What Is the Game of Go and How Do You Get Started Learning and Playing It?

Go is a two-player strategy board game in which you place stones on a grid to surround more territory than your opponent. You can start learning in an afternoon: play on a 9x9 board, use handicap stones to balance skill, and practice against a computer or solve problems between games. Software such as SmartGo One is built for exactly this loop — learn, play, study — with a free download that includes playing the computer, studying master games, solving problems, and reading Go books.

The basic rules and goal

Go is played on a board of intersecting lines. Stones go on the intersections, not inside the squares. Two players take turns: one plays black, the other white. Black moves first.

The goal is territory, not capture. You surround empty intersections and the opponent's stones to claim area. A stone or group with no empty adjacent intersection (no "liberty") is captured and removed from the board.

Three ideas cover most of the rules:

• Placing stones: one stone per turn on any empty intersection, unless the move would be self-capture or repeat a previous board position.
• Surrounding territory: a region counts for you when only your stones border it.
• Capturing: remove a group when its last liberty is filled.

The game ends when both players pass. Then you count territory plus captured stones. The player with more wins.

Names and where it is played

The same game carries different names by region:

The rules are essentially the same; terminology and counting conventions vary slightly. If you read a book or watch a video using one of these names, you are still learning the same game.

How to start as a beginner

The fastest path is to shrink the board and reduce the skill gap.

1. Start on 9x9. A full 19x19 board is overwhelming at first. On 9x9, games end quickly and every move has visible consequences, so you learn territory and capture by doing.
2. Use handicap stones. If you are playing a stronger player, you place extra black stones before the game begins. This keeps games close and makes them worth playing.
3. Play many short games. Volume beats analysis early on. Ten quick 9x9 games teach more than one slow 19x19 game.
4. Solve beginner problems. Life-and-death and capture problems train you to see liberties and shapes without the pressure of a full game.
5. Replay master games. Following professional games shows patterns you will start to recognize in your own play.

Using software to learn, play, and study

Software covers the parts of the loop that are hard to arrange with a human opponent: an always-available playing partner, a problem library, and a game archive.

SmartGo One, from SmartGo, is described as a complete app for the game of Go: learn to play, practice against the computer, study master games, solve problems, and read Go books. It is available as a free download, with apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Windows. If you want one tool that spans learning, playing, and studying rather than separate apps for each, that combination is the reason to try it.

When comparing Go programs, check the same dimensions:

• Playing strength and levels: can the computer scale down to a beginner, or only play hard?
• Board sizes: does it support 9x9 and 13x13, not just 19x19?
• Study material: master game collections, problem sets, and books in one place.
• Platforms: does it run on the devices you actually use?
• Cost and access: confirm current pricing and any account requirements on the vendor's site before committing.

Common beginner mistakes

• Playing only on 19x19. You lose repeatedly without understanding why. Use smaller boards first.
• Chasing captures. Beginners hunt stones while the opponent quietly takes territory. Watch the whole board.
• Refusing handicap games. Even games against a much stronger player teach little. Handicap keeps it competitive.
• Studying without playing. Problems and master games only help once you apply them in real games.
• Ignoring liberties. Most early losses come from groups with too few liberties. Count them before every fight.

Where to go next

Once 9x9 games feel comfortable, move to 13x13, then 19x19. Keep the loop running: play a game, review it, solve a few problems, replay part of a master game. Software like SmartGo One is designed to hold all of those steps in one place, which removes the friction that stops most beginners after a few weeks.