Go

Play:

The game of Go is usually played on a 19 x 19 board. For our tournament we are using a 9 x 9 board to give the players time to play other games. The object of the game is to gain and hold as much territory as possible. Starting with the blue stone, players take turns placing a stone on one of the 81 points made up from the intersections of the nine lines.

• Two or more stones of the same color placed on adjacent horizontal or vertical points are treated as a group.
• A liberty is any empty horizontal or vertical intersection adjacent to a stone or group of stones.
• A stone or group of stones is captured when they have no remaining liberties. Captured stones are removed from the board and held by the captor.
• It is illegal to place a stone onto a point where it has no liberties - unless in doing so you capture one or more of your opponent's stones and gain liberties.
• A stone that captures cannot be immediately recaptured by the opponent if this results in a repetition of the board position. At least one play must be made elsewhere on the board before a recapture may be made.

If a player is unable to make a move they may pass. The game is over when both players pass or when both players agree to end the game.

Scoring:

To score the game, first fill in any neutral points (not controlled by either player) with some extra stones. Any dead groups (groups that were not captured but could easily be captured) are conceded and removed, the stones going to the opponent as captured. A player's score is the number of open points that are surround by their stones minus the number of stones their opponent captured.

For example look at the diagram below. During play black took 7 prisoners and white took 6.

• E7, C5, E4, and F3 are neutral and should be filled in with extra pieces.
• C8 is dead. It is removed and given to the white player. Now white has 7 prisoners.
• D2 and D1 are also dead. They are given to the black player. Now black has 9 prisoners.
• The remaining points are counted. Black has 17 points plus 9 prisoners for a total of 26. White has 15 points plus 7 prisoners for a total of 22. Black wins by 4.