Go clubs welcome players of all ages and abilities

Playing on a traditional Japanese Go Board

GO

IS UNIQUE

The history of Go stretches back some

3000 years and the game has remained
essentially unchanged throughout this very
long period. The game probably originated
in China. Legend has it that the future of
Tibet was once decided over a Go board
when the Buddhist ruler refused to go into
battle; instead he challenged the aggressor
to a game of Go.
In the Far East Go enjoys great popularity today, and interest in the game is
growing steadily in Europe and America.
Like Chess, Go is a game of skill it has
been described as being like four Chess
games going on together on the same board
but it differs from Chess in many ways.
The rules of Go are very simple and though,
like Chess, it is a challenge to players
analytical skills, there is far more scope in
Go for intuition.
Go is a territorial game. The board,
marked with a grid of 19 lines by 19 lines,
may be thought of as a piece of land to
be shared between the two players. One
player has a supply of black pieces, called
stones, the other a supply of white. The
game starts with an empty board and the
players take turns, placing one stone at
each turn on a vacant point. Black plays
first, and the stones are placed on the
intersections of the lines rather than in
the squares. Once played, stones are not
moved. However they may be surrounded
and so captured, in which case they are
removed from the board as prisoners.
Players normally start by staking out
their claims to parts of the board which
they intend eventually to surround and
thereby make into territory. However,
fights between opposing groups of stones
provide much of the excitement in a game,
and can result in dramatic exchanges of
territory. At the end of the game the players
count one point for each vacant intersection

inside their own territory, and one point for

every stone they have captured. The one
with the larger total is the winner.
Capturing stones is certainly one way
of gaining territory, but one of the subtleties
of Go is that aggression doesnt always pay.
The strategic and tactical possibilities of the
game are endless, providing a challenge
and enjoyment to players at every level.
The personalities of the players emerge
very clearly on the Go board. The game
reflects the skills of the players in balancing
attack and defence, making stones work
efficiently, remaining flexible in response
to changing situations, timing, analysing
accurately and recognising the strengths
and weaknesses of the opponent. In short,
Go is a game it is impossible to outgrow.

Why is Go special?
As an intellectual challenge Go is extraordinary. The rules are very simple, yet it resists
all attempts to program computers to play
Go at the top level. Even the best programs,
the results of many years development,
are still beaten by experienced players.
Go offers major attractions to anyone who
enjoys games of skill:
There is great scope for intuition and
experiment in a game of Go, especially
in the opening.
Like Chess, Go
has its opening strategies and tactics,
but players can become quite strong
knowing just a few basic patterns.
A great advantage of Go is the very
effective handicapping system. This
enables players of widely differing
strengths to play each other on equal
terms without distorting the character
of the game.

 The object in Go is to make more

territory than the other player by
surrounding it more efficiently, or by
attacking the opponents stones to
greater effect. On such a large board,
its possible to do somewhat badly in
one area, but still to win the game by
doing better on the board as a whole.

one person at a time, and was awarded

only if one player out-classed all his
contemporaries.
The most significant advances in Go
theory were made in the 1670s by the
Meijin Dosaku, who was the fourth head
of the Honinbo School, and possibly the
greatest Go player in history. The House
of Honinbo was by far the most successful
of the four Go schools, producing more
Meijins than the other three schools put
together.
The whole structure of professional Go
in Japan was undermined in 1868, when
the Shogunate collapsed and the Emperor
was restored to power. The Go schools
lost their funding as the westernisation of
Japanese society took hold. Today, the main
organisation of professional Go players in
Japan is the Nihon Ki-in, which with the
International Go Federation fosters interest
in the game throughout the world. There
are now hundreds of books in print in
English and more than sixty countries
compete in annual World Amateur Go
Championships.

Every game of Go quickly takes on a

character of its own no two games
are alike. Since a player needs only to
have more territory than the opponent
in order to win, there are very few
drawn games, though the outcome
may hang in the balance until the very
end.

