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From: [e-mail] (Adrian Mariano)
Newsgroups: rec.games.go,news.answers
Subject: The Game Go -- Frequently Asked Questions
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Date: 10 Nov 1992 06:00:43 GMT
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Archive-name: go-faq

                             rec.games.go
                      Frequently Asked Questions

                 by Adrian Mariano
                 [e-mail]

Many FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site
rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers.  The name
under which a FAQ is archived appears after the Archive-name
line at the top of the article.  This FAQ is archived as go-faq.

If you do not have ftp, you can request messages from rtfm by using
the local mail server.  Send mail to [e-mail]
containing the line "send usenet/news.answers/go-faq" to get this
file.  Send a message containing "help" to get general information
about the mail server.

This FAQ is also available on the go archive site:  ftp.u.washington.edu
                                                    (128.95.136.1)

You can log into the archive site with the username 'ftp' and any
password using the 'ftp' command.  The files are in various
subdirectories under public/go.  The file public/go/README (posted on
the first of each month to rec.games.go) contains a description of all
files.  Filenames which appear below are relative to public/go.

If you don't have ftp, send a message to [e-mail]
containing the single line "help" to get information about ftping by
mail.  If you absolutely cannot get the mail server to work, send an
email request to [e-mail] and I will mail you the
files.

The go archive site is mirrorred on ftp.pasteur.fr in the pub/Go
directory.  The mirror site is maintained by [e-mail].

Questions, comments, and corrections should be sent to
[e-mail].


0. Table of Contents
1. What is go?
2. What are the differences between different rules?
3. How does the ranking system work?
4. What public domain programs can I get to play go?
5. What commercial programs can I get to play go?
6. How strong are the commercial programs?
7. What computer go tournaments exist?  What are the prizes?
8. What are the different game record formats and how can I display them?
9. What programs can I get to display go game records?
10. How do I play games by computer?
11. Where can I get go equipment, books, etc?
12. What are the dimensions of a go board?
13. What books should I read?



1. What is go?

Go is a two player strategy board game.  Players take turns putting
black and white pieces (called stones) on a board.  Stones are placed
on the intersection of the lines on the board, and can be placed on
the edge or in the corner.  Once played a stone can not be moved, but
may be captured by the other player.  A player can pass at any time.
Go is generally played on a 19 by 19 board, but smaller boards such as
9 by 9 or 13 by 13 are used by beginners or for shorter games.

The object of the game is to surround territory and/or your opponent's
stones.  The game ends when both players pass.  Under Japanese rules,
each intersection surrounded and each prisoner counts as a point.  The
player with the most points wins.

An empty intersection adjacent to a stone (orthogonally) is called a
liberty.  For example, a single stone in the middle of the board has 4
liberties.  Stones that are adjacent form groups.  Every group must
have at least one liberty.  When a group's last liberty is filled it
is captured and removed from the board.

It is illegal to make a move which recreates a preceding board
position (to prevent loops).  The simplest repeating position is
called a ko.

A brief introduction to the game in Smart-Go format is available on
the archive site as RULES.SG.  Beginners can also get comp/igo.zip
from the archive site.  This is a stripped down version of Many Faces
of Go for the IBM PC which includes play on the 9 by 9 board and some
instructional material.



2. What are the differences between different rules?

Under Chinese rules, handicap stones are given as free moves whereas
with Japanese rules they are placed on the star points.

Under Japanese rules, score is calculated by counting points of
territory and subtracting the number of captured stones.  Points in
seki are not counted.  With the Chinese rules, the score is calculated
by counting both points of territory and the number of stones left on
the board.  The number of captured stones is not counted.  Points
surrounded in seki are counted as territory and points shared in seki
are counted as 1/2 point for each player.  Because the sum of the
scores is always 361, only one color needs to be counted.



3. How does the ranking system work?

The ranks are "kyu" and "dan".  Kyu means pupil and dan means master,
but there is no qualitative difference.  The ranks are like positive
and negative numbers (with no zero).  A beginner starts out with a
high kyu rank (20-30 kyu) and advances to the strongest kyu rank of 1
kyu.  The next rank above 1 kyu is 1 dan (shodan), and the dan ranks
proceed upward to 7 dan.  On the 19x19 board, the number of handicap
stones is the difference between the ranks.  A 3 kyu gives seven
stones to a 10 kyu.  A 2 dan gives 2 stones to a 1 kyu.  The
professional go players have a separate dan scale which goes from 1
dan to 9 dan.  The professional scale has finer gradations than the
amateur scale: the difference between 9 dan and 1 dan is about 2
stones.

Statistical analysis of a large number of games (over 2000) by Jos
Vermaseren suggests that the probability of winning an even game is
given by:

   P(x) = (1/2)*(2/3)^(2*x)

in which x is the positive difference in rank and P(x) is the chance
that the weaker player wins.

