black has already made his first (zero) move. The only exception is Ing's rules, in which, after placing the resulting handicap, Black starts the game on his own.
  • All other things being equal, the black player always has an advantage, in order to compensate for it, the Komi rule was introduced. Komi is a certain number of points awarded to the player playing with white stones as compensation for the first move of black. It is customary to accept the Komi as a non-integer number to avoid a tie with an equal number of points.
  • Throughout the history of tournament go, the number of points in Komi has gradually increased, since the right to move (the first move) plays a very important role and gives a significant advantage.
  • During the game, stones are placed in points (intersection of lines). The rule here is that if the player has placed a stone and tore off his hand, then the stone cannot be rearranged. The stones placed on the board no longer move, but they can be captured by the enemy if they lose all degrees of breathing (freedom), which are called lame. Dame are free points located horizontally and vertically next to the stone. A group of stones has common liberties and dies only if none of the stones in the group have liberties. Dead stones are considered captured, they are removed by the opponent from the board, they will be taken into account at the end of the game when calculating points.
  • It is forbidden to make moves that lead to the suicide of stones. An exception is the situation when a stone takes away the last degree of freedom from its own and the enemy group, in this case, after the move, the enemy stones are removed and the group of their stones gets breath again. In this case, they say that the stones held their breath or that the stone "dived".
  • The main prohibition is the repetition of the position - the Ko rule. This rule states that you cannot make a move that leads to the position of the previous one one move before the move made. But there are situations in which "multiple ko" is obtained. That is, the position is repeated, but this happens not in two moves, but in a large number of moves, in which case, by agreement of the parties, a draw is recognized or the game is replayed, depending on the agreement or tournament rules.
  • During the game, it is not necessary to move, you can make a pass and pass the turn to your opponent. If both players say pass, then the game ends, and proceeds to the calculation of the received points. The counting of points is carried out according to two systems, in one only the captured territory plus the captured stones of the opponent is counted, according to the other, the exposed (living) stones plus the conquered territory are counted. The selected counting system does not affect the result; the one that is considered the most convenient is used.
  • One point is awarded for each captured point, and one point is awarded for each captured enemy stone. The winner is the player with the most points.
  • Example of scoring on field 9 * 9
  • The picture above shows the end of the game on the 9 * 9 square, where the points and stones marked in white belong to white, and in black to black, while Black captured 4 white stones and removed them from the board. Stones with marks are removed from the board, and the vacated points are transferred to the disposal of the respective players. Before the calculation procedure, we will assume as conditions that the game was played without a handicap, and the Komi for whites was 6.5 points (this value of Komi is most common for the goban 9 * 9). Having made the calculation, it can be seen that whites own 20 points of territory and 19 with live stones, black in turn with 23 points and 19 stones. Also, each side captured five enemy stones.
  • Points calculation excluding live stones
    • White: 6.5 + 5 + 20 = 31.5
    • Black: 5 + 23 = 28
    • Points calculation taking into account live stones
    • White: 6.5 + 20 + 19 = 45.5
    • Black: 23 + 19 = 42
    • Result: White won with an advantage of 3.5 points
  • Calculations have shown that both scoring systems end up giving the same result.
  • It should be noted that a draw in go is not practiced and occurs very rarely in the event of a "multiple ko" (eternal life).
  • To eliminate a draw in Go, a non-integer number of Komi points is used. And in Inga's rules, where a komi equal to 8 is always used, there is a rule according to which the player who plays black with an equal number of points is recognized as the winner.
  • When playing in tournaments, only the result of the game matters, not the number of points scored. In the tournament tables, the number of points scored is indicated in the form of additional information about the party.
  • Go games usually take a long time. In serious tournaments, one game is played in two days.
  • There are no uniform rules in the world, so before a game or tournament, familiarize yourself with the rules according to which the game will take place. The difference in the rules is not significant and affects mainly organizational issues and regulates the importance of Komi.
  • At the end of games and tournaments, the rating is calculated, which reflects the approximate strength of the players. Go does not have a world standardized system for assessing the strength of players, most often the Japanese ranking system is used. The Japanese system consists of 30 kyu and 9 dans. Initially, the player who has learned the rules receives 30 kyu, further improving his mastery, his kyu gradually decreases to the 1st. Then the player receives the first dan and as his dan grows, it increases, the limit is 9 dan. But each country has its own system of sports categories and ranks, therefore, the general criterion of a player's strength can be considered his rating.
  • Looking at the rule of go it might seem like the game is quite simple, but it is far from being the case. Go has a deep strategic foundation and very exciting tactics that take years to master. For example, in Go after the 4th move there can be about 15.5 billion different positions! And in chess, after the 4th half-move, only one hundred thousand positions can arise. The complexity of the game does not lie in the numerous options, but in the strategic subtleties that must be constantly taken into account in order to make the most optimal move. At the same time, there is no single winning strategy in go, it is very important to combine the skill of competent defense and attack, as well as to choose the right objects and zones on which you want to influence. At the same time, the game is played on the entire board at the same time, there are no sections that are unimportant or play of secondary importance.
  • In some schools and clubs, go is viewed not only as a game, but as an art. And some researchers generally try to describe and predict events taking place in the world using the strategy and categories of go.

