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Setup

Stones are placed on the intersections of a grid, not in the squares. Nineteen by nineteen is the full game; thirteen by thirteen and nine by nine are genuinely good shorter games and much friendlier to learn on. Black plays first on an empty board.

Because moving first is an advantage, White is usually given komi — a fixed number of points added to their score at the end, commonly six and a half, the half ensuring no draws.

Playing and capturing

On your turn you place one stone on any empty intersection, or pass. Stones do not move once placed. A group of connected stones is captured and removed when every adjacent intersection is occupied by the opponent — when it has no liberties left.

Two restrictions: you may not play a stone that would immediately have no liberties (unless doing so captures), and the ko rule forbids a move that would recreate the exact board position of the previous turn, which stops an endless back-and-forth recapture.

Scoring

The game ends when both players pass in succession. Count the empty intersections you have surrounded, add the stones you captured, add komi if you are White, and the higher total wins. Dead stones inside a settled area are agreed between the players and removed before counting.