Go (game)
The playing pieces are called "stones". One player uses the white stones and the other, black. The players take turns placing the stones on the vacant intersections ("points") of a board. Once placed on the board, stones may not be moved, but stones are removed from the board if "captured". Capture happens when a stone or group of stones is surrounded by opposing stones on all orthogonally-adjacent points. The game proceeds until neither player wishes to make another move. When a game concludes, the winner is determined by counting each player's surrounded territory along with captured stones and komi (points added to the score of the player with the white stones as compensation for playing second). Games may also be terminated by resignation. A teacher might simplify the explanation by saying to a student "you may place your stone on any point on the board, but if I surround that stone, I will remove it."
Go strategy and tactics
The whole board opening is called Fuseki. An important principle to follow in early play is "corner, side, center." In other words, the corners are the easiest places to take territory, because two sides of the board can be used as boundaries. Once the corners are occupied, the next most valuable points are along the side, aiming to use the edge as a territorial boundary. Capturing territory in the middle, where it must be surrounded on all four sides, is extremely difficult. The same is true for founding a living group: Easiest in the corner, most difficult in the center.