The Rules of Go

There are many pages on the web that present the rules of Go. One of the best is on this site, available in three formats:

• An ordinary web page: Introduction to the game of Go
• The same, but broken down into four smaller pages:
  
  • Introduction to the game of Go
    
  • How to play Go
    
  • An example game of Go
    
  • Go Problems
• An older PDF version (863 KB). This will only work if you have a PDF reader, such as Acrobat, installed on your computer.

We also host Andreas Fecke's Go Comic, a cartoon introduction to Go.

Here are the FridgeGo rules that were written for inclusion in the FridgePlay 9x9 magnetic set.

And have a standard set of approved Go rules.

Here are some Tips for Getting Stronger (for beginners).

Some other sites which also present the rules of Go in English are

• http://gobase.org/studying/rules/ by Jan van der Steen
• http://www.telgo.com/ by Tel
• http://senseis.xmp.net/?BasicRulesOfGo by Morten Pahle
• http://playgo.to/interactive/index.html by Hiroki Mori
• http://croatia.european-go.org/croatia/skola/azija/html-e/ the Croatian Go Alliance
• http://www.gokgs.com/tutorial/1.html from the KGS Go Server

Other languages

For links to rule sites in foreign languages see our Foreign Links page.

Rules Comparisons

For a comparison between the various rules sets see our Rules Comparison page.

General Graph Go

The Rules of General Graph Go are how a mathematician may see Go.

AGA Rules

We have a section describing American Go Association rules.

British Championship Rules

The rules of the events of the various British championships are in the British Championship section.

Dutch Lightning Rules

The rules of Lightning Go Tournaments used in the Netherlands.

Repeating Positions

Ko, Eternal Life (Cho-sei), Triple Ko and the Molasses Ko, amongst others, are illustrated on the Repeating Positions page.

Maximum Number of Groups

What's the maximum number of live groups, or sekis, or seki strings you can have on a Go board?

This page is part of the British Go Association website.

Page last updated: 2008-01-09.

If you notice any errors, or have any other comments, please inform the webmaster.