Guide · Go

Go terms: a glossary

The words Go players use, from atari to yose, each explained in a sentence or two, with its Japanese (ja), Chinese (zh) and Korean (ko) names where they are in common use. The rules themselves are in How to play Go, and how to use them in Go strategy for beginners.

The board

Point ja 交点 · zh 交叉点 · ko 교차점: A place where two lines cross. Stones are played on the points, not in the squares, so a 19×19 board has 361 points and a 9×9 board has 81. The word also means one unit of score.
Corner ja 隅 · zh 角 · ko 귀: The area near the meeting of two edges. Because two edges already close it off, a corner needs the fewest stones to surround space and to make eyes, which is why games usually begin there.
Side ja 辺 · zh 边 · ko 변: The area along one edge, between two corners. After the corners, the sides are the next most efficient place to build, since one edge does part of the work.
Centre ja 中央 · zh 中腹 · ko 중앙: The middle of the board, away from all four edges. Territory there needs walls on every side, so it is usually settled last.
Star point (hoshi) ja 星 · zh 星位 · ko 화점: One of the dots marked on the board: on 19×19, the four 4-4 points in the corners, the fourth-line point in the middle of each side, and tengen, the centre point. On 9×9 the corner star points sit on the 3-3 points instead. Handicap stones usually go on them.
Third and fourth lines: Lines are counted in from the nearest edge. Stones on the third line secure territory most easily, and stones on the fourth line give up some of that for influence toward the centre. Opening moves on the second line take too little, and moves on the fifth line and above are easy to undermine.

Stones and groups

Liberty ja 呼吸点 · zh 气 · ko 활로: An empty point directly next to a stone along a line. Diagonal points do not count. A stone or group with no liberties left is captured.
Group ja 連 · zh 棋块 · ko 덩어리: Stones of one colour joined along the lines. A group shares its liberties, and it lives or is captured as one. Stones that touch only diagonally are not part of the same group.
Connection ja ツギ · zh 粘 · ko 이음: A move that joins two of your stones or groups into one, so that they can no longer be cut apart. Connecting a weak group to a strong one is often the simplest way to save it.
Cut ja キリ · zh 断 · ko 끊음: A move that separates two of the opponent's stones where they are not yet connected, often between two stones that touch only diagonally. The point where this is possible is called a cutting point. Two weak groups are usually easier to attack than one.
Diagonal move (kosumi) ja コスミ · zh 尖 · ko 마늘모: A stone played diagonally next to one of your own. The two are not connected, but they share two empty points: if the opponent plays on one, you connect on the other.
Tiger's mouth zh 虎口 · ko 호구: Three of your stones around an empty point, open on one side. An opposing stone played into the gap would be in atari at once, so the empty point works almost like a connection.
Empty triangle ja アキ三角 · zh 空三角 · ko 빈삼각: Three stones bent into an L, with the fourth point of their square empty. The shape spends three stones for fewer liberties than a straight line of three would have, and it is the best-known example of bad shape.
One-space jump ja 一間トビ · zh 跳 · ko 한칸뜀: A stone played on the same line as one of yours, with one empty point between them. It is hard to cut, and it is a common way to move a group out toward the centre.
Knight's move (keima) ja ケイマ · zh 小飞 · ko 날일자: A stone played one point across and two along from one of yours, like the knight in chess. It covers more ground than a one-space jump, but the opponent can push between the two stones and cut more easily.

Capturing

Atari ja アタリ · zh 打吃 · ko 단수: A stone or group with one liberty left, or the move that leaves it so. A stone on that last liberty captures it. Before each move, check whether anything of yours is in atari.
Capture ja 石を取る · zh 提子 · ko 따내기: Filling the last liberty of a stone or group. The captured stones are taken off the board at once.
Prisoners ja アゲハマ · ko 따낸 돌: The stones you have captured, kept aside during the game. Under territory scoring each one is a point for you; under area scoring they are not counted, because your stones on the board count instead.
Suicide ja 自殺手 · zh 自杀 · ko 자살수: A move that would leave your own stone or group with no liberties. Most rules forbid it, unless the same move captures opposing stones and so gains liberties at once.
Ko ja コウ · zh 劫 · ko 패: A shape in which the two players could capture one stone back and forth for ever. The ko rule forbids retaking at once: you must play somewhere else first, and you may retake on a later turn if the ko is still open.
Ko threat ja コウ立て · zh 劫材 · ko 팻감: A move played elsewhere during a ko that threatens something big enough for the opponent to answer. If they answer, you retake the ko; if they settle the ko instead, you carry out the threat. The player with more and bigger threats usually wins the ko.
Double atari ja 両アタリ · zh 双打吃 · ko 양단수: One move that puts two separate groups in atari at the same time. The opponent can save only one of them.
Capturing race (semeai) ja 攻め合い · zh 对杀 · ko 수상전: A fight between two neighbouring groups, neither of which can make two eyes, in which each can survive only by capturing the other. Count both groups' liberties before you start: the one with more usually wins, and with equal liberties the side to move usually does.