A brief history
Go is one of the oldest board games in the
world. In the absence of facts about the
origin of the game there are various myths:
for example that the legendary Emperor
Yao invented Go to enlighten his son, Dan
Zhu.
Although it originated in Central Asia
and there are references to the game by
Confucius, historically it was in Japan that
the game really flourished. Introduced into
Japan probably well before the 8th century,
Go soon gained popularity at the imperial
court and, from this auspicious beginning,
took root in Japanese culture.
In 1612 the Shogun awarded stipends to
the four strongest Go players. Later these
stipends were extended to the players
heirs (often the strongest student) and
so the four great Go schools, Honinbo,
Hayashi, Inoue and Yasue, were founded.
Over the next 250 years, the intense rivalry
among these schools brought about a great
improvement in the standard of play. A
ranking system was set up, classifying
professional players into 9 grades or dans,
of which the highest was Meijin, meaning
expert. This title could be held by only

Go in the Far East today

The most important Go playing countries in the Far East are Japan, China,
Korea and Taiwan, all of which maintain
communities of professional players. Major
tournaments in these countries attract
sponsorship from large companies, often
newspapers publishing the games, and
have a following like that of big sporting
events here. Until relatively recently, the
strongest players from Korea and China
tended to go to Japan as professionals.
Today, they are more likely to remain in
their own countries where they become
national heroes. There are perhaps 50
million Go players in the Far East, and
many people who do not play still follow
the game with keen interest.

Go in Europe

Go in Britain

Although the game of Go had been

described by western travellers to the Far
East in the 17th century, it was not played in
Europe until 1880, when a German, Oskar
Korschelt, wrote a book about the game.
After this some Go was played in Germany
and Yugoslavia. However, the game was
slow to spread and it was not until 1957 that
the first regular European Championship
was held.
Nowadays, Go is played in most European countries. The standard of play is
significantly below that of the top players
in the Far East, but the gap is steadily
closing as more of the top European players
spend time studying the game in Japan,
Korea and China. Some even stay on as
professionals. In 1992, a European Go
Centre was opened in Amsterdam with
support from Iwamoto Kaoru (then the
worlds oldest active professional at 90
years of age).

Go has been played in Britain for at

least 100 years, but was not played on
an organised basis until the 1950s when
the British Go Association was formed.
Today, it is estimated that there are over
a thousand Go players in Britain. There
are more than 60 Go clubs in the UK and
the standard of play compares with the rest
of Europe. Matthew Macfadyen, Britains
top player in recent years, has won the
European Championship four times.
A British Championship and a British
Youth Championship are held every year,
and there are Go tournaments throughout
the country. These can attract upwards of
a hundred players at all strength levels,
including beginners and young players,
and some include teaching sessions. An
open British Go Congress has been held at
a different venue each year since 1968 and
the London Open is one of the major events
in Europe.

The European Youth Championship in Bognor Regis attracted players from all
parts of Europe

Go on the Internet

Pair Go

In recent years, the Internet has become a

valuable resource for Go players, not only
as a place for playing Go, but also as a place
for teaching, learning and discussion. An
enormous number of people of all strengths
and nationalities play online, via Go
Servers such as KGS (www.gokgs.com).
KGS includes a number of rooms for
both playing and discussing Go, including
the British Room, an online community
of British Go players. We hold some
tournaments on KGS, including an interclub league and a student tournament.
There are also turn-based or correspondence Go servers, such as the Online
Go Server (OGS; www.online-go.org).
These allow games to be played over a
longer period, for example a few turns per
day, or even a turn every few days.
Also, many players, including professionals, play on the Pandanet server (www.
pandanet-igs.com).

