# Beginning Go (the board game) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [April 15, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599 "2019-04-15T23:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599/21 "2022-05-26T21:03:56Z")
Bumping this thread to add this app as a contribution. > > > Learn & Play Go with human or AI opponent... Also from the Apple App Store. I use it to play with my eldest who lives in South Carolina (I’m in IL). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599/22 "2024-02-17T19:35:02Z")
Bumping this thread because it’s later than [my thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go/810762). I’ve just finished my first game of Go on [this site](https://www.cosumi.net/en/). I played on a 9x9 board, and lost by 84 points. I’m not getting it. I’d seal off a territory, and the white stones don’t disappear. I’m guessing that you have to be directly adjacent to stones or line of stones, surrounding it/them, like outflanking someone in Othello. But then it looks like I could outflank someone by putting a stone in the middle of four stones with one of mine on the other side, and it won’t let me move there. I think that the only way I’ll learn this game would be to have a live tutor who could tell me _why_ I can’t move somewhere, and could offer advice as to where to move and why. Even if I could find one, it’s pretty much assured that our schedules would not coincide. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599/23 "2024-02-17T23:19:33Z")
The actual _rules_, like what moves are legal and what’s the score, are super simple (though there exist slight variations), but you have to figure out by experience how to make shapes that are “alive” and capture actual territory. It may be obvious to experts, but usually one can just play on until it becomes clear. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > But then it looks like I could outflank someone by putting a stone in the middle of four stones with one of mine on the other side, and it won’t let me move there. You mean this? > **[Ko fight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight)** > > A ko (Japanese: コウ, 劫, kō, from the translation of the Sanskrit term kalpa) fight is a tactical and strategic phase that can arise in the game of go. > The existence of ko fights is implied by the rule of ko, a special rule of the game that prevents immediate repetition of position, by a short 'loop' in which a single stone is captured, and another single stone immediately taken back. The rule states that the immediate recapture is forbidden, for one turn only. This gives rise to the following p... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599/24 "2024-02-17T23:22:09Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > You mean this? I suppose. As I said, I think I need to play with a mentor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-go-the-board-game/832599.md?page=1)