You can determine your strength only by playing aginast others with
known strength.  There are books like "Test Your Rating", but those
tests are very unreliable.

On a 13x13 board, if the rank difference is "diff", then the following
table gives the handicap and komi:

diff   Handicap  Komi     diff   Handicap  Komi     diff   Handicap  Komi
  0        0      8.5       7        3      5.5      14        5      2.5
  1        0      5.5        8        3      2.5      15        5     -0.5
  2        0      2.5        9        3     -0.5      16        6      5.5
  3        0     -0.5       10        4      5.5      17        6      2.5
  4        2      5.5       11        4      2.5      18        6     -0.5
  5        2      2.5       12        4     -0.5      19        6     -3.5
  6        2     -0.5       13        5      5.5      20        6     -6.5



4. What public domain programs can I get to play go?

Very few public domain programs exist.  Those that do are extremely
weak. On the archive site, you will find comp/wally.c, which can be
compiled anywhere.  If you think wally.c is too strong, you can get
the even weaker gnugo from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu/gnugo-1.1.tar.Z.
If you have X11, you can get xgoban from the archive site
(prog/xgoban-1.0.sh.Z) to act as a graphical interface to either wally
or gnugo.  Macintosh users can try MacGo or Dragon Go (available on
the archive site).  Amiga users can get Amigo (comp/amigo.lzh on the
archive site).  Amigo has been ported to X11 (comp/xamigo.sh.Z).  If
you have access to an HP9000 either 680x0 based or HP-PA risc based,
you can get Many Faces of Go for X11 from ftp.uu.net in
games/hp-xgo.shar.Z.



5. What commercial programs can I get to play go?

The information in this section may be somewhat out of date. Prices or
version numbers may be wrong.

     The Many Faces of Go, $59.95 (add $2.25 for shipping; in CA add
sales tax)
     ISBN 0-923891-28-5
     (Version for MSDOS)
          Ishi Press International   Ishi Press International
          76 Bonaventura Drive          20 Bruges Place
          San Jose, CA  95134          London England NW1 OTE
          Tel: [phone]
          FAX: [phone]          071 284 4898

          Ishi Press
          1301-5 Yabata
          Chigasaki-Shi
          Kanagawa-ken 253
          (0467)83-4369
          (0467)83-4710 (fax)
          Japan

     Star of Poland, Version 3.1, $110
          OPENetwork
          215 Berkeley Pl.
          Brooklyn, NY 11217
          [phone]

Nemesis Version 3 was available for $79 (also $49 for Joseki Tutor and
$59 for Tactical Wizard -- tsume go analyzer).  Current Nemesis is
version 5.  Toyogo is now located in Hawaii.  Call 1-800 TOYOGO9 for
details.
     (versions for Macintosh, PC, and NEC 9801, add $6 for shipping)

Go Intellect 1990 Computer Olympiad 1st place; 1990 International
Computer Go Congress world championship tied for 1st/2nd place. Go
Intellect version 2.98 can be ordered directly from the author.  An
reduced cost upgrade from 2.0 to 2.98 is also available (Version for
macintosh)
          Dr. Ken Chen
          4407 Oak Lane
          Charlotte, NC 28213

Go Explorer runs on top of Smart Go and is available from Anders
Kierulf. (For macintosh)
          Anders Kierulf
          Smart Game Board
          P.O. Box 7751
          Menlo Park, CA  94026-7751

The following is taken from an ad in _Go_World, issue 53, Autumn 88:
     Goliath 2, Dfl 99.- (Add 10% for surface, 20% for air shipment)
     Intl. M.O. or cheque or remit to the following account:
          N.M.B. Bank Amsterdam 69.17.05.070
     (Version for Atari ST, monochrome, and MSDOS)
          Divo Publishing
          M. Gijzenburg 14
          2907 HG Capelle a/d IJssel
          The Netherlands

Many Faces of Go, Nemesis, and Contender (Mac) are available from Ishi
Press.
     Ishi Press International   Ishi Press International
     76 Bonaventura Drive     20 Bruges Place
     San Jose, CA  95134     London England NW1 OTE
     Tel: [phone]
     FAX: [phone]     071 284 4898



6. How strong are the commercial programs?

It's difficult to rank the programs because they are all very
inconsistent in their play.  They may play a sequence of moves that
look dan level, or solve a dan level problem during play, but then a
few moves later they will make a move that a 20 kyu would never make.
Since none of the current programs can learn from their own mistakes,
when the same situation comes up they will make the same bad move
again.

