Endgame (yose) and counting
Once the groups are settled, the yose begins — closing the borders.Five or six careless moves here cost more than a lost fight.
Sente and gote
- Sente — a move the opponent must answer: after the exchange you move first again.
- Gote — a move after which the initiative passes to the opponent.
The order is simple: first double sente (a move that is sente for both sides), then your own sente, then the biggest gote. A 6-point gote is worth about the same as a 3-point sente: after the sente you also get the next move, so sente counts roughly double.
How to value a move
Count the difference: how many points you gain by playing here, plus how many the opponent would gain by playing here instead. A first-line move is usually smaller than a second-line one — unless it threatens to cut off stones.
Japanese and Chinese rules
| Japanese | Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| what counts | territory + prisoners | stones on the board + territory |
| komi | 6.5 | 7.5 |
| a move inside your own territory | minus a point | costs nothing |
| a neutral point (dame) | 0 | +1 to whoever takes it |
Under Japanese rules don't add needless stones inside your territory — each costs a point. Under Chinese rules fill every dame: each is a point. In a handicap game komi is 0.5 points for White.
The end of a game on the site
After two passes in a row, the arbiter program marks the dead stones and seki. Check the marking: clicking a stone toggles its group between dead and alive. When both players have pressed “Accept”, the game is scored. If something is unresolved, press “Resume play” — the marks are cleared and the game continues.
Counting gets 3 minutes: without agreement, the game is scored by the arbiter's marking. So pass only when all borders are closed and no group is in doubt: a dispute is easier to settle on the board than during counting.
Clocks
The challenge offers byo-yomi or Fischer. In byo-yomi, the main time is followed by periods: move within a period and it is restored, overrun it and it is gone; the clock shows how many are left. Keep at least a couple of periods for the yose — that is where a hurried move costs the most.