A Beginner's Introduction to GO

III. A Detailed Explanation of the Rules (continued)

6. Disputes

At the end of the game, the players may not agree on which stones are dead and which are alive, although this is extremely rare. A simple method for settling such arguments is needed which will be fair to both players and which will not change the score. Suppose that White did not agree that the marked white stone in Figure 20 was dead. Black could prove that it was dead by actually capturing it, but then Black would lose one point, which would not be fair.

Figure 20 - Settling diputes

Here is a rule which will settle any arguments without affecting the score:

Rule 6 (Disputes): If the players do not agree on which stones are dead at the end of the game, then they should resume playing with the following two additional rules:

A) Both players must make the same number of extra moves.
B) To pass, a player must hand a stone to the opponent as a captive.

If any dead stones were removed from the board, they should be put back before resuming play. The player whose turn it was when the game ended should play first.

If it is the end of the game, and all of the dame have been filled in, then playing a move will always lose one point. Rule A makes sure that both players will lose the same number of points, and so the score will not change. Rule B makes sure that one point will still be lost even if a player passes.
In Figure 20, Black will settle the argument by capturing the white stone. But now White must make a move, too. So White plays a stone inside his own territory (or passes and hands Black an extra captive). Both players have lost one point, which is fair.

Next Page | Previous Page | Contents | My Go Page | My Home Page