Life and death

Life and death ja 死活 · zh 死活 · ko 사활: Whether a group can, in the end, be captured or not. Many games are decided by it, because a large group that dies hands its whole area to the opponent.
Eye ja 眼 · zh 眼 · ko 눈: An empty point, or a small space, enclosed by one group. The opponent can play inside it only with a move that captures, so a group with two separate eyes can never be captured.
Alive ja 生き · zh 活棋 · ko 산 돌: A group is alive when it cannot be captured whatever the opponent does, usually because it has two eyes or is in seki. A living group needs no more moves to protect it.
Dead stones ja 死に石 · zh 死子 · ko 사석: Stones that cannot avoid capture, even though they are still on the board. When the game ends, the players agree which stones are dead and remove them as captured, without playing the captures out.
False eye ja 欠け眼 · zh 假眼 · ko 옥집: A point that looks like an eye but can be filled, because the stones around it are not all connected. In the centre the opponent needs two of its four diagonal points to make it false; on the edge, one of the two; in the corner, the only one. A group with one real eye and one false eye cannot live on them.
Vital point ja 急所 · ko 급소: The point that decides a shape, often the middle of a space in which a group is trying to make two eyes. Whoever plays there first usually decides whether the group lives or dies.
Seki ja セキ · zh 双活 · ko 빅: A standoff in which two groups share liberties and neither player can fill them without losing their own stones. Both groups stay on the board to the end and count as alive, even without two eyes.
Life-and-death problem (tsumego) ja 詰碁 · zh 死活题 · ko 사활 문제: A puzzle in which you find the move that makes a group live, or the move that kills it. Solving short problems often is one of the quickest ways to read positions faster and more accurately.

Tactics

Tesuji ja 手筋 · zh 手筋: A sharp local move that achieves more than it seems to, such as a ladder, a net or a snapback. Knowing the common ones helps you see captures hidden in a position.
Hane ja ハネ · zh 扳 · ko 젖힘: A move played diagonally from one of your stones that bends around the end of an opposing stone it touches. It blocks the opponent's way forward, and it is one of the most common moves in fights and in the endgame.
Extend (nobi) ja ノビ · zh 长 · ko 뻗음: A stone played in a straight line from one of your own, touching it. Extending from a stone in atari is the usual way to give it more liberties. It is not the same as an extension along the side.
Ladder ja シチョウ · zh 征子 · ko 축: A chase in which every move keeps the escaping stones in atari, so that they zigzag across the board until the edge stops them and they are captured. It fails if a stone of the escaping colour already stands in the path, called a ladder breaker. Read the whole path before you start one.
Net ja ゲタ · zh 枷 · ko 장문: A loose move, one point away, that closes a stone's exits instead of chasing it. Each time the stone pushes out, you block, and it only loses liberties. A net often works where a ladder would fail.
Snapback ja ウッテガエシ · zh 倒扑 · ko 환격: You play a stone that the opponent can capture, and the capture leaves their capturing stones in atari, so you take them straight back. It is not a ko: you capture more than one stone in return, so the retake is allowed at once.
Throw-in ja ホウリコミ · zh 扑 · ko 먹여치기: A stone played inside the opponent's shape where it will be captured at once. Giving up that one stone takes away a liberty or spoils an eye, and often sets up a snapback or connect and die.
Connect and die ja オイオトシ · zh 接不归 · ko 촉촉수: A position in which stones in atari cannot be saved by connecting them, because the connected group would still have only one liberty. The defender loses either the first stones or, after connecting, a larger group.
Sacrifice ja 捨て石 · zh 弃子: Giving up stones on purpose to gain more elsewhere: sente, a wall facing the centre, or the capture of a bigger group. Weak stones that no longer matter are often better given up than saved.

