A Beginner's Introduction to GO

VI. A Sample Game

In this section, a complete 9x9 game between two inexperienced players will be presented. During the game, some of the important principles of play in Go will be discussed.

Figure 1: Moves 1-4

In Figure 1, Black plays the first move near one corner of the board. In Go, it is easiest to make territory and eyes in the corners, where the edges of the board are there to help. The sides of the board are the next best place to play. It is hardest to make territory and eyes in the centre of the board. So the players usually play the first few moves near the corners, usually on the 3rd or 4th lines from the edge. Black has chosen to play on a "3-3 point" (3 lines from the edge in both directions). It is also common to play on the 3-4, 4-4, 3-5, and 4-5 points on a full-size board, but the 3-3 points are probably the best on a 9x9 board. White plays 2 on a 3-3 point, too. Each player has now staked a claim to one corner of the board and hopes to make territory there. Black plays 3 on a 4-4 point to try to take a bigger piece of territory, but White decides that Black is being too greedy, and invades this corner with 4. Black will try to surround this white stone, and White will try to escape or make two eyes to live in the corner.

Figure 2: Moves 5-9

Black plays 5 to try to trap the White stone in the corner, and also to make sure that the two white stones cannot be connected together. This is one of the most important principles in Go: try to keep your own stones connected together, and your opponent's stones separated. White plays 6 to make this stone stronger and to try to surround enough territory to make two eyes. Black blocks the white stones with 7. White tries to keep going with 8 but Black blocks the way again with 9. Now both players should be careful because their stones are not solidly connected together.

Figure 3: Moves 10-15

White plays 10 and says "atari". Black plays 11 to save the black stone, but White has cut the Black stones into two pieces. White 10 is called a cutting stone. But White's stones are not connected, either. If Black could play at 12, this would put a white stone into atari, and capture it. So White plays 12 to connect all the white stones together. Black plays 13 to surround the white stones even more, and White blocks the way with 14. Now it is Black who must connect with 15. (If White could play at 15, it would capture 13 and make it easy for the white stones to live. Now White is sealed into the corner, and must try to find a way to make two eyes. The white group is not dead yet, but it is not alive either.

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