Go is played between two players - black and white - who alternate placing stones on the intersections of the board, starting with black. Once they are placed, they cannot be moved - but they can be captured. The standard board size is 19x19, but 13x13 and especially 9x9 are also common for both beginners and players who want a quick game. The object of the game is to control as more than half of the board. The total score for a player is the number of points they occupy plus the number of points they surround. In addition, which gets 7.5 extra points in exchange for going second. The player with the higher number of points at the end of the game wins.

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While surrounding territory, players need to avoid being captured. stones of the same color, if connected in a chain of horizontally and vertically (but not diagonally) touching stones form a string. Each string has a number of horizontal or vertical free spaces next to  it called liberties. If the number of liberties is ever reduced to zero, the string is captured and removed from the board. A collection of strings that are near each other and could be connected together is referred to as a group.

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The only other rule is the ko rule