Atari Go is a modification of the classical board game
Go, that is often used to teach new players the rules of Go.
The rules are basically the same as the Go rules with some modifications to make the game a bit easier:
- You don't gain points by occupying fields
- The only way to gain points is to capture the stones of your opponent
- The game does not end after both players have passed (the game ends after 80 turns)
- All other rules stay the same as in the game of Go
Go Rules
A game of Go is usually played on a board of 19x19 fields. Here a smaller board of 9x9 fields is used.
While playing, both players place one of their stones (per turn) on a free position on the field. The stones are not moved after they are placed. You can only add new stones.
The goal of the game is to capture the stones of your opponent. This can be done by surrounding the stones (or groups) of your opponent with your stones. If a stone or group has no free fields beneath it, it is captured and removed from the board (see example 2).
If a stone is surrounded by other stones of the same color this stone is not captured, but all stones that are directly touching each other form a group. This group shares it's free fields. So a group of stones is often stronger and more difficult to capture than a single stone (see example 1).
Beside these simple rules there are a view more rules, on where stones can be placed and where not.
- You can only place a stone on a field where no stone is placed yet
- You can not play a stone that would directly be removed (no suicidal moves). An exception to this rule is that the opponent stones are removed before this rule is applied. So if your stone seems to be directly surrounded by other stones, but it captures and removes at least one of the surrounding stones it can be played (see example 3)
- You can not play a stone that would lead to the same board, like in the last turn when you played a stone. This is called the Ko-Rule (see example 4)