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© 1997 by Cho Chikun and Richard Bozulich

Go

A Complete Introduction to the Game

Cho Chikun Honorary Honinbo and Judan, written by Richard Bozulich

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

Played throughout eastern Asia for thousands of years, Go has captured the imagination of more game players than any other strategy game. Today, Go is becoming increasingly popular in the western world as more and more people discover its beauty, elegance, and strategic depth.

This book is the best and most authoritative introduction to this ancient and fascinating game. Written specifically for the western reader by one of the strongest players in the world, it presents the rules, tactics, and strategy of this unique game in a step-by-step, easy to understand way. Besides showing you how to play, it contains essays about the world of Go which will broaden your knowledge and understanding as well as pique your interest. From history to modern tournament play, from traditional playing sets to computer Go, you’ll find it in these pages.

Copyright Page

All rights reserved according to international law. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for public or private use without the written permission of the publisher.

ISBN of print edition: 978–4–906574–50–6

Published by

Kiseido Publishing Company

Tokyo, Amsterdam, Santa Monica

CPO Box 1140, Tokyo, Japan

This book is a revised edition of The Magic of Go, first published in 1988.

Conversion to SmartGo Books by John Mifsud

Contents

Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game

Copyright Page

About the Author

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One: Introducing the Game

The Origins of Go

Chapter Two: Capturing Stones

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

Go Comes to Japan

Chapter Three: Eyes and Living Groups

The Development of Go in Japan

Chapter Four: Ko

Professional Go in Japan

Chapter Five: Opening Strategy

Go in China

Go in Korea

International Tournaments

Chapter Six: Capturing Techniques

Go Around the World

Chapter Seven: Capturing Races

Go Equipment

Chapter Eight: Life and Death

Go and Intelligence

Chapter Nine: Linking up Stones

Rankings and Handicaps

Chapter Ten: Handicap Go

Go and Computers

Chapter Eleven: An Example Game: Cho Chikun Challenger, 9 dan – Kato Masao Judan, Meijin, Oza, Gosei

Continuing Your Study of Go

Go Books from Kiseido

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About SmartGo Books

About the Author

Cho Chikun was born in Seoul, Korea, on June 20, 1956. He is considered to be one of the great prodigies in the history of go. At the age of six he came to Japan and became a disciple of Kitani Minoru, 9-dan. In 1968, at the age of 11, he entered the professional ranks as a 1-dan, the youngest age anyone had ever attained that rank, and it took him only 12 more years to reach the top professional rank of 9-dan.

His first big tournament success came in 1975 when he won the 12th Professional Top Ten title. In 1980 he took the Meijin title and this was followed by a rapid succession of big title victories: the Meijin title in 1980, the Honinbo title in 1981, the Judan title in 1982, and the most prestigious title, the Kisei, in 1983. When he had captured the Kisei title, he held the four top titles at the same time, a feat no one else has ever accomplished. At one time or another, he has held every one of the seven major titles, the Grand Slam of professional go. In the 1990s, he was the undisputed king of the Japanese go world holding the top three titles: Kisei, Meijin, and Honinbo.

Although he is a Korean citizen, he has made his professional career in Japan and is affiliated with the Japan Go Association. Among his hobbies are golf and swimming.

Preface

Go is an elegant game; its rules are few and simple. Yet much is made about how hard a game it is to learn. The problem, I believe, is in the presentation. Beginners who start out on the standard 19x19 board are bound to become awed by the enormous number of points there are to play on. But if they are introduced to go on a 9x9 board, the time it takes to learn the game can be greatly reduced.

With this in mind, I have tried to present the rules of go to the beginner in an easy-to-understand manner. Using four example games on a 9x9 board, I gradually introduce the rules and the method of counting the score. After finishing the first chapter, the reader will immediately grasp what go is all about. The rule of capture is covered in the second chapter. What constitutes a living group is explained in the third chapter, and the rule for ko is the subject of the fourth chapter. In the process of presenting these games, I have made sure that the method of counting the score is clearly illustrated.

The fifth chapter is concerned with the opening on a 19x19 board, and the tactics are covered in the middle chapters. These chapters will start to mean more to you as you gain experience from playing games. In the final chapter I present one of my own games in order to give you an idea of what a game of go is like at the highest level.

