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Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Chi
1991
No special rulings
Almost no drawn games
By Ing Chang-ki
Translated by
James Davies
These rules have been applied in all tournaments
organized or sponsored by the Chinese Taipei Wei-ch'i
Association and the Ing Chang-Ki Wei-Ch'i Educational
Foundation since September 1977.
Translator's NoteIn the past two decades Ing
Chang-Ki has made a lot of us aware that the game of
wei-ch'i or go has more than one set of rules. Those who
have tried out his SST rules have discovered that despite
their novel appearance, they do not alter the tactics and
strategy of the game, except in extremely rare cases in
which the traditional rules themselves are in question.
During these two decades the SST rules have evolved
considerably, reflecting a commendable readiness on the
part of their author to update them in light of continued
research and practical experience. This edition includes
two significant modifications. One is a simplification of
the counting of shared territory. Shared spaces are now
divided equally; there are no fractions or owed stones. The
other is that players are not penalized for making mistakes
in triple ko and other multiple-ko situations; mistakes are
handled in such a way that neither player sufers. The idea
of a set of rules that forgives mistakes instead of
demanding absolute obedience is rather appealing.
I would not be surprised to see further evolution of the
ko rule, but two features of the present SST ko rule
deserve attention. The present rule relieves the player of
the duty to keep track of full-board repetition. The
difficulty of recognizing full-board repetition accurately
was the most widely-voiced objection to the older SST rule
(the super-ko rule). The present rule also tries to impose
the minimum restrictions necessary to avoid endless games.
The super-ko rule, while conceptually simpler, is
unnecessarily restrictive in positions like the ones shown
in Dias. A3 to A8.
The SST rules should remind us that although wei-ch'i
has a history of thousands of years, it is still a game to
be played and played with, and this can lead not only to
the discovery of new openings but also the invention of new
and improved equipment and rules.
(signed)
James Davies
February 1992
Profile of
Ing Chang-Kiby K'ung Ch'ing-Lung
A native of Tze-Ki in the city of Ningbo in Chekiang
Province, China, Ing Chang-Ki is a frank and efficient
person, a deep thinker with an inquiring mind. In a career
spanning thirty years each in finance and industry, he has
founded the Reward Wool Industry Corporation, Cathay
Chemical Works, Inc., Eagle Food Industry Corporation, and
International Bills Finance Corporation, all of which are
now listed on the stock market in Taiwan.
Ing Chang-Ki has been an enthusiastic wei-ch'i player since
his youth and has promoted the game steadily for the past
sixty years. It is his belief that in the twentieth
century, now that wei-ch'i is not just an individual
pastime but has entered a new age of international
competition, it needs a complete and perfect set of rules.
He has therefore devoted eighteen years, from 1973 to 1991,
to a study of the rules of wei-ch'i. The results are
summarized as follows. "Moves are unrestricted except for
invariation" enlarges the scope of variety in wei-ch'i to
the maximum limit. "Ko is classified as fighting or
disturbing" deals with rule dilemmas mechanically,
eliminating the need for annulment rulings and repudiating
the illogic of the super-ko rule. "All stones are filled in
to count" is a scientific counting method that does not
disturb the final position on the board and makes the
result clear at a glance. These three rules were invented
by Ing Chang-ki.
An American, William F. Mann, once wrote that the fill-in
counting system had unsurpassed merit, but was infeasible
because of the requirement for exactly 180 black and white
stones. Hearing of this, to complete his dream Ing Chang-Ki
spent more than ten years developing the Model 9186 bowls
with measuring frames. In the finite span of 18 years, Ing
Chang-Ki has made an invaluable contribution to the
infinite future by laying the foundations of a unified set
of wei-ch'i rules.
ContentsTranslator's Note
Profile of Ing Chang-Ki
Contents
Introduction
Preface
History of Codification of the Rules of Wei-Ch'i
Terminology
Rules
Ing's SST Laws of
Wei-Ch'i
Chapter 1 Rules of Competition
(the move; removal; ko; counting)
Chapter 2 Tournament Rules
(tournament agreement; handicaps;
time limits; penalties; conduct; duties)
Chapter 3 Equipment Specifications
(the board; the stones; the bowls;
the desk and table)
Illustrations
Explanatory Diagrams for Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i
Diagrams Illustrating the Three Principles of the Laws of
Wei-Ch'i
Diagram of the Ping-Tuan-Chi Rating Scale
Ing Symbols for Tournament Results
Rights and duties in implementing the rules
1. The sponsors have the right to determine the
rules.
2. The referee is responsible for enforcing the rules.
3. The players must obey the rules.
Preface
By Ing Chang-Ki
What I Have Learned in Eighteen Years of
Studying the Rules of Wei-ch'iThere are three
essential principles in the rules of wei-ch'i: (1) there
must be absolutely no special rulings; (2) the more variety
the better; and (3) the fewer drawn games the better. Rules
that conform to these three principles must be adopted;
rules that violate these principles must be abolished.
Particulars are discussed next.
(1) Life and death of stones must be determined by
removal, counting both stones and spaces as territory, and
not by special rulings.Counting both stones and spaces
as territory is a precondition for determining life and
death by removal. China changed from counting only spaces
as territory in the Ming Dynasty, and has used actual
removal as the standard of life and death ever since. Japan
and Korea still preserve the old rule that only spaces are
territory, which they took from China during the Northern
and Southern Dynasties 1500 years ago, only changing the
character for "space" from Chinese lu (road) to
Japanese me (eyes) and Korean hu (house).
