⚫ Go for Absolute Beginners

What you’ll learn

1. Stones, Intersections, and LibertiesUnderstand how go is played on intersections, how turns work, and what liberties are.Go is an ancient game from China played by two players with black and white stones. Stones are placed on the intersections of the grid, not inside the squares, and black always moves first. Each stone needs liberties, the empty points directly next to it along the lines. A center stone has four liberties, an edge stone three, and a corner stone only two. Liberties are the most important idea in the game because they decide whether a stone survives.
2. Capture and Staying AliveLearn how capturing works and how groups stay alive through connection and two eyes.You capture a stone or group by filling all of its liberties, at which point it is removed from the board. A group with only one liberty left is in atari, one move from capture. Stones of the same color on adjacent points connect into a group and share their liberties, making them harder to surround. The key to staying alive is making two separate eyes, two enclosed empty points that can never both be filled. A group with two real eyes is alive forever, while one eye is not enough.
3. Ko and the Rules That Keep Games FairUnderstand the suicide rule, the ko rule, passing, and how a game ends.Playing a stone with no liberties is suicide and is illegal, unless the move captures enemy stones and thereby gains liberties. The ko rule prevents endless repetition by forbidding an immediate recapture, so the opponent must play elsewhere for one turn first. Players may pass on any turn, and when both players pass in a row the game ends. Before counting, both sides agree on which trapped stones are dead and remove them.
4. Territory and WinningLearn how territory is counted, why komi exists, and why 9 by 9 is ideal for beginners.Territory is the empty space surrounded by your stones, bordered only by your color. In area scoring you count your surrounded empty points plus your stones on the board, and the larger total wins on the eighty-one point 9 by 9 grid. Because black moves first, white is given a bonus called komi, usually a few points with a half point to avoid ties. The 9 by 9 board keeps games short and fights close, teaching capture, life, and territory quickly, which makes it the ideal training ground before the full 19 by 19 board.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• Britannica
• American Go Association
• Nihon Ki-in

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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