Mini Go

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

Black0 captured
White +6.50 captured
The AsX fox

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

How to play Go in five rules

  1. Take turns. Black plays first, then White. Place one stone on any empty intersection — stones never move once placed.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. Switch the mode to 2 players and pass the phone, or share your screen. Black and White take turns on the same board.

How strong is the fox?

Pick a level. On Easy it barely checks its ideas and sometimes plays a loose stone on purpose. On Medium it looks for captures, ataris and groups in danger, prefers corners and sides early, then checks its top ideas with bursts of quick random games. On Hard it plays with a real Go neural network — a small KataGo net (MIT licence) running right in your browser, reading ahead for about a second and a half a move. Expect to lose, and to learn a lot.

Can I turn the sound off?

Yes — tap the speaker beside the fox. 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.

More Mini Play: Mini Chess 5×5 · Mini Checkers 6×6

The fox lives on your Mac, too — it answers anything on your screen and nudges you off doomscrolling. Meet AsX ›