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Last updated on September 25, 1998
Please send any comments to Jean-Claude Chetrit
Quick Guide for PLAYING GO ON THE INTERNETby David GodingerYou can now play the game of Go in real time, thanks to the Internet, with people from all over the world. Go is an ancient, intellectual game of strategy and subtlety between two people, and can be a simple pastime or a vast challenge to the mind. In some countries, the board is almost square--a softly gleaming, golden-brown slab of fine wood, with 19 lines crossing 19 lines. Each player uses a wooden bowl filled with the pieces, termed "stones." Small, solid, and fitting comfortably between forefinger and middle finger, the gently rounded disks are black or white, one color for each player. Although glass stones are available, the finest black stones are crafted of slate stone from a river bottom; and the most beautiful white ones, softly striped with muted tones, are carved from the inside of a clam shell. When it's your turn, you place one of your stones on a point where two lines meet on the board. With a decisive click, you place it in a location that will help you, along with your opponent, shape a swirling struggle over the rival territories the two of you are trying to build. At first glance, the game is simple in form. Its rules can be understood in just a few minutes. However, Go can also be studied for a lifetime in its refined, esthetic profundity. Go is believed to have originated in China thousands of years ago; in our time, it is played every day by millions in many parts of the world. In early 1996, the first game in Earth orbit (actually a review of an old, classic game) was played aboard the US space shuttle, between a Japanese astronaut and an American one. In China it is known as "WeiQi," in Korea as "Baduk," and in Japan as "Go" or "Igo." TO GET STARTEDIf you can use Netscape, Mosaic, or some other graphical browser program for the World-Wide-Web (or even Lynx for raw Internet "shell" access), we invite you to visit the following fine Web sites:Introduction to Go and comprehensive overview: Learn the rules of Go: The rules in Spanish: How to use the Internet to play Go: WHERE TO PLAYTo repeat, now you can play Go live on the Internet--you need not wait to receive moves by mail; instead, your opponent responds immediately and the moves appear in color directly on both of your computer screens, and perhaps on the screens of numerous observers all over the world.Note: a "Go server" is a program inside a computer, somewhere in the world, that is designed to allow people to play Go in their homes, schools, offices, or anywhere that they can connect to the Internet. "Telnet" is one method of using the server. Telnet makes it possible to make various things happen inside a computer far away from your own. Remember that you must include the 4-digit port number at the end of any telnet address that you choose from the following list, and that the first port number (6969) is different from the ones after it (9696). In order of activity, here are the telnet addresses for playing Go on the Internet: TELNET ADDRESSES:1. igs.nuri.net 69692. nngs.cosmic.org 9696 3. micro1.ee.nthu.edu.tw 9696 4. jet.ncic.ac.cn 9696 5. cs.interq.or.jp 9696 A NON-TELNET PLACE:http://www.zone.comTECHNICAL HINTS FOR THE TELNET SERVERS(mostly not for the Gaming Zone)Remember the time zones. People on one side of the planet are asleep while those on the other side are awake, so the population on a given server may vary according to local time. On a large server, there are always players who have logged in from somewhere in the world. As explained at the http://www.well.com/~mmcadams/igs.howto.html site, it is vital that you get a client program to allow you to see a beautiful Go board and stones on your computer screen instead of a lot of confusing lines with %'s and 0's. Fine client software has been created for the various types of computers, and you will need to learn how to use Internet FTP to get such a program for your computer. The main ftp site for getting go clients is and the directory there is and read the following file there to find out what you need Caution: an Internet 1-dan rank equals approximately 2-dan in China and Europe, 4-dan in the United States (American Go Association ratings), 5-dan in Japan, and 3-gup in Korea. Become familiar with the elementary go server commands, such as who, stats, tell, rank, match, score, done, games, observe, kibitz, and toggle. On IGS, to find out more, just type and on all the other servers, use COURTESY ON THE SERVERSThe following will help to maintain good relations with other players and to avoid misunderstandings:Ask for games only from those available to play. You can make a list of currently available players by typing the command Also, try the command Never insist on a game with a person who isn't interested or available. Otherwise, in the future you may be on that person's list of people to avoid. A game with another individual is a special privilege and not something to demand. Try to make a reasonable estimate or guess about your Internet Go rank to find the right handicap for a challenging game. This way, your opponent may enjoy the game too and wish to play you again in the future. Unfortunately, not everyone does this, so try not to be discouraged if you lose against a strong player who pretends to have a low rank (the infamous "sandbagger"). Just say to yourself, "I just got a lesson in Go from a more experienced player, and didn't even have to pay for it!") Using just a little ordinary common sense, understand the Internet culture. By avoiding rude and aggressive communication, you will make many friends on the go servers. Many of the players or observers are highly intelligent and motivated individuals who may lose respect for you if they hear premature questions or jokes about their gender or other sensitive personal information. Also, please remember that some of the players are children who are seeking examples of intelligence and inspiration from their adult friends and would very much appreciate having normal, dignified conversations. Comments to your opponent during the game, especially if they are critical, will often disrupt the thinking process, and that person may choose someone else to play with next time. However, you do have the option of using the kibitz command to leave helpful remarks in the game record, where your opponent may study them after the end of the game. During a game, accepting suggestions for moves from other players or deliberately ending the server connection without your opponent's permission ("escaping") are beyond mere rudeness. Not only is the opponent cheated and left with a bad feeling, but the friendly and trusting environment enjoyed by most of us on the Go servers is undermined. (Bear in mind, however, that because of poor Internet conditions, people are often cut off repeatedly without having any choice about it. Because it's usually impossible for anyone to determine the cause of a disconnection, we ask that everyone avoid accusing others of "escaping.") When many are present on the server (say over 50), try never to use the "shout" command unless you can't figure out how to get help in any other way. For almost any purpose, you will find that you can get the information you need with the "tell" and "help" commands. For chatting with more than one person at a time, you can learn about channels ("help channel"). COMPUTER OPPONENTS AND ROBOTSFor playing against a Go program and not a human being, see the first WWW sites listed in this document to find out where to download, for example, the "Igo" or "EZGo" shareware programs for PCs. You can also look there to find out where to purchase programs that are more complete or designed for other kinds of computers. For PCs, we hear ManyFaces recommended as friendly for the beginner; however, HandTalk is a more powerful opponent. For the Mac, "Go Explorer" has a good reputation.However, be aware that none of the Go programs can now challenge an expert at the game, nor will this occur in the forseeable future. By the way, the ManyFaces program is available to play Go with you on the first two servers listed above (IGS and NNGS), and will even chat with you, though in a somewhat primitive way. Also, on all the servers except for the first (IGS), the GoBot program will replay games from a huge list of classical and professional games. It will even replay your own recently played games so you can study them. FOR QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONSThe newsgroup rec.games.go is the place for getting answers to your questions about go, for receiving the latest information about go culture, history, problems, tactics, strategy, stories of the great players, books and equipment and, unfortunately, even go politics. To get comprehensive information about go, this is the place to find the famous FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document by Adrian Mariano, whose work inspired my contribution.I hope this information has been useful to you. This document was written and is updated by David Godinger ("daveg" on NNGS), and is posted regularly on the rec.games.go newsgroup and in other places. Please distribute it freely, without changing it, to help introduce another person to a fruitful lifetime of playing Go on the Internet. You may quote extensively from it for your own purposes. (Please send your comments or suggestions for improvement to deva@bigfoot.com). |
Last updated on September 25, 1998
Please send any comments to Jean-Claude Chetrit