The top program in the world (Goliath) claims to be around 8 or 10
Kyu. Many Faces of Go and Nemesis claim to be 13 Kyu.  Poka claims to
be about 17 Kyu, and Dragon Go is about 17 kyu as well.  These claims
are generally based on games that are the first game the human has
played against a computer.  Nemesis has played in AGA rated
tournaments for its rating.

David Fotland (Author of Many Faces of Go) says, "I know someone who
was having trouble beating Many Faces at 13 stones until I suggested
he could beat it at 29 stones.  He spent a few weeks trying odd moves
and found some weaknesses, and now he has no trouble beating it at 29
stones. Each of the programs has different weaknesses, but they all
tend to collapse tactically in a complicated position, so if attach
and crosscut a lot you can usually win big."

Results of 1991 North American Computer Go Tournament

1st: Many Faces of Go, By David Fotland 2nd: Go Intellect, by Ken Chen
3rd: Stone, by Kao 4th: Contender, by Lynn Beus and Jim Logan 5th:
Nemesis, by Bruce Wilcox 6th: Swiss Explorer, by Martin Mueller and
Anders Kierulf

Swiss Explorer forfeited two games, to Many faces and Nemesis, because
it was late and missed two rounds.  Swiss explorer lost to Contender
due to an unrecoverable crash, but Contender was ahead at the time.
Nemesis lost two games, to Contender and Stone, due to unrecoverable
crashes. The game between Many Faces and Go Intellect was exciting -
both programs killed large enemy groups, and the score swung over 100
points each way in the middle game, then the programs left a very
large ko on the board until the last dame was filled.  Many Faces beat
Stone by about 20 points and Nemesis and Contender by about 140 points
each.


Results from the 1991 World computer Go Congress:

Main Computer Tournament:

Place   Program        Author        Country
   Wins
 1  6    Goliath        Mark Boon    Netherlands
 2  5    Go Intellect     Ken Chen    USA   (lost to Goliath)
 3  4    Dragon        Tung-Yueh Liu    Taiwan
 4  4    Weiki III    Sanechika    Japan
 5  4    Star of Poland     Kraszek        Poland
 6  3    Handtalk    ZhiXing Cheng    China
 7  3    Stone        Kuo-Yuan Kao    Taiwan
 8  3     Modgo        Knoepfle    Germany
 9  3    Mac        Won-Ho Jee    Korea
10  3    Many Faces     David Fotland    USA
11  2    Nemesis        Bruce Wilcox    USA
12  2    Hirartsuka    Shigyou        Japan
13  1    Explorer    Martin Muller    Switzerland
14  1    Daihoninbo    Yoshikawa    Japan  (Win was due to a bye)
15  0    Go        Yuzhi Yang    China  (crashed every round)

"Best Design" prize for the program with the overall best combination
of ease of use, features, look, and playing strength, went to Many
Faces of Go.

Goliath went on to challange the 3 human players (young 5 dans), at a
16 play handicap and won all 3 games.  It challenged at the next level
(14 play handicap), and lost all three games.  Next year the human
challenge will be at a 14 play handicap.



7. What computer go tournaments exist?  What are the prizes?

There is a North American Championship every year at the Go Congress
the first week of August.  Plaques and the title of North American
Computer Go Champion are the prizes.  There is a similar competition
at the European Go Congress.  There is a Computer Games Olympiad every
year in London in the summer that includes Computer Go.  The Usenix
conference used have a computer go competition every year, and may
still - no prizes.

The big money is in the World Computer Go Congress, sponsored by Ing
Chang Chi and Acer in Taiwan.  They have a preliminary competition
every August (formerly held in Europe, USA, and Japan, but now held in
Taipei with programs that are mailed in by their authors).  If you do
well in the preliminary (defined as beating two of 3 benchmark
programs - this year the benchmarks were Stone, Friday, and Goliath)
you will be reimbursed for 1/2 of your air fare to the Congress.  The
congress is held on November 11 and 12 in various places.  In 1990 it
was in Beijing.  In 1991 it was in in Singapore.  First prize for the
best computer program is about $8,000. Second is about $1,000 and 3rd
is about $500.  The winning computer program plays a 3 game series
against the Taiwan youth champion (usually a 12 year old 5 Dan) and
gets another $8000 if it wins.  This prize went unclaimed for five
years, but in 1991 Goliath beat all three human challengers, so the
handicap has been decreased to 14 moves.  The top prize if for winning
a 7 game series against a professional (of unspecified rank) is about
$1.6 Million.  The contest only runs through the year 2000 so the top
prize will go unclaimed.



8. What are the different game record formats and how can I display them?

There are several different formats for game records.  The two most
popular formats are Smart-Go and Ishi "Standard" Format.  Definitions
for these two formats are on the archive site in prog/mgt22.sh.Z and
prog/standard.sh.Z respectively.

