Go

Overview

Go (Weiqi / Baduk) is an ancient abstract strategy game. Two players place black and white stones on a grid, surrounding empty territory and capturing opponent stones by filling their last liberty. This Gameweave version plays Japanese-style scoring on a 9×9 board with 6.5 komi for White.

Objective

Control more points than your opponent when both players pass consecutively. Points are:

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Empty intersections surrounded only by your stones (territory)

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Opponent stones you have captured (prisoners)

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White also receives 6.5 komi

Setup

The game begins with an empty 9×9 board. Black plays first.

Gameplay

Players alternate turns.

On your turn, either:

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Place one stone of your color on an empty intersection, or

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Pass

After a placement, any opponent group with no liberties is captured and removed as prisoners.

Liberties and Capture

Connected stones of the same color share liberties — orthogonally adjacent empty intersections. When a group has zero liberties, it is captured.

You may not play a stone that leaves your own group with zero liberties (no suicide), unless that same play captures one or more opponent stones.

Simple Ko

Immediately after capturing a single stone, the opponent may not recapture on that exact intersection on the next turn (simple ko). Multi-stone captures do not create a ko point.

Passing and Scoring

Two consecutive passes end the game. Scores are then compared:

territory + prisoners (+ 6.5 for White)

The higher score wins. Equal scores are a draw.

MVP limitations

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No handicap stones

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No formal dead-stone marking phase — leave the board clean before the final passes for accurate Japanese-style territory counts

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Superko (positional / situational) is not enforced; only simple ko is

Winning

After two consecutive passes, the player with the higher score wins. White’s 6.5 komi breaks most ties in White’s favor when raw stone-and-territory totals would otherwise draw.