There are many go books in English for beginners. They concentrate mainly on the rules and tactics, but provide very little of the background and cultural milieu. On finishing such books the reader comes away with a lot of questions to which very few people in the West know the answers. As a result, there is a lot of misinformation about go. I have tried to remedy this situation in the interludes between chapters where I cover the history of the game, the modern tournament scene, go in the West, as well as other topics.

Cho Chikun

Tokyo, September 1997

A game of go is symbolic of the gradual occupation of our planet by the human race. It’s sides are the coasts, washed by oceans and seas. The corners can be compared to islands or peninsulas. Those parts having a greater coastline are more easily defended.

The central part of the map corresponds to the centre of continents where the inhabitants have no outlet to the sea. In the beginning, men were very few and the families or tribes had all the territory they desired without need for offensive or defensive action. They lived in a state of nature. But with the multiplication of human beings began the first struggles for the appropriation of the best places along the rivers and sea coasts. As the game develops and bases have been consolidated, advance to the interior is begun. The occupation of this territory is rendered permanent by the formation of live masses.

When the war ends peace treaties are made. All territories on the map are occupied. In one place we find large or small masses that have definitely won their territory, in another, masses living side by side respecting the rights of their neighbours whom they can never hope to dislodge.

We have not arrived, in our world, at the state of finality achieved at the end of a game of go.

From The Game of Wei-Chi, by Count Daniele Pecorini and Tong Shu. (Published in 1929.)

Generally speaking, when counting all things, one begins with the number one. There are on the go board, three hundred and sixty intersections plus one. The number one is supreme and gives rise to the other numbers because it occupies the ultimate position and governs the four quarters. Three hundred and sixty represents the number of days in the [lunar] year. The division of the go board into four quarters symbolizes the four seasons. The seventy-two points on the circumference represent the [five-day] weeks of the [Chinese lunar] calendar. The balance of yin and yang is the model for the equal division of the three hundred and sixty stones into black and white.

From The Classic of Go, by Chang Ni. (Published 1049–54.)

Introduction

Go is the oldest and one of the most popular strategic board games in the world. It has been played throughout the Orient for thousands of years. In Japan alone, 10,000,000 people play go and nearly 400 professionals make their living by teaching the game and competing in tournaments that offer millions of dollars in prize money.

Go is an easy game to learn. You can master the rules in a few minutes, but you can devote a lifetime to exploring its depths and subtleties.

Go starts with the simplest elements — line and circle, black and white — but it builds into deep and complex structures. It is a game played on a grand scale, involving not a single battle but a series — an entire war, in fact.

In the abstract, go is in the same category as the West’s most fascinating board game, chess. Both require high-level strategic thinking and provide players with many opportunities to exercise their tactical skills. Both are challenging, intellectually stimulating, and inexhaustibly interesting for millions of people of all ages all over the world.

But the similarities end there. Go starts with an empty board, chess with a full one. The objective of go is to surround more territory than your opponent; the objective of chess, to capture your opponent’s king. Go stones all have the same value; chessmen have different values. A satisfying game of go can be played quickly on a board as small as 7x7 lines, or over the course of a few hours or even days on the standard 19x19-line board; chess requires its standard complement of 32 pieces and a 64-square board. Most, if not all, of the moves of a go game remain on the board until it ends, providing its players with continuously developing shapes and patterns of black and white stones; the beauty of a chess game’s moves is more ephemeral and kaleidoscopic as its patterns change with each move and capture. Finally, go has a handicap system that allows players of quite different strengths to compete on an equal basis: the weaker player is given additional stones at the beginning of the game. Chess handicaps the stronger player by forcing him to remove one or more of his pieces at the beginning, which distorts the nature of the game.

Which is the better game, the more interesting game, is a matter of taste. It is both of interest and significance to note that many professional go players are also avid and usually strong shogi (Japanese chess) players. Conversely, many professional shogi players are usually strong go players. It is fair to say that if you like to practice and sharpen your tactical skills, if you like to play chess, chances are excellent that you will also like to play go.

To some players go is a model for living. Its strategic concepts serve them as models for decision making in their everyday lives. Some of the more familiar maxims that are played out and illustrated in nearly every game are: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” “Don’t burn your bridges behind you,” “Look before you leap,” “Don’t bang your head against a stone wall,” and “Don’t throw good money after bad.”

