How to play Go
Rank, Komi, Handicaps and "Who gets Black ?"
| Who gets Black ? | There is a distinct advantage to the player who moves first. Because of this, the weaker player should take black. In an even game, the 2 players "choose" for black, traditionally, one player will grab a handful of stones, and the other will guess wether the number of stones is odd or even. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handicaps and Komi | If the player taking black ( henceforth "Black") is much weaker than white, then Black may be allowed to place some additional stones on the board at the beginning of the game, to even up the fight. These additional stones ( handicap stones ) are placed in prescribed positions on the board (see below). If the 2 players are even , then to make up for the advantage the player moving first has, then Black may be required to beat White by more than a fixed number of points for it to count as a victory. Called a Komi, this is usually 5 1/2 points. You may want to think about this as the "point spread" in a football bet If you are a beginner, and your opponent has had some experience, ask them to suggest an appropriate handicap. There is no shame in taking a handicap against a stronger player, not only does it help the weaker player compete on a more level playing field, it also gives the stronger player a greater challenge and a more enjoyable game. |
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| Ranks | Amatuer: Ranks in go are measured in Kyu and Dan. Beginners start at approximately 30Kyu, and the rank numbers get smaller as the players get stronger up to 1Kyu. 1Kyu is the highest "beginner" rank. After 1Kyu comes 1Dan ( or Shodan ). This can be thought of in precisely the same way as a first degree black belt in martial arts, it is the lowest "Expert" rank. The Dan ranks continue up to 9Dan. Professional also use Dan ratings but some translation is necessary, in general a professional 1Dan should be about as strong as an Amateur 6Dan. You may see the designations K or k for Kyu, D or d for Dan and P or p for Dan Professional as in 1k,3D, 7p etc... The rankings for amateurs are designed so that the difference in ranks equals the appropriate number of handicap stones needed to even up the match.. If you win as often as you lose when you take White in an even game against a particular opponent, then you are probably one stone stronger than that opponent. If you win all the time taking white in an even game against a particular opponent then you may be 2 stones stronger, and perhaps should offer a handicap to that opponent. If you are 12K, then in this last example, the opponent would be 14K. Traditionally, 3 wins in a row at a particular handicap level against a particular opponent usually indicates that the winner should be offering a geater handicap. At the proffesional level, the differences between ranks is much smaller, about 1/3 of a stone. |
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| Handicap | Komi | Stones | ||||||||||
| even | 5 1/2 | Black moves first, unrestricted | ||||||||||
| 1 Stone | 0 | Black moves first, unrestricted | ||||||||||
| 2 Stone | 0 | Black places 2 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 3 Stone | 0 | Black places 3 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 4 Stone | 0 | Black places 4 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 5 stone | 0 | Black places 5 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 6 Stone | 0 | Black places 6 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 7 Stone | 0 | Black places 7 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 8 Stone | 0 | Black places 8 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 9 Stone | 0 | Black places 9 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 13 Stone | 0 | Black places 13 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 17 Stone | 0 | Black places 17 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 21 Stone | 0 | Black places 21 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
| 25 Stone | 0 | Black places 25 stones in a set pattern | ||||||||||