Strategy and the opening

Opening (fuseki) ja 布石 · zh 布局 · ko 포석: The first stage of the game, when both players stake out the board with widely spaced stones. The usual order is corners first, then sides, then the centre.
Joseki ja 定石 · zh 定式 · ko 정석: An established sequence of moves in a corner that gives both players a fair result. Knowing why each move is played matters more than memorising long sequences, since the right choice depends on the stones elsewhere on the board.
3-3 point (san-san) ja 三々 · zh 三三 · ko 삼삼: The point on the third line from both edges of a corner. A stone there secures the corner quickly, but it stands low and does little toward the centre.
3-4 point (komoku) ja 小目 · zh 小目 · ko 소목: The point on the third line from one edge and the fourth line from the other. It balances territory and influence, and it is one of the most common first moves in a corner of a 19×19 board.
Approach move (kakari) ja カカリ · zh 挂角 · ko 걸침: A move toward a corner where the opponent has a single stone, played to stop them from taking the whole corner with an enclosure.
Enclosure (shimari) ja シマリ · zh 守角 · ko 굳힘: A second stone added to your own corner stone, so that the corner becomes hard to take away. It spends a move now to avoid a fight there later.
Extension (hiraki) ja ヒラキ · zh 拆 · ko 벌림: A move along the side, a few points away from your own stones, usually on the third or fourth line. It claims part of the side and gives a group a base: room to make eyes if it is attacked.
Framework (moyo) ja 模様 · zh 模样: A large area loosely outlined by your stones that is not yet territory. It can become a lot of territory, but the opponent can still invade it or reduce it from outside.
Thickness ja 厚み · zh 厚味 · ko 두터움: A strong wall of stones with no weaknesses, facing an open area. It is best used to attack the opponent's weak groups nearby, rather than to surround territory right beside it.
Sente ja 先手 · zh 先手 · ko 선수: A move that the opponent has to answer, so that you are free to play first again afterwards. Having sente means that it is your turn and nothing on the board demands an answer from you.
Gote ja 後手 · zh 后手 · ko 후수: A move that does not need an answer, so the opponent is free to play elsewhere. A gote move should be worth more than the move it lets the opponent play next.
Tenuki ja 手抜き · zh 脱先 · ko 손빼기: Not answering the opponent's last move and playing somewhere else instead. It is right when their move threatens less than the move you play elsewhere is worth.
Invasion ja 打ち込み · zh 打入 · ko 침입: A stone played inside an area the opponent has outlined, to live there or to break it up. An invading group needs room to make two eyes, or a way out to the centre.

The endgame and counting

Endgame (yose) ja ヨセ · zh 官子 · ko 끝내기: The last stage of the game, when the borders between territories are settled point by point. Play the biggest moves first, and sente moves before gote moves of the same size.
Double sente ja 両先手 · zh 双先 · ko 양선수: An endgame move that would be sente for whichever player plays it. Play these as early as you can: the player who takes one gains points and keeps the right to choose the next move.
Neutral point (dame) ja ダメ · zh 单官 · ko 공배: An empty point between living groups of both colours, which belongs to neither player. Under area scoring each one you fill adds a point to your score; under territory scoring they are worth nothing.
Pass ja パス · zh 停一手 · ko 패스: Giving up your turn instead of placing a stone. When both players pass one after the other, the game ends and is counted.
Territory ja 地 · zh 地 · ko 집: Empty points surrounded only by one player's living stones. Each point of territory is worth one point under every common set of rules.
Komi ja コミ · zh 贴目 · ko 덤: Points added to White's score to make up for Black moving first. On 19×19 it is usually 6.5 or 7.5, and the half point means a game cannot end in a draw. Momiji Go gives 5.5 on 9×9, 6.5 on 13×13 and 7.5 on 19×19.
Area scoring ja 面積計算 · zh 数子法 · ko 중국식 계가: Counting your stones on the board plus the empty points they surround, as Chinese rules do. A stone played inside your own territory costs nothing under it, since the point still counts for you.
Territory scoring zh 数目法: Counting the empty points you surround plus your prisoners, including the dead stones removed at the end, as Japanese and Korean rules do. It almost always gives the same winner as area scoring.
Counting ja 計算 · zh 计算 · ko 계가: Working out the score once the game has ended. Dead stones are removed first, then each side's points are counted under the rules in use, and komi is added to White's total.
Win by resignation ja 中押し勝ち · zh 中盘胜 · ko 불계승: A player who sees no way to win may resign instead of playing on, and the opponent wins without a count. Many games between experienced players end this way.

Ranks and play

Kyu ja 級 · zh 级 · ko 급: A student rank. Kyu numbers count down as you improve: a newcomer starts with a high number, and 1 kyu is the strongest kyu rank.
Dan ja 段 · zh 段 · ko 단: A rank above 1 kyu. Dan numbers count up from 1 dan as you improve. Professional players have a separate dan scale, from 1 dan to 9 dan.
Handicap game ja 置碁 · zh 让子棋 · ko 접바둑: A game between players of different strength, in which the weaker player takes Black and places extra stones, usually on the star points, before White's first move. One stone for each rank of difference is the usual guide.
Nigiri ja ニギリ · zh 猜先 · ko 돌가리기: The usual way to decide who takes Black in an even game. One player takes a handful of white stones, the other guesses odd or even by putting down one or two black stones, and a correct guess means playing Black.
Game record (kifu) ja 棋譜 · zh 棋谱 · ko 기보: The moves of a game written down or saved in order, so that the game can be replayed later, move by move.
Review ja 検討 · zh 复盘 · ko 복기: Going back over a finished game to find where it was won or lost. Momiji Go keeps your last five games against Lord Tsukikage under Past games, and can mark the move he would have played in place of yours.

Put the words on the board

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