However you choose to see go — as a model for living, as an alternative to chess and the other board games you enjoy, or as that elusive bit of variety that has been missing from the spice in your life — it is bound to be a welcome addition to your social and intellectual repertoire.

Chapter One: Introducing the Game

The Board and Stones

Go is usually played on a 19x19 grid called a board. Dia. 1 shows the empty board. Notice the nine marked points. These points are usually referred to as the star-points. They serve as points of reference, as well as markers on which stones are placed in handicap games.

Dia. 1

The pieces used are black and white lens-shaped disks called stones. They are usually made of plastic or glass; in more expensive sets, the white stones are made from clam shells and the black of slate. No matter what materials they are made of, they are referred to simply as ‘stones’. Black starts out with 181 stones and White with 180. The total of 361 stones corresponds to the number of intersections on the standard 19x19 go board. It is customary to keep the stones that have not yet been played in wooden bowls placed next to the board on your right.

How the Game is Played

At the beginning of the game the board is empty. One player takes the black stones, the other player the white stones. The player with the black stones makes the first move by placing a stone on an intersection. He may play on any unoccupied intersection, but it is usual to make the initial moves of the game near the corner star-points. Once a stone is played, it does not move unless it is captured and taken off the board. Dia. 2 shows a typical opening. Black makes his first move at 1 in the upper right corner. White then makes his first move at 2 in the upper left corner. Thereafter, both sides alternate in making their moves. Notice that in the opening neither side strays very far from the corners.

Dia. 2

Four Basic Rules

1. Stones are played on the intersections.

2. The stones do not move after being played.

3. Black plays first.

4. Black and White alternate in making their moves.

Diagram 3 shows the beginning of another game. After Black 5, White plays a move on the side with 6; Black jumps out into the center with 7. This opening is typical of how a game of go proceeds: each side establishes a presence in a corner, play then spreads along the sides, and eventually the positions develop into the center.

Dia. 3

The Object of Go is to Control Territory

The object of go is to take control of territory. At the end of the game, the side which controls more territory wins the game.

On the next pages, we are going to show you how territory is taken in a game on a 9x9 board. Although a game on a 9x9 board is not as complicated strategically as one on a 19x19 board, the rules and tactics on that board (or on any size board, for that matter) are the same. We recommend that you master the rules on a 9x9 board by playing your first games on it before graduating to a full-size board.

Figure 1

In Figure 1 Black makes his first move on the 4–4 point. White then makes his move. Thereafter, both sides continue to alternate in making their moves.

With the moves to White 6, both Black’s and White’s territories are beginning to take shape. Black has staked out the right side and White has laid claim to the left.

Once both players have mapped out their respective territories, there are two basic strategies to choose from. One is to expand your own territory while reducing your opponent’s. The other is to invade the territory your opponent has mapped out.

Figure 2

Black 7 in Figure 2 follows the first strategy: Black expands his territory on the lower right while preventing White from expanding his own with a move at A. White must defend at 8 to prevent an incursion by Black into his territory on the left. Next, Black reinforces his territory on the right with 9.

Figure 3

It is now White’s turn to expand his territory. He first expands his center with 10 and 12 in Figure 3, then his territory on upper left with 14. Black must defend his top right territory with 15. Next, the points around A must be decided.

Figure 4

The moves from White 16 to Black 19 in Figure 4 are a standard sequence. A similar sequence is played at the bottom from White 20 to Black 23. By playing these moves, White expands his territory while reducing Black’s.

Figure 5

White 24 to White 26 in Figure 5 are the last moves of the game. It is now possible to determine the winner. In this game, counting the score is easy.

Figure 6

Black’s territory consists of all the vacant points he controls on the right side, while White’s territory consists of all the vacant points he controls on the left. More precisely, all the points marked ‘b’ in Figure 6 are Black’s territory; all the points marked ‘w’ are White’s territory. If you count these points, you will find that Black has 28 while White has 27, so Black wins by one point. Notice that the points occupied by the black and the white stones are not counted.

The above game was very simple and there were many aspects of the rules that did not arise. However, this game clearly illustrates what go is about. The other rules will be given in the next three chapters.

