What Is Baduk and How Do You Start Playing and Studying It?

Baduk is the Korean name for the game known in English as Go and in Chinese as Weiqi — all three refer to the same game with identical rules. You start by learning the basic rules on a small 9x9 board, playing simple games to get comfortable with capture and territory, then moving to the full 19x19 board as you improve. For study, look for tools that support SGF game records, a game tree for reviewing variations, and AI analysis such as KataGo.

Baduk, Go, and Weiqi: One Game, Three Names

The name you use usually depends on where you learned the game:

The rules are the same regardless of which name you use, so a beginner guide for "Go" applies directly to baduk. You don't need to learn separate rule sets.

The Basic Goal and Core Concepts

Players take turns placing stones on the intersections of a grid (not inside the squares). The aim is to surround more territory than your opponent by the end of the game.

Two ideas drive most of the play:

• Capture — a stone or group with no empty adjacent intersections (no "liberties") is removed from the board.
• Life and death — groups that can form two separate internal spaces ("eyes") generally cannot be captured, so they are considered alive.

These two concepts explain most of what happens in a game, which is why beginners are usually encouraged to play first and study theory second.

How to Start Playing

1. Learn the rules on a 9x9 board. A smaller board means shorter games and fewer complex situations, so you can practice capture and territory without getting lost.
2. Play simple games. Focus on connecting your stones, keeping them alive, and surrounding empty space rather than memorizing openings.
3. Move to 13x13, then 19x19. The standard board is 19x19, but there is no requirement to start there. Step up when 9x9 games start feeling too cramped.

A typical beginner session on 9x9 might take only a few minutes, which makes it easy to fit several games into one practice sitting.

What to Look For in Study Tools

Once you can finish a game, the next step is reviewing it. Useful features to look for:

• SGF support — SGF is the standard file format for saving and sharing game records, so you can store your own games and open records from other sources.
• Game tree navigation — a game tree lets you step backward and forward through variations, which is how you explore "what if I had played here instead?"
• AI analysis — engines such as KataGo evaluate positions and suggest moves, giving you feedback that a human opponent may not provide.
• Board recognition from photos — some tools can read a physical board from a photo and convert it into a digital record, useful if you play in person.

Kaya, for example, is a free, open-source Go (Baduk/Weiqi) app that combines play, SGF viewing, game tree navigation, board recognition from photos, and KataGo AI analysis on desktop and web. If you want a single place to play and review, checking whether a tool covers these four areas — SGF, game tree, AI analysis, and (optionally) photo recognition — is a practical way to compare options.

A Simple Starting Routine

• Play one or two 9x9 games.
• Save or open the record as an SGF file.
• Walk through the game tree to find the moves where you lost stones or territory.
• Run AI analysis on those positions to see what the engine suggests.
• Repeat, gradually increasing board size.

You don't need to master theory before playing. The rules are small enough to learn in one sitting, and the rest of baduk is learned by playing and reviewing.