Go · Variant 1 of 2

Toroidal Go

11×11Board 2Players

Toroidal Go

Standard Go played on a board where edges wrap around horizontally and vertically. No corners, no edges, no joseki. Every group floats. Active tournament community since 2012 with 1,400+ recorded games.

Setup

Board: A grid where the far left connects to the far right, and the top connects to the bottom. Every intersection has exactly four neighbours. The standard size is 11x11, though 9x9 through 25x25 are also played.

Stones: Standard Go stones. Black plays first.

Rules

All standard Go rules apply (placement, capture by surrounding, ko rule, no suicide) with one modification:

  • Wraparound adjacency: Each intersection on the far left is adjacent to the corresponding intersection on the far right. Each intersection on the top is adjacent to the corresponding intersection on the bottom. The surface is topologically a torus.
  • No edges or corners: Every intersection has exactly four neighbours. There are no edge or corner positions anywhere on the board.
  • Scoring: Standard area (Chinese) or territory (Japanese) scoring applies. White receives 4.5 komi on an 11x11 board.

Strategy

  • All groups are floating from the opening move. Corner joseki (standard sequences) do not exist.
  • Making two eyes to live is harder because there are no natural safe structures at board edges.
  • Splitting the opponent into two separate eyeless groups and attacking one is a primary strategy.
  • Territorial frameworks must be small on 11x11; forcing the opponent into thin shape is key.

Visualisation

Most software displays 3-4 extra lines around the main grid as duplicates of the opposite edges (shown in a different background colour). On a physical 19x19 board, 11x11 toroidal Go can be played using the inner 11x11 area with the outer lines serving as wraparound reference.

Tournament History

On LittleGolem, an ongoing ladder tournament has 21 players. A previous tournament ran from 2012 to 2020: 129 players, 1,497 games, 138 rounds, average 76 moves per game. The European Go Congress has hosted toroidal Go tournaments, most recently in 2023.

Attribution

Variant with active competitive community. Source: Sensei’s Library (OPL 1.0).