What are the basic rules of weiqi？
2 min readThe essential rules of weiqi are as follows：
a.Two players take turns placing black and white stones on the board’s points of the line intersections.Black moves first in an even game.In a handicap game，black（the weaker player）has a number of stones on the board，and white starts the game.
b.The object of the game is to surround and control more points or territory than your opponent.
c.Tactical rules：
①A single stone may be placed on almost any empty intersection.Stones can’t be moved after being placed，but they may be captured and removed from the board by the opponent. ②A group of stones consists of stones connected via straight lines but not diagonals. ③When one places a stone on an empty board，it usually has four empty spaces surrounding it.Stones on the edge have three，and those at the corners have two.These are called liberties. ④The number of liberties in a grouping is constituted by the total number of empty spaces connected to any stone in the group. ⑤If a stone of the opposite color is placed on the last liberty of a stone or group，that stone or group is captured and removed from board. ⑥Stones may not be placed on points where there is no liberty，unless placing a stone there would capture one or more stones，thus creating a liberty. ⑦An“eye”is a blank space（or a group of blank spacesinside a group of stones.An opponent cannot place a stone within a single-spaced eye unless it is the final liberty of a group.In this case he kills the group.A group that has two separate eyes or more is impossible to kill. ⑧The game is over when both players pass，having no more profitable moves to make.
A11“dead”stones（stones not part of“living”groups）are then removed.
OScoring:Each player’s score is calculated by the number of points under the color’s control.Captured stones are placed within the territory of the player who lost them，thus reducing his territory.”Dames”are neutral points，or points between boundary lines that belong to neither player.They are not counted.
The winner is the player with the higher score.
There are a small number of subtle variations for these rules.These variations affect scoring，but do not much change the character of the game.
