The name of the game as we know it in Europe (Go) came from the Japanese name of it by cutting off a caracter. :-)

Go (English spelling);

Japanese: 囲碁 (igo);

Chinese Traditional: 圍棋, Chinese Simplified: 围棋 (wéiqí/wei-ch'i);

Korean: 바둑 (baduk/paduk);

Vietnamese: 碁圍 (cờ vây);

Thai: หมากล้อม (mak-lom);

Russian: Го or Облавные шашки (Oblavnye shashki / "encircling checkers").

Go is a very ancient abstract territory capturing strategy board game mostly for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent does (and capture more stones if it is possible). :-)

(RENGO is the name when they play the game in pairs and two players control the balck and two for the white stones after eachother.)

The game was invented in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago, and it is one of the oldest board game continuously played today. It was considered as well to one of the four essential arts of the cultured aristocratic Chinese scholar caste in antiquity. The earliest written reference to the game is generally recognized as the historical annal Zuo Zhuan (4th century BCE). The modern game of Go as we know it was formalized in Japan in the 15th century CE.

Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is very complex, even more so than chess, and possesses more possibilities than the total number of atoms in the visible universe. Compared to chess, Go has both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and on average, many more alternatives to consider per move.

The playing pieces ("figures") are called stones. One player uses the black stones and the other is white. The players take turns placing the stones on the vacant intersections/junctions (named "points") of a board with a 19×19 grid of lines. Black starts first. When the stone was placed it can not be moved but when it loses it's every "lifepoints" it must be removed from the board and placed to the "graveyard". Beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards, and archaeological evidence shows that the game was once played on a 17×17 grid. However, boards with a 19×19 grid had become standard by the time the game had reached what was then the Imperial Chinese Tributary State of Korea in the 5th century CE and later to what was then the Imperial Chinese Tributary State of Japan in the 7th century CE. Now days the 19x19 board (grid) size is the official one which is used for championships.

The game starts with a bow to eachother formaly and wishes good game to the opponenet. Than black starts the game by placing a stone onto the empty board to a desirable intersection (peferably somewhere in on of the corners). The game proceeds until neither of the players wishes to make another move (so they both say "pass"). the game has no set ending conditions beyond this. When a game concludes, the territory is counted along with captured stones and komi (points added to the score of the player with the white stones as compensation for playing second usualy 6.5/six and a half points) to determine the winner. Games may also be terminated by resignation or by time when they using a go clock along the game. When there is a difference between the players strength in playing, balck player gets handicap stones from the stronger white player in a total of 9 on a 19x19 board and at least 2 stones (then there is no komi to add after the game so in the end of it can be even/a tie game.)

The end of the game looks somewhat like this:

But first we should start at the beginning! :-) Here comes the rules: