The Game of Go Trivia Quiz

Answer: black and white

The game of Go is usually played with white and black stones, on a board made up of a grid of black lines. The standard board size has 19 rows and columns, although smaller sizes are useful if players wish to play a faster game or are beginners to the game and want to simplify situations while still learning the rules and strategy of Go.

Answer: surrounding the group so there are no empty points around it

Groups can only stay on the board if they have at least one empty point adjacent. An adjacent point to a group is called a liberty in the game of Go. You are not allowed to place stones atop other stones in the game, and you are not allowed to move your opponent's stones other than to remove them after a capture. Calling out "ishi" may linguistically impress your opponent, but will not capture the stones; ishi is the Japanese term use to refer to the playing pieces.

Answer: two

If a group has at least two eyes, it is safe from capture, as the opponent can only place one stone at a time and neither eye is legal for placement as the location would not have an empty point next to it, and the two eyed group would still have the empty point from the other eye to remain free from capture. Forming groups with two eyes is the primary method to build alive (or safe) groups.

Answer: towards the corners

Playing toward the corners is generally considered the best place to begin, as it is easier to establish territory there. There are only two sides on which your opponent can counter, compared to four sides for plays in the center of the board. Three to five points away from each side of the corner is the typical location with the most popular among professional players being the 4-4 point, balancing acquisition of territory with securing safety of the stone groups.

Answer: the player of the white stones is compensated

Unlike chess which has no compensation for black moving second, in Go, the white player is given extra points for their disadvantage in moving second. The points vary by rule set, typically from 5.5 to 7.5 points. In handicap games, where a less skilled player is compensated by starting off with some stones already positioned on the board, komi is usually not used or is set to one half point in order to avoid a tie score.

Answer: alive

An arrangement of stone groups that cannot be captured are said to be alive. Correspondingly, an arrangement that will inevitably be captured is said to be dead. If the stones have not yet reached either conclusion, they are termed unsettled. Unsettled stone groups will eventually resolve themselves before the end of the game.

Answer: opponent needs to counter

Sente is a Japanese term meaning "playing first." Playing sente controls the game and forces the opponent to counter if they wish to play a competitive game. The opponent's responding move is called gote. Unlike the chess concept of chess, however, a sente can also successfully be responded to with a bigger threat.

This often goes hand in hand with a series of optimal turns, with the initiating player desiring an even number of moves to occur so that they retain the initiative on their next play.

Answer: mostly balanced for both players

Joseki are a series of set moves that have been studied and documented as achieving a balanced position for both sides, as long as each player executes the moves correctly. Joseki are commonly encountered in corner play at the beginning of a game, but do occur during other phases of game play at any location on the board.

As new innovations in Go strategy and tactics occur, a joseki may be discarded as exploitable and therefore no longer useful.

Answer: You are a beginner at the game and they are helping you out

While there are several reasons players call atari, you won't gain any additional points or cause the player to retract their move. There are many things to learn about Go, and forming atari is something in general to avoid due to the ease of capture, so it is helpful for a more advanced player to point it out to a newer player who may have missed it.

Others might call atari to prevent an otherwise evenly played game being ruined by a single oversight in play and believe it is traditionally good etiquette to call it out.

Many non-beginners hold calling atari to be a bad habit, finding it insulting and rude behavior, while others simply shrug it off and ignore it completely.

Answer: when both players pass their turns

In Go, both players must decide they have no more advantageous moves and pass their turns. When playing, this is generally informal as players with experience can determine from the state of the board when there are no good moves remaining for either player. However, it may take a beginner several games before they get a good feel for this state.