Basic Counting and Scoring Go

What You’ll Learn 📚

• Core concepts of counting and scoring in Go
• Key terminology and definitions
• Step-by-step examples from simple to complex
• Answers to common questions
• Troubleshooting common issues

Introduction to Counting and Scoring in Go

Go is a fascinating board game that involves strategic placement of stones on a grid. The objective is to control more territory than your opponent. Understanding how to count and score is crucial to mastering Go. Don’t worry if this seems complex at first; we’ll break it down step by step! 😊

Key Terminology

• Territory: The empty spaces surrounded by your stones.
• Capture: Removing your opponent’s stones by surrounding them.
• Liberty: The empty points adjacent to a stone.
• Komidashi: Points added to the score of the player with the white stones to compensate for going second.

Simple Example: Counting Territory

# Simple example of counting territory in Go
def count_territory(board):
    black_territory = 0
    white_territory = 0
    for row in board:
        for point in row:
            if point == 'B':
                black_territory += 1
            elif point == 'W':
                white_territory += 1
    return black_territory, white_territory

# Example board
go_board = [
    ['B', 'B', 'W'],
    ['B', ' ', 'W'],
    [' ', 'W', 'W']
]

black_score, white_score = count_territory(go_board)
print(f"Black's territory: {black_score}, White's territory: {white_score}")

Progressively Complex Examples

Example 1: Adding Captures

# Example with captures
def count_with_captures(board, captures):
    black_territory, white_territory = count_territory(board)
    black_territory += captures['B']
    white_territory += captures['W']
    return black_territory, white_territory

# Captures dictionary
captures = {'B': 2, 'W': 1}

black_score, white_score = count_with_captures(go_board, captures)
print(f"Black's score: {black_score}, White's score: {white_score}")

Example 2: Including Komidashi

# Example with komidashi
def count_with_komidashi(board, captures, komidashi):
    black_score, white_score = count_with_captures(board, captures)
    white_score += komidashi
    return black_score, white_score

# Komidashi value
komidashi = 6.5

black_score, white_score = count_with_komidashi(go_board, captures, komidashi)
print(f"Black's score: {black_score}, White's score: {white_score}")

Example 3: Full Game Scoring

# Full game scoring
def full_game_scoring(board, captures, komidashi):
    black_score, white_score = count_with_komidashi(board, captures, komidashi)
    return black_score, white_score

black_score, white_score = full_game_scoring(go_board, captures, komidashi)
print(f"Final Score - Black: {black_score}, White: {white_score}")

Common Questions and Answers

1. Why is komidashi used? To balance the inherent advantage of playing first.
2. How do you determine territory? By counting the empty spaces surrounded by your stones.
3. What happens if the score is tied? In Go, ties are rare due to komidashi, but if it happens, the game is considered a draw.
4. Can captures change the outcome? Yes, captures add to your score and can be decisive.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Ensure your board is correctly formatted as a 2D list with ‘B’, ‘W’, and ‘ ‘ for empty spaces.

If your scores seem off, double-check your captures and komidashi values.

Practice Exercises

• Try adding a feature to count liberties.
• Implement a function to visualize the board with scores.
• Experiment with different board sizes and configurations.

Remember, practice makes perfect! Keep experimenting and you’ll master Go scoring in no time. 🚀

For more information, check out the British Go Association’s Introduction to Go.