BBC Microcomputer System

Go

Go is a computerised development of an original game played with stones on a 13 by 13 grid, based upon occupying territory and capturing enemy stones. It is a powerful program for either one or two players, plus an option where the computer plays against itself. The program will only accept legal moves so beginners can experiment and let the program teach them how to play. Players start with a blank grid and take it in turns to place markers at the points where the grid lines intersect; the main aim is to occupy as much territory as possible and then to capture enemy markers, or groups, by surrounding them. Markers of the same colour joined together along the lines of the grid are a group and can be captured when an opposing marker is placed on the group's last liberty point. Liberties are the adjacent intersections to a single or group of markers. Markers cannot be joined across diagonals to form groups.