Can I play Go against a friend?

Yes. Pick A friend from the fox menu and pass the phone or share the screen; Black and White take turns on the same board.

Komi is the compensation White receives for moving second. This board uses 6.5 points, so a game can never end in a tie.

You may not play a move that returns the board to exactly the position it had after your previous move. In practice, after a single-stone capture you must play elsewhere once before you can recapture.

How is the game scored?

After both players pass in a row, each side counts its territory (empty points surrounded only by its stones), adds the stones it captured and the opponent's dead stones, and White adds 6.5 komi. The higher total wins.

Why 9×9 instead of 19×19?

A 9×9 game takes ten to fifteen minutes and teaches every rule of full-size Go: life and death, ko, territory and endgame. It is how most players learn.

Mini Go

9×9 Go — Baduk, Weiqi — against the fox or a friend.

Black0

White +6.50

Black goes first. Tap any point to place a stone.

How to play Go in five rules

Take turns. Black plays first, then White. Place one stone on any empty intersection — stones never move once placed.

Liberties keep stones alive. A stone's liberties are the empty points directly beside it. Stones of one colour touching in a line share their liberties as a group.

Surround to capture. Fill a group's last liberty and it is taken off the board. Each captured stone is a point for the capturer.

No suicide, no instant repeat. You can't play where your stone would have no liberties unless it captures first. The ko rule forbids recapturing straight back into the position you just left.

Pass twice to finish. When neither side can gain more, both pass. Empty points you surround are your territory.

How the score is counted

This board uses territory scoring: territory + captured stones + dead stones taken from the other side. White adds 6.5 komi for moving second, so there are no ties. After both passes the fox guesses which groups are dead; tap any group to change that before you confirm.

Tips for your first games

Start near the 3-3 and 5-5 points (the dots on the board). Corners are easiest to secure, edges next, the centre last. A group with two separate eyes can never be captured — make them before you run out of room.

Questions

Is this Go game free?

Yes. It runs entirely in your browser with no sign-up, no ads and no server. The fox thinks on your own device.

Can I play against a friend?

Yes. Pick A friend from the fox menu and pass the phone, or share your screen. Black and White take turns on the same board.

How strong is the fox?

Pick one of five foxes from the menu under the board. The Sleepy fox barely checks its ideas and sometimes plays a loose stone on purpose. The Playful fox checks a little more and slips less. The Clever fox looks for captures, ataris and groups in danger, prefers corners and sides early, then checks its top ideas with bursts of quick random games. The top two play with a real Go neural network — a small KataGo net (MIT licence) running right in your browser: the Sly fox plays on the net's instinct with some wildness, and the Nine-tailed fox sticks closer to its sharpest ideas. Expect to lose to that one, and to learn a lot.

Can I turn the sound off?

Yes — tap the speaker in the bar under the board. The board remembers your choice.

What is komi?

Compensation for moving second. White gets 6.5 points, and the half point means a game can never be a draw.

What exactly is ko?

You may not play a move that recreates the board exactly as it was after your previous move. After a single-stone capture, the other player has to play elsewhere once before taking back.

Why 9×9 and not 19×19?

A 9×9 game takes ten to fifteen minutes and teaches every idea of full-size Go — life and death, ko, territory, endgame. It's how most players learn.

Is Go the same as Baduk and Weiqi?

Yes. Go is the Japanese name, Baduk (바둑) the Korean and Weiqi (围棋) the Chinese. The rules on this board are the same game.