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Wei Qi, Baduk, Goa game of strategy

• Fred Hansen
• The Official Fred
• Spring 05

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Why play go?

• Fun
• Challenge
• Think differently
• not procedural
• A window to the orient
• Only one rule
• Warning It takes time to get go

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What does go look like?

• Board with 19 x 19 lines
• White and black stones in bowls
• On your turn, put a stone on an intersection

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What is the goal?

• Get the most stones on the board
• surround bigger empty space
• keep groups alive
• The game ends when
• neither player wants to play
• theres no more space to grab
• In practice not all intersections are filled
• when it is clear what color goes there

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How a game might begin

• Players take turns putting stones

blacks potential territory 29 points
whites potential territory 38 points

• White is ahead

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How a game might end

• Neither player can gain points

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Could black do better?

• Second move too low

• Better to be higher push white lower

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How does a stone die?

• A liberty is an empty intersection adjacent
  along a line
• A stone without liberties is dead
• It is removed from the board

No liberties ? dead
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So, what is a liberty?

• A stones total liberties are
• its own, plus

Liberties for the black stones
4
3
2
3
2
1
When it is played, a stones own liberties are
checked after making any captures.
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One Rule No repeat

• The board pattern must not repeat
• A move is illegal if it leaves a board identical
  to what it was ever before
• Hence cannot recapture simple ko

If white captures,
sometimes black makes a threat, white responds,
black recaptures
black cannot recapture on the next turn
a ko threat
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Immortality

• A group with two holes is immortal

Black could capture only by playing in both
holes.

• The possibility of two holes is enough

If black plays b, white plays a, and vice versa
b
a
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First capture

• Goal understand capture rules
• Method play first capture
• First player to capture a stone wins
• 7 x 7 board makes it faster

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