Play Go Online – Free, Instant, No Downloads

Welcome to the simplest way to play Go (Baduk/Weiqi) online. Whether you're a curious beginner looking to learn the ropes or a seasoned player wanting a quick match, you can start playing right here in your browser—no accounts, no installs, just pure strategy.

Learn to Play Go

Go is played on a grid of lines. The rules are simple, but the possibilities are endless. Let's walk through the basics with interactive examples.

1. The Stone

Go is played on the intersections. Once placed, a stone does not move.

Try it: Click anywhere on the board to place a black stone.

Place a Stone

2. Liberties

Stones need air. The empty lines coming out from a stone are its Liberties.

(Diagram: A single stone with its 4 liberties marked)

Example

Your Turn: Now you try. Click the 4 empty points around the black stone.

Find 4 Liberties

3. Connected Groups

Stones that touch share their fate. They act as a single unit and share liberties.

Example

Your Turn: Mark all 7 liberties of this triangle group.

Find 7 Liberties

4. Stretching Out

Groups can stretch across the board. Larger groups act as walls.

Example

Your Turn: Find the 8 liberties of this vertical chain.

Find 8 Liberties

5. Under Attack

Enemy stones block your liberties. When a group is surrounded, it has fewer ways to breathe.

Example

Your Turn: Place a stone to escape!

Find 3 Liberties

6. The Deadly Edge

The edge of the board cuts off your air. A stone in the corner is very weak.

Example

Your Turn: How many liberties does this corner stone have?

Find 2 Liberties

6. Capture (Atari)

When a stone has 0 liberties, it is removed.

Your Turn: Take the last liberty to capture the white stone!

Capture!

7. No Suicide

You cannot play a move that leaves your stone with 0 liberties (unless it captures enemy stones).

(Diagram: Adding a stone here would have no breathing room.)

Illegal Move

Your Turn: Try to play inside the eye (surrounded spot).

Try Illegal Move

8. Ko

Reads like the first 'co' in 'coconut'

  • Players are not allowed to make a move that returns the board to its previous position.
  • An arrangement of stones that allows repetition is commonly called Ko shape.
Example

Your Turn: Capture white's stone.

Capture white's stone