The Origins of Go

The origins of go are concealed in the mute and unchronicled past of ancient China. There are a tangle of conflicting popular and scholarly anecdotes attributing its invention to two Chinese emperors, an imperial vassal, and court astrologers. One story has it that go was invented by the legendary Emperor Yao (ruled 2357–2256 B.C.) as an amusement for his idiot son. A second claims that the Emperor Shun (ruled 2255–05 B.C.) created the game in hopes of improving his weak-minded son’s mental prowess. A third says that one Wu, a vassal of the Emperor Chieh (ruled 1818–1766 B.C.), invented go as well as some card games. Finally, a fourth theory suggests that go was developed by court astrologers during the Chou Dynasty (1045–255 B.C.). In any event, it is generally agreed that go is at least 3,000 and might be as much as 4,000 years old, which makes it the world’s oldest strategic board game.

Go has not always enjoyed its current status as the world’s most challenging and intellectually stimulating board game. In its infancy, go was said to have been used by astrologers to divine the future. Later, according to Chinese classics such as The Analects of Confucius, Tso-chuan, and Mencius, all of which were written no earlier than the sixth century B.C., it became ‘the pastime of gamblers and other idlers.’ While there might have been even earlier references to the existence of go in ancient China, the books that contained them were probably burned during the reign of Ch’n Shih Huang-ti, who, in 221 B.C., ordered that all books be burned. Because of this, all of the works and, therefore, references to go alleged to predate the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–221 A. D.) are suspect. If, however, the references in the classics are accurate, then go seems to have been popular in China in the sixth century B.C., so it must have originated and subsequently developed at least a century or two before.

Beginning around 200 B.C., go and poetry enjoyed a golden age in China until about 600 A.D. Whatever its sources and early reputation, by this time go obviously occupied a prestigious position. For example, in the second century A.D., the poet Ma Yung is said to have made himself famous by celebrating go in his verses.

Of the many anecdotes about go that have survived from ancient China, the two most popular are these.

Sometime during the late third or early fourth century A.D., a go player named Osan gained historical immortality for his ability to replay entire games (consisting of anywhere from 150 to more than 300 moves) from memory, move for move. Today, of course, all professional go players and many strong amateurs can do the same. In fact, the customary teaching technique used in Japan is for the teacher to reconstruct — play by play — games played with his students in order to give a critique of their moves. Nonetheless, this anecdote demonstrates that strength in go and a powerful memory go together.

The second anecdote illustrates the esteem in which go was held during its golden age in China. During the Chin Dynasty (265–420 A.D.), Hsieh An was at war with his nephew Hsieh Hsuan. After many bloody but inconclusive battles, these two warlords decided to spare their remaining soldiers and to allow the outcome of their war to be decided on the go board in a game played just between themselves. Unfortunately, the result of this contest was not recorded.

Go seems to have had two additional golden ages in China during the T’ang (618–906) and Sung (960–1126) dynasties. During these periods the first books about go, for example, Gokyo and Gosetsu, were written, and there were many distinguished players who were honored with titles such as Ki-Sei and Ki-Shing, from Ki meaning ‘go’, Sei meaning ‘saint’ and Shing meaning ‘magician’ or ‘sorcerer’. Such titles are still used today in Japan, for example, Kisei, which is the most prestigious title.

Chapter Two: Capturing Stones

In this chapter we will explain the rule of capture. We will show how a stone or group of stones is captured, demonstrate how these captures take place in a game, then give you some problems to test your understanding.

Liberties

Dia. 1

The white stone in Dia. 1 sitting alone on the board has four liberties, namely the points ‘a’ in Dia. 2.

Dia. 2: Liberties

Dia. 3: Atari

If Black can occupy all four of these points, he can capture the white stone. For example, since Black occupies three of these liberties in Dia. 3, he can capture the white stone on his next move if it is his turn to play. In such a position, the white stone is said to be in atari.

Black captures this stone with 1 in Dia. 4.

Dia. 4: Capture

The resulting position is shown in Dia. 5.

Dia. 5: Result

The white stone at the edge of the board in Dia. 6 has three liberties, namely the points marked ‘a’ in Dia. 7.

Dia. 6

Dia. 7: Liberties

If Black occupies two of these liberties as in Dia. 8, the white stone will be in atari.

Dia. 8: Atari

Black 1 in Dia. 9 captures this stone.

Dia. 9: Capture

The result is shown in Dia. 10.

Dia. 10: Result

The white stone in the corner in Dia. 11 has only two liberties, the points ‘a’ in Dia. 12.

Dia. 11

Dia. 12: Liberties

If Black occupies one of these liberties as in Dia. 13, the white stone will be in atari.

