Stones are never moved, and only removed if they are completely surrounded. Like the Eastern martial arts, Go can teach concentration, balance, and discipline. One cannot disguise one's personality on the Go board. The game combines beauty and intellectual challenge. It can be played on a traditional, carved wooden board, with black and white stones made from slate and clamshell, or on a paper board with plastic stones.
Children learn the game readily and can reach high levels of mastery.
Because Go lends itself to a uniquely reliable system of handicaps, players of widely disparate strengths can enjoy relatively even contests. We hope you will too. See the history of Go and Mindy McAdam's Introduction to Go . Graphics on this page adapted from the Many Faces of Go software for PCs. Copyright 1996 by David Fotland.