How to play Go

The goal

Playing

• Take turns placing one stone on an empty point where the lines cross. Stones never move once placed.
• Press on the board to see where your stone will go, slide to adjust, and let go to place it.
• Undo takes back your last move and the computer’s reply. You can also pass, or resign.

Liberties and captures

• Stones of one color joined along the lines form a group. The empty points next to a group are its liberties.
• Fill a group’s last liberty and it’s captured: its stones come off the board.
• You can’t play where your stone would have no liberties, unless the move captures something.
• Ko: you can’t make a move that brings back an earlier board position, so after a single-stone capture you can’t retake straight away. Play elsewhere first.

Ending and counting

• When there’s nothing useful left to do, pass. Two passes in a row end the game.
• Stones that can’t avoid capture are dead. The game marks the ones it thinks are dead; tap a group to change it, then tap Done.
• Your score is your stones on the board plus the empty points only you surround (area scoring). Dead stones count for the side around them.
• White gets komi for moving second: 7.5 points, or 6.5 on Easy. With the half point there are no ties.

Difficulty and boards

• Easy thinks briefly and sometimes slips. Normal plays solidly. Hard thinks longest and plays its best.
• Play on the quick 9×9 board or the roomier 13×13. Your record is kept for each difficulty and board.

Questions

Strategy guides