Pair Go is a form of Go played by teams

of two, a male and a female, with no
conferring. It is the Mixed Doubles of Go.
It was introduced in Japan in the 1980s with
the aim of promoting Go as a more social
activity and attracting more female players
to tournaments.
Pair Go has a special etiquette which
involves avoiding bad manners and attitude. The environment for Pair Go events
is pleasant and higher than the usual
standard, as is the standard of dress. In
order to encourage this, a Best Dressed
prize is traditionally awarded at all Pair Go
events.
The first International Amateur Pair
Go Championship was held in 1990. In
Britain, there is an annual British Pair Go
Championships, which has been held since
1991. A Pair Go side event also takes place
at the London Open. Additionally, Pair
Go is often played less formally at other
tournaments and in clubs.

Pair Go at the World Mind Sports Games [Great Britain (left) vs Italy]

H OW

TO

P LAY

Although the normal size of a

Go board is 19 by 19 lines, it is
possible to use smaller sizes. A
quick game can be played on a
13 by 13 board without losing the
essential character of the game. The
following examples all use a 9 by 9
board.
We recommend that beginners learn
the basics on a 9 by 9 board, moving
up to a 13 by 13 board after a
few games and only playing on a
19 by 19 board if you can play a
complete game within 15 minutes
and are comfortable with some of
the strategic concepts.

The rules
A game of Go starts with an empty board.
Each player has an effectively unlimited
supply of pieces (called stones), one taking
the black stones, the other taking white.
The main object of the game is to use your
stones to form territories by surrounding
vacant areas of the board.
It is also
possible to capture your opponents stones
by completely surrounding them.
Players take turns, placing one of their
stones on a vacant point at each turn, with
Black playing first. Note that stones are
placed on the intersections of the lines
rather than in the squares and once played
stones are not moved. However they
may be captured, in which case they are
removed from the board, and kept by the
capturing player as prisoners.
At the end of the game the players
count one point for each vacant point inside
their own territory, and one point for every
stone they have captured. The player with
the larger total of territory plus prisoners is
the winner.

a
Diagram 1

Diagram 1 shows the position at the end of

a game on a 9 by 9 board, during which
Black captured one White stone at a.
Black has surrounded 15 points of
territory, 10 in the lower right corner and
5 towards the top of the board. Blacks
territory includes the point a formerly
occupied by the stone Black has captured.
Adding the prisoner to the total, Black has
16 points. Whites territory is 17 points, so
White wins the game by one point.

Capturing stones and counting liberties

The empty points which are horizontally or vertically adjacent to a stone, or a solidly
connected string of stones, are known as liberties. An isolated stone or string of stones
is captured when all of its liberties are occupied by enemy stones.

x
x

x
x

xx

x
x

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

Diagram 2 shows three isolated White stones with their liberties marked by crosses.
Stones which are on the edge of the board have fewer liberties than those in the centre
of the board. A single stone on the side has three liberties, and a stone in the corner has
only two liberties.
Diagram 3 shows the same three stones of Diagram 2 each with only one liberty left
and therefore subject to capture on Blacks next turn. Each of these White stones is said to
be in atari, meaning they are about to be captured.
Diagram 4 shows the position which would arise if Black went on to play at b in
Diagram 3. Black has taken the captured stone from the board, and in a real game would
keep it as a prisoner. The same remarks would apply to the other two White stones,
should Black play at c or d in Diagram 4.

Strings
Stones occupying adjacent points constitute a solidly
connected string. Four examples of such strings of
stones are shown in Diagram 5. It is important to
remember that only stones which are horizontally or
vertically adjacent are solidly connected; diagonals do
not count as connections. Thus, for example, the two
marked Black stones in the top left of Diagram 5 are
two separate strings, not a single one.
Several strings close together, which belong to the
same player, are often described as a group. So these
two strings form a group.

Diagram 5

Capturing strings
As far as capturing is concerned, a string is treated
as a single unit. As with isolated stones, a string
is captured when all of its liberties are occupied by
enemy stones.
In Diagram 6 the strings of Diagram 5 have both
been reduced to just one liberty. Note that the Black
string in the top right is not yet captured because of
the internal liberty at f. The two stones at the top left
of Diagram 6 can each be captured independently at g
or h.
In Diagram 7 we see the position which would
result if Black captured at e and White captured
at f and at g. The remaining Black stone could be
captured at h. As with the capture of a single stone,
the points formerly occupied by the Black string have
become White territory, and vice versa.

g
h

Diagram 6

A player may not self-capture, that is play

a stone into a position where it would have
no liberties or form part of a string which
would thereby have no liberties, unless,
as a result, one or more of the stones
surrounding it is captured.

Diagram 7

Diagrams 8 and 9 illustrate the rule governing self-capture. In Diagram 8, White may not
play at i or j, since either of these plays would be self-capture; the stones would then have
no liberties. However, if the outside liberties have been filled, as shown in Diagram 9, then
the plays at i and j become legal; they fill the last Black liberty in each case, and result in
the Black stones being captured and removed from the board as Whites prisoners, leaving
the White stone just played with some liberties.

Diagram 8

Diagram 9

Life and death and the concept of eyes

In Diagram 9, White was able to play at i and j because
these plays result in the capture of the adjacent Black
stones. Since Whites plays capture some stones, they
do not count as self-capture.
A different situation is shown in Diagram 10. The
Black string here could only be captured if White
were able to play at both m and n. Since the first of
these plays would be self-capture, there is no way that
White can carry out the capture. These two separate
spaces within a string or group are known as eyes.

Diagram 10

Any string or group of stones which has two or more eyes is

permanently safe from capture and is referred to as a live string
or live group. Conversely, a string of stones which is unable
to make two eyes, and is cut off and surrounded by live enemy
strings, is called a dead string since it is hopeless and unable to
avoid eventual capture.

p
o
q
Diagram 11

In Diagram 11, the Black string at the bottom

is in danger of being captured. To ensure that
Blacks string has two eyes, Black needs to play
at o. If White plays at o, the Black string will
no longer be able to make two eyes, and cannot
avoid eventual capture; White can always fill in
the outside liberties and then play at p and at q.
Black plays at p or q would only hasten the strings
death.
The Black string at the top left of Diagram
11 is already alive even though there is a White
stone inside one of its eyes. Since White can never
capture the Black stones, the White stone caught
inside the string cannot be saved.

In the course of a real game, players are not obliged to complete the capture of an isolated
dead string once it is clear to both players that the string is dead. We call this a hopeless
string. In Diagram 11, once White has played at o, the situation may be left as it is until
the end of the game. Then, the hopeless strings are simply removed from the board and
counted together with the capturing players other prisoners.

The ko rule
At the top of Diagram 12, Black can capture a stone
by playing at r. This results in the situation at the top
of Diagram 13. However, this stone is itself vulnerable
to capture by a White play at u in Diagram 13. If
White were allowed to recapture immediately at u, the
position would revert to that in Diagram 12, and there
would be nothing to prevent this capture and recapture
continuing indefinitely. This pattern of stones is called ko
a Japanese term meaning eternity. Two other possible
shapes for a ko, on the edge of the board and in the corner,
are also shown in Diagram 12.
The ko rule removes this possibility of indefinite
repetition by forbidding the recapture of the ko, in this
case a play at u in Diagram 13, until White has made at
least one play elsewhere. Black may then fill the ko, but
if Black chooses not to do so, instead answering Whites
intervening turn elsewhere, White is then permitted to
retake the ko. Similar remarks apply to the other two
positions in these diagrams; the corresponding turns at
w and v in Diagram 13 must also be delayed by one turn.

r
t

s
Diagram 12

Seki a kind of local stalemate

Diagram 13

Usually a string which cannot make two eyes will die

unless one of the surrounding enemy strings also lacks
two eyes. This often leads to a race to capture, but can also
result in a stand-off situation, known as seki, in which
neither string has two eyes, but neither can capture the
other due to a shortage of liberties. Two examples of seki
are shown in Diagram 14. Neither player can afford to
play at x, y or z, since to do so would enable the other to
make a capture.

y
z
Diagram 14

The end of the game

When you think you cant gain any more territory, reduce your opponents territory or
capture more strings, instead of playing a stone on the board you pass and hand a stone
to your opponent as a prisoner. A Black pass followed by a White pass ends the game
(since Black played first, White must play last).
Any hopeless strings are removed and become prisoners. If you cannot agree whether
a string is dead or not, then continue playing; you can then complete the capture of the
disputed strings or confirm they are alive. (Playing after such a continuation does not
change the score as each pass gives up a prisoner.)

The handicap system

As remarked in the introduction, one of the best features of the game of Go is its handicap
system. A weaker player may be given an advantage of anything up to nine stones. These
are placed on the board in lieu of Blacks first turn. Once all the handicap stones have been
placed in position it is Whites turn to play.
Through the grading system, any two players can easily establish the difference in
their strength, and therefore how many stones the weaker player should take in order
to compensate for this difference. Since a players grade is measured in terms of stones,
the number of stones for the handicap is simply the difference in grade between the two
players.
There is an established
pattern for the placement of
handicap stones, shown by
the dots which are marked on
any Go board. The placement
for a nine stone handicap is
shown in Diagram 15. Smaller
handicaps are placed as follows
(Black is facing the board from
the bottom):
2 stones c and g
3 stones c, g and i
4 stones a, c, g and i
5 stones a, c, e, g and i
6 stones All but b, e and h
7 stones All but b and h
8 stones All but e
Diagram 15

Komi
Black has a natural advantage in playing the first move. So in games between players of
the same strength, it is usual to compensate White for the disadvantage of playing second
by adding points to Whites score. These points are called komi. From experience the
value of playing first is about 7 points, so this is the normal size of komi. In tournaments,
komi is often set at 7 21 points to avoid draws.

10

AN

EXAMPLE GAME

The example game shown here is played on a 9 by 9 board, and illustrates most of the
rules in action. It is a game played between two professionals. Try to see how the players
use the threat of capture to develop their positions. Notice also how they try to connect
their own stones and separate those of the opponent.
Most games of Go start fairly peacefully, with each player loosely mapping out
territory in different parts of the board. In this example on a small board, Black plays first
in the centre. On a larger size board play usually starts in the corners near the handicap
points.
The numbers in the figures show the order in which the stones are played. In later
figures, stones which have already been played are not numbered.

With
and
in Figure 1, Black exerts influence over
the right side of the board; while with
and , White
lays claim to the top left corner. With , Black aims to
exclude White from the bottom half of the board. White
leans against the lone Black stone with , reducing it to
two liberties. With , Black strengthens the stone at
by
extending to , and now the string has four liberties.
If Figure 2 seems somewhat alarming, you may find
it easier to look back at Figure 1 and imagine adding the
stones one at a time. Better still, play the game out on a
board.
After the
exchange, White pushes towards the
bottom with . Rather than defending the bottom left
corner, Black changes direction with , and now tries to
fence off the top right. Again White leans against the Black
stone, and again Black strengthens this stone by extending
to . White pushes into the gap with
and Black blocks
at .
If Black succeeds in surrounding all of the area to
the right and bottom of the board, Black will have more
territory than White has in the top left. Accordingly, White
cuts Black into two with , aiming to destroy the Black
area at the bottom in the course of this attack. Note that
the three Black stones to the left of
now have only two
liberties.