The Smart-Go format can be read by mgt, Pon Nuki, xgoban and the Smart
Go program.  Ishi Format can be read by Many Faces of Go, Goscribe,
Goview, Contender, Smart Go Board (version 4.0 or later), and Nemesis
(version 5 and above). Ishi publishes games regularly in Ishi format.

The Liberty format is a binary format which is not common.  Many of
the files on the archive site are presently in this format.  They can
be converted to other formats with prog/convert.tar.Z.



9. What programs can I get to display go game records?

The program mgt will display game records under Unix or MSDOS.  It
does not use graphics, however.  An X11 version of mgt is under
development, but has not been released yet.  The mgt program was
created originally by Greg Hale at the request of rec.games.go readers
who wanted an interactive program that would read a series of tutorial
files posted to the net.  The program was expanded by Adrian Mariano
to edit and save game records. The purpose of mgt is to display and
edit game records in Smart-Go format.  It can be used to display a
game board.  Pieces can be placed and removed, and games can be
scored.

The program xgoban by Antoine Dumesnil de Maricourt ([e-mail])
can display and edit Smart-Go under X11.  It can also communicate with
wally to provide a graphical interface to this program.

The program Pon Nuki for the Mac is being developed by Greg Anderson
([e-mail]).  He is willing to send individuals beta test
copies.  Pon Nuki can display either Ishi or Smart-Go format.

Many Faces of Go can display only Ishi format.

The Smart-Go program itself is available for the Mac.  Also, Goscribe
for MSDOS is available through Ishi press (address above) for $59.95.
It can display and edit Ishi format.  Goview, able to display but not
edit, is available for MSDOS for $20.  Goview is free with a
subscription to Go World on disk.

     Smart Go Board, version 4.0.2, $40
     (version for Macintosh)
          Anders Kierulf
          Smart Game Board
          P.O. Box 7751
          Menlo Park, CA  94026-7751



10. How do I play games by computer?

Since computers make poor opponents, we use them to connect us to
other humans.  There are two types of computer games:  email, and
interactive.  Email games can be handled manually, by creating a board
in an editor, or only exchanging move coordinates.  The other option
is the use the unix program 'mailgo' which is included with mgt.  It
sends Smart-Go records of your game back and forth, and invokes mgt
for moves.

There are several ways to play interactive games.  Probably the most
popular is the Internet Go Server (IGS).  You can connect to the
server and look for opponents to play, or just watch a game.  To
connect directly, type "telnet icsib18.icsi.berkeley.edu 6969" on a
unix machine.  The IP number is 128.32.201.46.  A brief, outdated
introduction to the go server is available for ftp on
unmvax.cs.unm.edu in pub/go.  The internet go server is also run on
cnam.cnam.fr, but this sites do not appear to be used much.  When you
connect to the IGS, be SURE to use the port number 6969.

The IGS interface is quite awkward, so five client programs are
available to ease your interaction with the server.  They are
prog/igc050.sh.Z, an ascii client for unix, prog/xigs_v1.0.sh.Z and
prog/xgospel.sh.Z, X11 clients for unix, prog/gs039.sit.hqx, a
Macintosh client, and prog/pcig42z.exe, an IBM PC client.  All four
programs are available on ftp.u.washington.edu.

Another interactive options is the internet go program, available on
the archive site as prog/inetgo72.sh.Z, which allows BSD Unix users to
play interactive games with ascii text screens.  The xgosh program
(prog/xgosh17.sh.Z on the archive site) allows people with X-Windows
to play interactive games with a graphical board.  The two interactive
programs are NOT compatible.

To help find suitable opponents, check out the go players email
address list, available on the archive site as go-players, and also
posted monthly with this FAQ.

There is a standard go modem protocol which is used by go programs for
modem play.  It is implemented in Many Faces of Go, Nemesis, and
Telego (a shareware go modem program for the IBM PC).  The protocol
spec and sample code are available from the archive site as
info/protocol.Z.

Fotland's program, Many Faces of Go for X Windows on HP machines
supports two players on two screens.



11. Where can I get go equipment, books, etc?

     Ishi Press International    Ishi Press International
     76 Bonaventura Drive      20 Bruges Place
     San Jose, CA  95134      London England NW1 OTE
     Tel: [phone]
     FAX: [phone]      071 284 4898

     Ishi Press
     1301-5 Yabata
     Chigasaki-Shi
     Kanagawa-ken 253
     (0467)83-4369
     (0467)83-4710 (fax)
     Japan



12. What are the dimensions of a go board?

The official size according to Nihon Ki-in is 45.45 x 42.42 (cm).
Measurements of an Ishi board indicate that the lines are 0.8 mm
thick and the hoshi points are 3 mm in diameter.

Stones are supposed to be 20-21 mm in diameter.



13. What books should I read?

A list of books is on the archive site:  info/books.Z