Standard Go (19×19)

The full tournament game played on a 19×19 grid with 361 intersections. One fundamental rule — capture by surrounding — produces extraordinary strategic depth. Games last 60–180 minutes at tournament level.

Go — 19×19 board

https://engine.moddable.games/play/?game=go&variant=standard

Components

Item	Qty	Notes
Board	1	19×19 grid (361 intersections)
Black stones	181	Enough to cover slightly more than half the board
White stones	180	One fewer than Black (Black plays first)

Setup

The board starts empty. Black plays first. Stones are placed on intersections (where lines cross), not inside squares.

Rules

Placement: On each turn, a player places one stone of their colour on any empty intersection, or passes.

Liberties and capture:

An empty intersection adjacent to a stone (horizontally or vertically) is a liberty.
Adjacent same-colour stones form a group and share liberties.
A group with zero liberties is captured and removed from the board.
A stone may be placed on a zero-liberty intersection if doing so captures opponent stones.

Ko rule: A move that returns the board to the immediately previous position is forbidden. If one player captures a single stone, the opponent must play elsewhere before recapturing.

Suicide: A move that would leave your own group with zero liberties without capturing any opponent stones is forbidden.

Scoring

The game ends when both players pass consecutively.

Area scoring (Chinese): Score = your stones on the board + empty intersections surrounded only by your stones.

Territory scoring (Japanese): Score = empty intersections you surround − your captured stones (prisoners).

Both methods produce the same winner in nearly all cases.

Komi

White receives 6.5 points of compensation for moving second. The half-point prevents draws.

Attribution

Traditional game originating in China approximately 4,000 years ago. Known as Weiqi (Chinese), Baduk (Korean), Igo (Japanese). Public domain. Rules standardised by the International Go Federation.