There are many sites and books containing wonderful texts about Go. Countless books have been written about possible strategies for beginners and masters of the game. Still we'd like to give you some information...

Go is an ancient game originally created somewhere in China more than 4000 year ago. It's also known under the name Weiqi in China, Baduk in Korea and Igo or Go in Japan. A legend tells us that the Chinese Emperor Yao had the game designed for his son, to teach him concentration and discipline. Later Go spread to Japan and Korea where it grew in popularity. De boeddist Nikkai founded the Honinbo school that grew out to become one of the strongest and largest Go schools in Japan.

By the end of the 19th century Go was introduced in Europe by Oskar Korschelt who wrote the first text about Go in a western language.

Al this time the rules of Go have remained unchanged. The game is played by 2 players on a board with a grid pattern of 19x19 lines (standard size). The purpose of the game is to conquer more territory on the board than your opponent. Each turn you can place a stone of your colour on the board (on a junction of the lines). When all escape routes of a stone or a group of stones have been sealed of by your opponent, the captured stones are removed from the board. The game ends when both players can't conquer any more territory and pass. After this the score is calculated for each player, keeping in mind the captured stones and the conquered territory.