<p>I just started to be interested by Go a week ago.
I have read and (I think I) understood the base rules.</p>

<p>I went through a few web sites that explain how the game is played and overall, after a reading a few times the same things in different formats, I think I get it.</p>

<p>My next step was to download an app to start playing against the computer, starting with a 9x9 grid.</p>

<p>But there are a few things I do not get.</p>

<p>in a situation like the following:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lUoeo.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lUoeo.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>how does the app evaluate black vs. white territory? I understand that the points come from the number of liberties around your stones, but what open the open space?</p>

<p>and if you have a scenario like this:</p>

<pre><code>XXX
...
OOO
</code></pre>

<p>where X/O are the black and whites and the . is an empty space. When it comes to counting points, who owns the empty space?</p>

<p>but my main question is the following:</p>

<p>When I play chess, I know a few openings, I know some patterns that I can recognize and I can formulate a plan. Starting with go, I have a vastly empty board and no idea what to do, what kind of pattern I should be aiming at doing, what I should be building, etc.</p>

<p>What would be good resources to learn strategies? I found sites with rules, libraries of games but I didn't find anything that tells me what I should be trying to achieve.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-21T21:25:57.497Z
Google *Joseki* for information about playing in the corners, and check Wikipedia's [Go Strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_strategy_and_tactics) article for basic information on getting started. There is a plethora of information available on the web, so I must question how hard you have actually looked. As for opening theory - it doesn't exist on a 9x9 or 11x11 board, and just barely exists, for a couple of terms on a 13x13 board, so don't worry about it until you are ready to play a 19x19 board. Until then, just study corner *joseki* and *life-and-death* patterns.
Forget I was ever here
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-21T21:29:16.363Z
On a 9x9 or 11x11 board the only sane opening moves in a corner are 3-3 - the centre is simply too small for influence there to be worth trading off for. On a 13x13 one might look at 3-4 first moves in a corner as well. Anything else - wait until you are playing 19x19.
Forget I was ever here
<go>
First steps in go.. where to go? and some score counting questions
Thomas
# First steps in go.. where to go? and some score counting questions

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-19)

I just started to be interested by Go a week ago.
I have read and (I think I) understood the base rules.

I went through a few web sites that explain how the game is played and overall, after a reading a few times the same things in different formats, I think I get it.

My next step was to download an app to start playing against the computer, starting with a 9x9 grid.

But there are a few things I do not get.

in a situation like the following:

[![enter image description username_1](https://i.sstatic.net/lUoeo.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/lUoeo.png)

how does the app evaluate black vs. white territory? I understand that the points come from the number of liberties around your stones, but what open the open space?

and if you have a scenario like this:

```
XXX
...
OOO

```

where X/O are the black and whites and the . is an empty space. When it comes to counting points, who owns the empty space?

but my main question is the following:

When I play chess, I know a few openings, I know some patterns that I can recognize and I can formulate a plan. Starting with go, I have a vastly empty board and no idea what to do, what kind of pattern I should be aiming at doing, what I should be building, etc.

What would be good resources to learn strategies? I found sites with rules, libraries of games but I didn't find anything that tells me what I should be trying to achieve.

**Tags:** go

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Google *Joseki* for information about playing in the corners, and check Wikipedia's [Go Strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_strategy_and_tactics) article for basic information on getting started. There is a plethora of information available on the web, so I must question how hard you have actually looked. As for opening theory - it doesn't exist on a 9x9 or 11x11 board, and just barely exists, for a couple of terms on a 13x13 board, so don't worry about it until you are ready to play a 19x19 board. Until then, just study corner *joseki* and *life-and-death* patterns.  
> **username_1**: On a 9x9 or 11x11 board the only sane opening moves in a corner are 3-3 - the centre is simply too small for influence there to be worth trading off for. On a 13x13 one might look at 3-4 first moves in a corner as well. Anything else - wait until you are playing 19x19.  

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## 0 answers