Figure 1: 17

11

Figure 2: 816

Black must do something to avoid the imminent capture of

the three stones cut off by White . In Figure 3, Black and
are both threats to capture White, who flees in turn with
and
(can you see why
and
are threats?). With ,
Black has stabilised these strings, and Whites three stones are
trapped inside Blacks sphere of influence.
The outcome of the game now hinges on the fate of these
stones. If they die and White obtains no compensation, White
will lose. If they live, or can be sacrificed in order to reduce
Blacks territory, White can still win the game.
White plays
in Figure 4 in an attempt to expand the
position along the edge and to reduce the liberties of the Black
stone at a. Black blocks at , preventing White from forming
a living shape along the second line. With , White threatens
to play at . Due to the presence of , this play would
simultaneously threaten the capture of the Black stone at a,
and of the two stones to the left of . Since either of these
captures would save the White stones below, Black plays
himself, putting an end to any possibility of the White stones
escape.
Unable to escape, and with insufficient space to be able to
form two eyes, White plays
on the outside. Whites plan
is to sacrifice the stones on the right and in the process to
destroy Blacks prospective territory at the bottom.
Figure 5 shows Whites plan put into effect. Black really
has no choice about . Black would like to defend the stone
to the right of , but if White gets the chance to block at ,
Blacks advantage in the fight will be lost. Whites plays at
and
are a device to increase the value of the sacrifice;
Black must play at
to prevent White from getting an eye
by playing there.
With
and , White captures . Now Black must
ensure the capture of the sacrificial White stones with ,
and , while White creeps along the bottom with
and .
Note that a play to the right of
is Whites privilege. It is
not urgent since it would be a mistake for Black to play there.
Can you see why?
With , the fight in this part of the board comes to an
end. Although White has lost 7 stones, White has captured
one of Blacks and succeeded in destroying the bottom area.
White has even made a couple of points of territory in the
bottom left corner. Furthermore, it is still Whites turn to
play and White is free to take the initiative elsewhere: to
expand Whites own area or reduce Blacks; to exploit Blacks
weaknesses or to patch up Whites own.




Figure 3: 1721




"

'

Figure 4: 2226

&

'

12

#%
&

Figure 5: 2739
Before looking at the
next figure, try to
decide for youself
where it is most
profitable for White to
play.

If your guess for Whites next play was somewhere near

in Figure 6 you can congratulate yourself. This is where the
boundary between Whites territory and Blacks is still most
uncertain, and the first to play here will make the greatest
gain.
removes Whites only weakness, the possibility of a
Black cut at this point. It also prepares for White to slide into
the top right and destroy prospective Black territory there.
With , Black blocks Whites path, and to complete
the boundary between the two territories here. The game is
almost over. Can you see the best place for White to play
next?
White in Figure 7 pushes into the one remaining gap in
Blacks wall.
shuts White out, and 48 prevents the capture
of . Strictly speaking the game is over at this point, since
there is nowhere that either player can play to increase their
own territory or decrease their opponents. Black would like
to play at , but if so, the Black stones would have only
one liberty, and White would capture them with a play to the
right of .
Black and complete the formalities. After and the
removal of the 6 White stones, Black could play at . This
would make the point to the right of
Black territory, so
White plays at to prevent a Black play there.
Similarly, the plays in Figure 8 make no difference to
the score but are played to clarify the situation and make
counting easier. It is not necessary for Black to complete
the capture of the isolated White stone on the right
White admits that it is hopeless. There is no point in either
player playing inside the others territory. Territory is so
called precisely because it is an area which is secure against
invasion. Any stone the opponent played inside it would
be killed. Neither player can hope either to form a living
string inside, or to escape from, the others territory. Neither
can the players hope to kill any of the opponents other
stones. All stones except Whites hopeless stone are
effectively connected, forming living strings with at least two
eyes. Black passes, handing a stone to White. White then
passes, handing a stone to Black, and the game is over.

