The Board & Basics
📋 What it is
Go is played by placing stones on the LINE INTERSECTIONS of a grid; once placed, a stone does not move.
🗣️ Coach says
Go is beautifully simple to start: black and white take turns placing a stone on any empty crossing point. Stones stay put — you don't move them like checkers. The whole game is about where you PLACE, not where you move.
🧠 Memory hook
Play on the crossings, not the squares. Place a stone and it stays.
😂 Giggle
Why did the Go stone feel so free?
Because it counts its liberties — the empty spaces right next to it!
😲 Whoa!
Go is over 2,500 years old and, despite rules simple enough for a child, it has more possible games than there are atoms in the observable universe — vastly more than chess.
✅ Quick check: Where exactly do you place a Go stone — on a square or on a line intersection?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
On a line intersection (a crossing point of the grid) — never inside a square; stones live on the crossings.
Go stones are placed on intersections, unlike checkers pieces which sit in squares.
🪄 Trick question: After you place a Go stone, can you slide it to a better spot next turn?
Careful — think it through, then reveal.
No — once placed, a stone never moves; it only leaves the board if it is captured.
Go is a placement game; stones are static unless captured.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Draw a small 5×5 grid and place stones only on the crossings. Notice how many points a 9×9 board has (81).