Place stones on the intersections and surround territory. Surround an enemy group completely and it comes off the board.
Nine, thirteen and nineteen line boards, against a computer that plays a reasonable game on the small ones.
You play black and go first. Stones are placed on the line crossings rather than in the squares, and they never move once played.
A group of stones lives by its liberties, which are the empty points next to it. Fill the last one and the group is captured and removed.
You cannot play a stone that would have no liberties, unless that move captures something, and you cannot immediately repeat the previous position.
The game ends when both players pass. The board is then counted, and the player with more territory plus captures wins.
An empty point directly next to a stone or group. A group with one liberty left is in atari and will be captured if that point is filled.
Points given to white to make up for moving second. This board uses seven and a half, so a game can never end in a tie.
When every move left would only fill your own territory. If the board still has contested areas, the game will warn you before passing.
Nine by nine. A full game takes a few minutes, and everything that matters about the rules shows up on it.
Go is around four thousand years old and still the deepest board game anyone plays. The rules fit on a postcard and the strategy does not fit in a library.
Beginners usually start by trying to capture everything and slowly learn that territory is what counts. A group you chased across the board is worth nothing if your opponent built a wall while chasing you.
The small board is the right place to start. Nine by nine keeps whole games short enough to review while you still remember what you were thinking.