Go is played by two, one with white stones, the other with black stones. Black goes first, then white, then in turn. Stones are placed at the intersection of horizontal and vertical lines, along the sides and corners of the board, inclusive. Once a stone is placed, it no longer moves (however, under certain conditions it can be removed from the board).
The aim of the game is to take turns placing stones on the board to surround as much territory as possible. The territory is all intersections of lines that are not occupied by stones. Side and corner intersections are also counted. After there are no profitable crossovers left, the opponents take turns saying “pass”. After that, the game is considered over.

Features of the game on Gambler

1. Go in our club is played on boards of different sizes 9x9, 13x13 and 19x19. The first two board sizes are considered practice boards.

2. Two players with stones of black and white colors take turns placing them at the intersections of the net. Once placed on the board, stones do not move and can only be removed from it (see below). The player playing black goes first.

3. Each stone must have at least one point of freedom, vertically or horizontally adjacent unoccupied intersection. Neighboring stones, or connected by an unbroken chain of neighbors, form a group and share freedoms among themselves. Below will be shown non-obvious (as it turned out) conclusions from this and the next two rules.

4. When a stone or a group of stones is surrounded by the opponent's stones so that it does not have any freedom points, it is considered captured and removed from the board.

5. It is forbidden to make a move, as a result of which one's group loses the last point of freedom (suicidal move), except for the case when as a result of this move the opponent's stones are captured.
6. Rule "ko": it is forbidden to make moves that lead to a repetition of a position previously encountered in the game.

7. The player can refuse the next move by saying “pass”. If both players fold in a row, the game is over. For some reason, many beginners forget about this rule (or do not know).

8. A group of stones, which has not been removed from the board by the end of the game, but doomed to die when playing out, is considered a "captive". She joins the stones captured by the player. IMPORTANT!!! But, in view of the peculiarities of the implementation of the game, the "dead" groups must be eaten, otherwise, when calculating the points, the "dead" stones will go as points to the enemy, and the territory between them and your stones will be considered neutral.

9. Each player receives a number of points equal to the number of empty intersections of the board, surrounded by stones of only his color, plus the number of his stones that remained on the board by the end of the game (ie, were not captured). The player with the most points wins. Note! Eaten stones do not count! Here you can see that eating up "dead" groups does not lead to a decrease in points, because the territory surrounded by your stones and occupied by your stones is equivalent.

