Description
This article is from the Go FAQ, by
Morten PAHLE gofaq@pahle.org.uk with numerous contributions by
others.
5.9. Where do I play my first stone? (Go)
Beginners are often very surprised to hear their opponents complain
that their first move is impolite.
Here is the traditional Japanese way of opening a game politely: In an
even game, black's first move should be in the upper right quarter of
the board, on or below the diagonal. From black's point of view, this
means that the following marked points of the board are polite for his
first move:
+-------------------------------------+
19 | .|
18 | . .|
17 | . . .|
16 | . . . .|
15 | . . . . .|
14 | . . . . . .|
13 | . . . . . . .|
12 | . . . . . . . .|
11 | . . . . . . . . .|
10 | . . . . . . . . . .|
9 | |
8 | |
7 | |
6 | |
5 | |
4 | |
3 | |
2 | |
1 | |
+-------------------------------------+
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T
The reason why this is polite is that white's best response is in the
most convenient part of the board for him: in the lower right (from
his point of view).
This politeness rule is also common practice on Go servers: black
plays in the upper right first (although most clients do not turn the
board upside down for white, so that both players see it from the same
side).
In a handicap game with up to nine stones, it is traditional to place
the handicap stones on the hoshi (star points) in the following
fashion (from black's point of view):
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
| #| | #| |# #| |# #| |# #| |# #| |# # #| |# # #|
| | | | | | | # | |# #| |# # #| |# #| |# # #|
|# | |# #| |# #| |# #| |# #| |# #| |# # #| |# # #|
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
In games with 2 or 3 handicap, white will first play in his lower
right, and in games with 4, 5, 8, and 9 handicap, he is likely to
first play in his upper right.
Sometimes, players agree not to require the handicap stones to be
placed onto the star points. Under this 'free handicap', no politeness
rules are known.
The politeness rules also apply on smaller boards.
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