Rankings and handicapsGo has a ranking system that works as
follows. Beginners are assigned the rank of 35-kyu and, as they
learn more of the basic techniques, rapidly improve until they reach
about 10-kyu. This rapid improvement assumes that the beginner
studies and plays a few times a week for about three months. From
10-kyu up to 1-kyu, progress is usually much slower.
Once an amateur graduates from the kyu ranks, he becomes an
expert player and receives the rank of 1-dan ("shodan" in Japanese)
from the go organization he belongs to. He can also determine his
rank by measuring his playing strength against other players.
Amateur dan rankings go as high as 7-dan. Professional rankings run
from shodan to 9-dan, but they are on a different scale and do not
correspond in strength to the amateur ranks. A professional shodan
is much stronger than an amateur 7-dan.
Go also has a handicap system which gives weaker players a
realistic chance of winning against stronger opponents. Players of
equal strength use a method called "nigiri" to determine which
player takes the white stones and which takes the black. When using
nigiri, one player takes a handful of white stones while the other
takes either one or two black stones. Both sets of stones are placed
on the go board. If the number of black stones and white stones are
both even or both odd, then the player who placed the black stones
on the board plays with the black stones. If there is an even number
of black stones and an odd number of white stones, or vice-versa,
then the player who placed the white stones on the board plays with
black.
When players of different ranks play, the stronger player always
takes the white stones, and the handicap is determined by the
difference in ranks between them. For example, if one player is
1-kyu and the other 2-kyu, then the 2-kyu player always takes the
black stones and makes the first move. When a 1-kyu plays against a
3-kyu, the 3-kyu receives a two-stone handicap; when the 1-kyu
player plays against a 5-kyu, the 5-kyu receives a four-stone
handicap. This continues up to a nine-stone handicap, which is
usually the largest handicap given. The same handicap system
alsoapplies to amateur dan-ranked players.
Once the handicap has been established, the weaker player places
the handicap stones on the star points in the order shown in the
diagrams (top right). White then makes the first move, after which
the players move alternatly.
The rule of ko The three diagrams on the right show a
special situation called "ko." Look at the position in Diagram
1. If it is Black's turn to play, he can capture a white stone
by playing at 1 in Diagram 2, resulting in the position in
Diagram 3. It might seem that White can recapture the black
stone with "a" with his next move, but this would result in the same
position as Diagram 1. If this were allowed and neither side
were willing to give in, a capture-recapture situation could go on
forever were it not for a special rule. The ko rule is quite simple.
Rule 10: If one side captures a stone in ko, the other
side cannot capture that stone on the next move.
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