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🏛️Official — AGA
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A grid of 19x19 lines, giving 361 playing points where lines intersect (AGA Rule 1); Smaller boards are permitted, 13x13 and 9x9 being the two most common (AGA Rule 1); Nine marked points (star points or hoshi) are used to place handicap stones
— Rule 1, Rule 7
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the 19x19 grid is mandatory in Go (AGA), forgetting that smaller boards like 13x13 or even 9x9 are also permitted as per AGA Rule 1, leading to misunderstandings about board size flexibility.
The board starts empty; there is no initial arrangement of stones in an even game; Black moves first in an even game (AGA Rule 2); Because Black plays first, White receives komi — compensation added to White's score
— Rule 2, Rule 3, Rule 4
Why people argue about this
People often assume komi is only for handicap games where Black has a significant advantage, forgetting that even in standard Go (AGA), it's added to White simply because Black goes first, leading to an imbalance. They overlook how this rule aims to level the playing field by giving White some extra compensation due to Black’s strategic advantage from starting.
Players alternate. A move is either placing one stone of your colour on any empty intersection, or passing (AGA Rule 2); Passing is always legal, even when legal placements exist; Stones do not move once placed — they are only removed by capture
— Rule 2, Rule 5, Rule 6, Rule 7
Why people argue about this
People often assume that passing is only allowed when no legal moves are available, which isn't strictly true according to AGA Rule 4. The confusion arises because they misinterpret "Passing is always legal" as meaning it should be used whenever possible, not just when there are no other options.
Two consecutive passes normally signal the end of the game (AGA Rule 9); The players then agree which stones on the board are dead — stones that could not avoid capture if play continued; Dead stones are removed and counted as prisoners; if the players cannot agree, play resumes to settle the pos...
— Rule 9, Rule 12
Why people argue about this
People often assume that if two consecutive passes happen in Go (AGA), it means play automatically ends without counting stones as dead, which is incorrect. The confusion arises because the official verdict specifies players must first agree on which stones are dead before deciding who wins based on those counts. People sometimes overlook this step and rush to declare a winner prematurely.
13x13 and 9x9 are the common smaller boards, standard for teaching and fast games (AGA Rule 1); On boards smaller than 19x19 a non-integral komi should still be used, since avoiding a drawn game is part of the spirit of the AGA rules; Japanese rules use territory scoring and treat ko and life-and...
— Rule 1
13x13 and 9x9 are the common smaller boards, standard for teaching and fast games (AGA Rule 1); On boards smaller than 19x19 a non-integral komi should still be used, since avoiding a drawn game is part of the spirit of the AGA rules
— Rule 1
Why people argue about this
People often assume that smaller board sizes like 9x9 mean komi should be eliminated entirely, forgetting that AGA rules mandate a non-integral komi for these boards to prevent draws, even though they're smaller than standard. This oversight leads to misunderstandings about how the spirit of the game is upheld on these boards.
Handicap stones let players of different ranks meet on even terms — one stone per rank difference is the usual guide; Timed games use byo-yomi (reserve periods) or Fischer increment; time is a tournament regulation, not part of the rules of play
AGA rules permit either method, chosen before the game, and both give the same result (AGA Rule 12):; Territory scoring: empty points you have surrounded, plus prisoners you hold; Area scoring: your stones on the board, plus the empty points you have surrounded
— Rule 12
Why people argue about this
People often assume that choosing Territory scoring means counting all your surrounded points, including prisoners you've captured, which isn't entirely accurate; they forget that Area scoring counts only your stones on the board plus what's surrounded by them, ignoring prisoners. This oversight leads to disputes over how many points a player has at any given time during the game.
Two consecutive passes normally signal the end of the game (AGA Rule 9); The players then agree which stones on the board are dead — stones that could not avoid capture if play continued; Dead stones are removed and counted as prisoners; if the players cannot agree, play resumes to settle the pos...
— Rule 9
Why people argue about this
People often assume that if two consecutive passes occur, they simply end the game without counting any stones as dead, which leads to arguments about how many stones should be removed at the end of play. The confusion arises because the rule specifies removing only "dead" stones, not necessarily all stones from previous turns.