* -

Figure 6: 4045

2
1

1
2

13

Figure 7: 4650

Figure 8: 5152

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

The result
At the end of the game, any hopeless strings are removed from the board. This results in
the position shown in Figure 9.
There are 18 vacant intersections inside Blacks territory, and Black has taken 8
prisoners altogether, including one when White passed, making a total of 26 points.
Whites total is only 21, made up of 19 points of territory, and 2 prisoners including one
when Black passed, so Black has won the game on the board by 5 points. The process of
counting is usually simplified as shown in Figures 10 and 11.
1. Any neutral points, that is unoccupied
points which lie between Black stones and
White stones, are filled by either player. In
this game there are no neutral points to fill.
2. Each player puts the prisoners they have
captured into their opponents territory.
This produces the position shown in
Figure 10. The players territories are
reduced by one point for every stone they
have had captured.
3. The territories may be re-arranged to
facilitate counting. This produces Figure
11, in which we see that Black has 16 points
and White has 11 points.
The scores in Figure 11 are the result of
each player subtracting from the value of the
opponents territory the number of prisoners
they have captured, rather than adding them
to their own total, but the end result is the
same: Black wins by 5 points. If komi were 7
points then White would win the game by 2
points.

14

This shows the end of a 19x19

game with territories re-arranged
into multiples of tens to make
counting easier.

P ROBLEMS
Have a go at the following! In each problem, Black plays first. The solutions are on the
next page.

Problem 1

Problem 2

There are three places where Black can

play to connect stones and prevent
immediate capture. Find all of them.

In this position, three White stones are

vulnerable to capture. How should
Black play in order to capture them?

Problem 3

Problem 4

How does Black play so that the

marked stone is guaranteed to be
captured?

Where does Black play so that the

White stones cannot avoid eventual
capture?

15

S OLUTIONS
Have you been successful?

Problem 1

Problem 2

Black can play at a to connect three

stones on the lower edge, at b to
connect four stones on the upper edge
and c to connect six stones on the left.

If Black plays at
, White cannot
escape. In the sequence every Black
play puts Whites string into atari.

Problem 3

Problem 4

Blacks play at
chases White to the
edge of the board, and the stones
cannot escape.

Black must play at

to capture the
White stones. A White play at would
make two eyes.

For more information about Go see our website: www.britgo.org or try the
interactive Learn to Play Go site www.playgo.to/index-e.html.

16

B RITISH G O A SSOCIATION
We are a voluntary organisation
promoting the game of Go in the United
Kingdom. Membership is open to all on
payment of an annual subscription and
we support players of all standards. We:
support the playing and teaching of
Go in the UK and abroad, with other
international Go organisations.
make available a selection of books
and equipment to members at
moderate prices at tournaments and
also offer a discount at selected mailorder retailers.
produce the British Go Journal, a
magazine of news, comment, instructional articles and game commentaries.
provide an electronic newsletter for
members.
help to attract more players to the
game through various promotional
activities and material
provide a comprehensive web site
www.britgo.org

run
regular
teaching
events
throughout the UK, as well as the
Online Study Group with strong
players as teachers
encourage strong players to visit
clubs to give teaching and simultaneous games through subsidies.
arrange teaching visits by professional players from other countries.
support an extensive programme of
tournaments during the year and
maintain a UK tournament schedule.
Several tournaments, including an
inter-club league, are played over
the internet. Other tournaments are
organised by clubs, supported by us.
Most tournaments are organised in
such a way as to allow players of all
strengths to take part.
organise tournaments aimed specifically at younger players, including
the British Youth Championships and
the UK Go Challenge.
For stronger players we:

For beginners, we:

maintain lists of members and Go
clubs. These are available to members
wishing to find new opponents.
encourage the formation of new
clubs, especially in schools, by
providing starter sets and advising
organisers.
provide funds to promote the playing
of Go by young people, in conjunction
with an independent trust fund, the
Castledine-Barnes Trust.
Helping players to improve, we
provide a Game Review service
by some of the countrys strongest
players.

ensure that all UK tournament results

are included in the European Go
ratings, an Elo-style system run by the
European Go Federation. The ratings
of British players are shown on our
website and players are awarded dan
diplomas when they have reached the
appropriate level.
provide specific coaching by professionals.
run annual British Individual and
Pair Go Championships.
organise the UKs representation at
international events, such as the
World Amateur Go Championship.

c
British
Go Association - August 2014