Playing Games

All games are played in Rooms. You begin a game by issuing a challenge to the players in a room and only they can accept the challenge. Both players must agree to all the conditions of play.

Finding An Opponent: You can find an opponent in three ways. You can simply issue a challenge with the "custom game" button or accept another's challenge (displayed in bold in the games lists). You can also use the automatch feature from the "Play Go" menu.
Setting Up The Game: You set up the game by issuing a challenge, using the New Game button in the upper right corner of the room window. Both players must agree to the game conditions which include time limit, handicap, etc. You can learn more about the specifics in the Game Setup help page. The general process is that the player who issues the challenge sets the basic conditions. The player who accepts the challenge can change these basic conditions and set other conditions. The issuer must then accept these changes and additions, although he may make further changes. When both players have agreed to all the conditions the game begins and a board is put up in the Playing window for the players. If there is a condition which you will insist on it is a good idea to type that in the notes area. Then anyone interested in playing you will know it up front.
Talking to your opponent: You can chat with your opponent by typing in the chat area at the bottom of the playing window. Your chat will show up in your opponent's playing window just above the chat area. All chat is kept in the game record.
Adjourning/Resuming The Game: If you can't finish the game in one sitting, just leave the game. To be polite you should tell your opponent what is happening and schedule a later time to finish the game of course! When you are ready to resume the game, use the "Resume" button at the top right of the main window to select the desired game to resume. If your opponent is online then that game will be in italics and when you resume the game they will be sent a message asking if they wish to join the resumed game. You can also resume games where your opponent is not online and thus play "correspondence" go.
Ending The Game: The game ends when both players pass. They then tell the server how to count the game by clicking on dead stones. The server indicates which intersections are counted as territory by placing dots on them. When all dead stones have been identified both players must click on the Done button and the server announces the score.
Post Game Discussion and Teaching: After the game the players can discuss the game. They can go back to any point in the game and investigate alternate moves. All comments and variations are kept in the game record. These capabilities can be used for teaching as well. Look at the Edit Window help page for more detailed information.
Getting the Game Record: You can download a file containing the game record. Click on the Game Info button in upper right of the playing window. Move the pointer to the save to disk option and click. You will get a dialog box to select the folder and name for the file. The game can be viewed using the Cgoban program available from KGS or any SGF viewer.

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