The weaker player takes Black (AGA Rule 4); Black either moves first normally, or places 2 to 9 handicap stones on the star points before White's first move; Handicap games are the standard way for players of different ranks to play an even contest
— Rule 4
Because Black plays first, White receives komi — compensation added to White's score; AGA komi in an even game is 7½ points. The AGA raised komi from 5½ in August 2004, effective 2005; the half point prevents draws; In a handicap game White instead receives ½ point, again to ...
— Rule 3
Why people argue about this
People often assume that komi is just a random bonus point given to White at the start of every game, forgetting that it's actually compensation for Black's advantage in starting first. This oversight leads to misunderstandings about its purpose and how it affects outcomes.
Adjacent stones of the same colour form a string and share their liberties; A liberty is an empty point orthogonally adjacent to a stone in the string; A string with no remaining liberties is captured and removed from the board as prisoners (AGA Rule 5)
— Rule 5
Why people argue about this
People often assume that capturing a string means removing all stones in it at once, forgetting that captured stones are only removed when they have no liberties left. The confusion arises because they overlook how strings can be partially removed during their capture phase if other stones still provide them with new liberties.
Players alternate. A move is either placing one stone of your colour on any empty intersection, or passing (AGA Rule 2); Passing is always legal, even when legal placements exist; Stones do not move once placed — they are only removed by capture
— Rule 2
Why people argue about this
People often assume that passing is only allowed when no legal moves exist, which leads them to argue about whether a pass should be made even if there are valid moves available. The confusion arises because the official rule states that players can always choose to pass, regardless of whether other moves are possible.
Two bowls or lids to hold stones and captured prisoners; Pass stones — under AGA rules a player who passes hands the opponent a stone, which counts as a prisoner (AGA Rule 7); A game clock for timed and tournament play
— Rule 7
Japanese rules use territory scoring and treat ko and life-and-death differently in rare positions; Chinese rules use area scoring and a different komi convention; The differences change the result only in unusual endgames, but tournaments always announce which rule set applies
Why people argue about this
People often assume that switching between area scoring (Japanese rules) and territory scoring (Chinese rules) doesn't significantly impact game results in most scenarios, which leads to misunderstandings about when these differences actually matter—specifically in those rare endgame positions where the rule set can make a noticeable difference.
A player who passes gives the opponent a pass stone, which counts as a prisoner (AGA Rule 7); Pass stones are what keep AGA territory scoring and area scoring in agreement; Under AGA rules White must make the last pass ending the game
— Rule 7
The board starts empty; there is no initial arrangement of stones in an even game; Black moves first in an even game (AGA Rule 2)
— Rule 2
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the board is filled with stones at the start of a game, thinking it's like other stone-throwing games where the initial setup matters greatly. But in Go (AGA), they're mistaken; the board starts empty, and the official rule clearly states there’s no initial arrangement of stones, making this crucial detail often overlooked or misinterpreted.
A grid of 19x19 lines, giving 361 playing points where lines intersect (AGA Rule 1); Smaller boards are permitted, 13x13 and 9x9 being the two most common (AGA Rule 1); Nine marked points (star points or hoshi) are used to place handicap stones
— Rule 1
It is illegal to play so as to recreate a previous board position from the game with the same player to move (AGA Rule 6); This is a positional superko: it covers the classic single-point ko and also longer repeating cycles; In practice a player facing a ko must play elsewhere (a ko threat) befor...
— Rule 6
Why people argue about this
People often think that they can simply avoid a ko threat by making an illegal move like resigning, which is incorrect. The actual confusion arises because the rule requires players to play elsewhere before a ko threat occurs, ensuring no repetition of board positions without breaking the superko principle.
The player with the greater total is the winner (AGA Rule 12); The half point in komi means an even game cannot end in a draw; Results are conventionally recorded as a margin, e.g. "B+3.5" — Black by three and a half points
— Rule 12
Why people argue about this
People often assume that a game ending in a half-point difference must be considered a draw under AGA rules, which they misunderstand as applying only to even scores. However, the official verdict clarifies that a margin of less than one point does indeed result in a win for the player with the higher score, not a draw.
Two sets of lens-shaped stones, one black and one white; A full set is 181 black and 180 white — enough to fill all 361 points, with Black holding the extra stone as Black plays first; Stones are placed on the intersections, including edges and corners, never inside the squares
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the stones can be placed inside the squares as well, which is incorrect according to the official rules — they must always sit on intersections, including edges and corners, never inside the squares themselves. This oversight leads to many disputes over where exactly the stones should be positioned during a game.