Dia. 13: Atari

Black 1 in Dia. 14 captures this stone.

Dia. 14: Capture

The result is shown in Dia. 15.

Dia. 15: Result

It is also possible to capture two or more stones if you occupy all of their liberties. Here are some examples.

In Dia. 16, there are three positions in which two stones are in atari.

Dia. 16: Atari

Black captures these stones in Dia. 17 with 1.

Dia. 17: Capture

Dia. 18 shows the result.

Dia. 18: Result

Dia. 19

Any number of stones, making up any kind of shape, can be captured if all of their liberties are occupied. In Dia. 19, there are four different positions. Black 1 captures twelve stones in the upper left, four stones in the lower left, three stones in the upper right, and three stones in the lower right.

When you capture stones in a game, you put them in your prisoner pile; at the end of the game, they are placed inside your opponent’s territory. Let’s look at a game to see how this actually works.

Figure 1

After Black plays 3 in Figure 1, White plays inside Black’s sphere of influence with 4. White 10 puts the black stone at 7 in atari. This stone has only one liberty remaining. If Black doesn’t play at A, White will play on this point and capture the black stone.

Figure 2

Black plays 11 in Figure 2, getting out of atari, but White makes another atari against the marked black stone with 12.

Figure 3

Since this stone cannot be rescued, Black sacrifices it and plays an atari himself with 13 in Figure 3. White captures with 14 and puts this stone into his prisoner pile. Next, Black puts the two white stones in atari with 15. That is, he can capture them by playing at A.

Figure 4

White secures the area on the left side with 16 in Figure 4, after which Black expands his right side with 17, 19, and 21. The sequence from White 22 to Black 25 is the same as the one we saw in the game in Chapter One.

Figure 5

White 26 forces Black to capture two white stones with 27 in Figure 5. Black puts these two stones into his prisoner pile. White 28 and 30 each reduce Black’s territory by one point. Black 31 is atari against the two white stones at 26 and 30, so White must connect at 32. Finally, Black 33 reduces White’s territory on the left by one point. The game ends when White blocks with 34.

Figure 6

Figure 6 shows what the board looks like at the end of the game. White has one black stone in his prisoner pile, while Black has two white stones.

Figure 7

In Figure 7, each side places his prisoners in his opponent’s territory. White places his one black prisoner (the marked black stone) inside Black’s territory, and Black places his two white prisoners (the two marked white stones) inside White’s territory.

Figure 8

It is customary to rearrange the stones to make the counting of territory simple and rapid. In Figure 8 the three marked black stones and the two marked white ones were moved. Calculation of the size of the territories can now be made at a glance.

Black: 23 points; White: 24 points. White wins by 1 point.

Questions

Here are three questions for you to think about. Try to answer them yourself before looking at the answers on the next page.

Question 1

Figure 2

After White 12 in Figure 2, why didn’t Black try to escape with his marked stone?

Answer 1

Dia. 20

If Black tries to escape by playing 1 in Dia. 20, White pursues him with 2 and the black stone will still be in atari. If Black persists with 3, putting the marked stone in atari, White captures the three stones by taking Black’s last liberty with 4, and his marked stone is no longer in atari.

Question 2

Figure 3

After Black 15 in Figure 3, it seems as if the two white stones in atari could escape by extending to A. Why doesn’t White try to escape?

Answer 2

Dia. 21

White can’t escape unless Black makes a mistake. When White extends to 1 in Dia. 21, he increases his liberties to three, but Black pursues him with 2, and White now has two liberties. If White 3, Black blocks with 4, and again White has only two liberties. White is at the end of his rope; he has no way to increase his liberties. If White 5, Black ataries with 6 and captures with 8.

Dia. 22

However, Black must not play 2 from the outside as in Dia. 22. White turns at 3 and now the two marked black stones have only two liberties, while the white group on the right has three. White captures the two marked stones with 5 and 7.

Question 3

Figure 4

Is Black 25 in Figure 4 necessary?

Answer 3

Dia. 23

Black must defend with 25. If Black omits this move, White will atari the marked black stone with 1 in Dia. 23. If Black tries to run away with 2 and 4, White pursues him with 3 and 5, forcing the black stones into the corner where they run out of liberties. White captures four stones with 7.

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© 1997 by Cho Chikun and Richard Bozulich

This edition includes the English and Spanish text.