10. Compensation for the white player for moving second is called "Komi". It consists in the fact that at the end of the game a certain amount of points is added to it. One Komi point corresponds to one point of territory. As a rule, a non-integer Komi value (5.5; 6.5; 7.5 points) is used to exclude the possibility of a tie in the game. The size of the komi is set in conventions before the start of the game. By default, the Komi size on Gambler is 5.5 points.

Go is usually played on a 19x19 board. D.1 an empty board is shown. Notice the nine marked intersection points of the lines. They are called hoshi. (Latin transcription hoshi, literal translation from Japanese into Russian - star). These markings on the board are used for convenience and for positioning the handicaps.

For the game, chips of white and black colors are used, which are made in the form of a biconvex lens. They are called "stones". Usually these stones are made of plastic or glass. In expensive sets, white stones are made from sea shells, and black ones from slate. Regardless of what the chips are made of, they are simply called stones. At the beginning of the game, the player playing black has 181 black stones, and the player playing white has 180 white stones. The total number of stones (361) corresponds to the total number of line crossings on a standard 19x19 board. It is customary to keep stones in wooden or plastic bowls next to the board.

At the beginning of the game, the board is empty. One player takes black stones, the second white ones. Black makes the first move. A move is placing a stone at the intersection of the board's lines. You can go to any unoccupied intersection, but at the beginning of the game, the first moves are usually made closer to the hoshi points in the corners of the board. They take turns. The stone placed on the board does not move. He can be removed from the board in the event of a capture. On D 2 the typical start of the game is shown. Black made the first move in the upper right corner. White placed stone 2 in the upper left. Further, in accordance with the rules, the moves were made in turn. Note - neither side went far from the corners at the beginning.

The four basic rules of go

1. The move is made to the intersection of the board lines.
2. The stones placed on the board do not move.
3. Black moves first.
4. The moves are made in turn.

The goal of the game is to capture territory

The goal of the game is to capture territory. The winner is the one who has captured more territory by the end of the game. Some Japanese businessmen apply this rule in their strategy of market behavior: do not try to remove a competitor (as in chess), interact with him, but get a large market share.

Let's see how territory is captured using the example of a game on a 9x9 board. A game on such a small board is not rich in strategic techniques, but the rules and even some tactical techniques are no different from playing on a large board. It is recommended to master the rules in the game on a 9x9 board. Then you can go on to play on a 13x13 board. Soon, after playing about 100 short games, you will begin to feel confident playing on a standard board.

On F.1 black made the first move at the top right. Then White made a move. Both sides continued to take turns, in accordance with the rules of the game.

By turn 6, the territory of both sides begins to take shape. Black has staked out the right side, White pinned his hopes on the left.

Once both players have identified their territory claims, two main strategies emerge. The first is to increase your territory while reducing the enemy's territory. The second is to invade the enemy's sphere of influence.

Move part 7 on F.2 follows the first strategy. Black expands his territory at the bottom right, and does not allow White to expand his territory with the move "a". White should defend 8 to stop Black from advancing deeper into his territory. Then Black strengthens the border with 9.

It was the turn of the whites to expand their dominions. First, they add territories in the center b. 10 and 12 ( F.3), then top left b.14. Black must defend 15. Now points are played around points "a" and "b".

The standard sequence b.16-ch.19 ( F.4). Played in the same way below b.20-ch.23. By playing in this way, White expanded his territory while reducing Black's territory.

The moves from b.24 to h.26 are the last in the game. Now the winner can be determined. In this case, calculating the result is easy.

Black's territory consists of all the unoccupied points that he controls on the right side, and White's territory consists of the points he controls on the left. More specifically, all items marked with the letter "b" on F.6, constitute black territory, and all points marked with the letter "w" are white territory. If you count them, you will find that black has 28 points and white has 27. Thus, black won by one point. Please note that the points occupied by white and black stones are not taken into account.

This game is very simple, many aspects of the rules of go did not arise in it. It only illustrates the purpose of the game. In the next issue we will look at how stones are captured and removed from the board.