Under the old rule each move a player plays inside his own
territory costs him one point, so life and death cannot be
decided by actual removal; special rulings are the only
alternative. Resulting defects in the Japanese rules are
(1) a special ruling that bent-four-in-the-corner is
unconditionally dead, regardless of positions in other
parts of the board, and (2) special rulings about whether
or not reinforcing moves are needed at the end of the game.
The ruling about bent-four-in-the-corner is absurd, leaving
the players no choice but to avoid the position altogether.
The ruling about reinforcing at the end of the game has
come up occasionally and caused serious trouble. It led to
arguments in two games played by Wu Ch'ing-Yuan (Go Seigen)
against Iwamoto Kaoru and Takagawa Kaku. It is highly
inappropriate for the rules to require reinforcing
moves.
Under Chinese rules, since stones and spaces are both
territory and life and death can be demonstrated by actual
removal, there is no need for any special rulings. A
bent-four-in-the-corner can be settled through actual play,
like any other position. Stones that can be removed are
dead. Stones that cannot be removed are alive. As for
whether or not to reinforce, that is the player's affair
and he should make up his own mind; the rules should not
decide for him. Reinforcing or not reinforcing is a
question of skill, not a question of rules. Settling
questions of like and death by actually removing the dead
stones leaves no room for argument. Counting both stones
and spaces as territory also reduces the occurrence of
drawn games by a factor of five hundred. Under the Japanese
counting system the draw rate is five percent, while under
the SST system it is only one game in ten thousand.
(2) A complete ko rule must prevent invariation, and
must distinguish between fighting and disturbing
ko.Wei-ch'i has been played for four thousand years
without a complete ko rule. Games that could not be
resolved by traditional rules unfortunately had to be
abandoned. That the best players in the world are
unfamiliar with life and death in multiple ko is the bad
result of paying too much attention to tactics and strategy
and not enough attention to the rules. "Invariation" refers
to repetition of the same position or cyclic removal.
Repetitive removal gives fighting invariation in a fighting
ko, while cyclic removal gives disturbing invariation in a
disturbing ko. A complete ko rule is obtained by
prohibiting the immediate removal of hot stones in fighting
invariation, and not allowing the disturber to recycle in
disturbing invariation.
Traditional rules had only single hot stones, which did not
satisfy the requirements of fighting ko. The SST rules
introduced double hot stones for use in the eternal life
position and twin hot stones for use in triple ko, thereby
resolving all fighting kos. The fighting ko rule is that
hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one
board play or pass play; this eliminates special rulings
about fighting ko.
A disturbing ko has no hot stones. Hot stones do not work
in a disturbing ko because both sides can remove different
stones; they do not have to fight over the removal of hot
stones. A disturbing ko is initiated by one player, who is
called the "disturber". His opponent is said to have been
"disturbed." A disturbing ko only serves to exchange
breathing points. It does not affect life and death but
just prevents the game from ending, like perpetual check in
Chinese chess. The disturbing ko rule is that after one
disturbing cycle, the disturber is never allowed to
continue disturbing; this eliminates special rulings about
disturbing ko. (Recycling refers to disturbing the game
beyond one cycle. The word "never" makes the rule easy to
enforce. After one cycle, every recycling move causes
disturbing invariation These moves can be prohibited at any
time, whenever a player calls on the referee.) Disturbing
ko in wei-ch'i and perpetual check in Chinese chess both
demand that the disturber be stopped from recycling and
that the board return to its original state with no harm to
either side.
The rules about invariation and ko and the classification
of ko into fighting and disturbing are complete, but they
cannot be explained verbally; they have to be formulated in
writing. Now is the time to do this, when wei-ch'i has
become an international and professional game, making
written rules essential.
(3) To divide moves into board and pass plays, a pass
must be called a play.In a note on the changes in
Chinese wei-ch'i counting methods. Dr. Yang Lien-Sheng
mentioned that the American Go Association had formed a
rules committee in 1934, that its president Karl Davis
Robinson had written a manuscript on The Structure of Go
that made a detailed study of different verbal rules (at
that time China and Japan did not yet have written rules)
and discussed methods of dealing with unusual positions,
that the first draft had been completed in 1946 and was
currently being revised, and that the author hoped to
publish. I was eager to find this book and made many
requests and inquiries, but without success. Then in 1978 I
led a group of go players on a tour of Europe. In
Luxembourg, the first country we visited, I met Dr. Henny,
a German collector of wei-ch'i literature, and he handed me
the very book I had been looking for. It was a copy of a
typed manuscript, but I was overjoyed at this unexpected
good luck and made another copy, which I took back to
Taipei to study. It was from this book that I learned the
term "pass play." The author stated that there were two
kinds of play: board play and pass play. I translated these
terms into Chinese as shih-shou and hsu-shou.
Wei-ch'i starts with a board play and ends with pass plays.
Pass plays are limited to use in three situations: (1) a
player can place two stones on the board as a pass play to
indicate that he resigns: (2) at the beginning of a
handicap-play game White makes a certain number of
mandatory pass plays, the number being the size of the
handicap; and (3) a player passes when he has no points to
contest, in which case his opponent may continue to play on
one-sided neutral points. There are also rules about the
states of passing: (1) When one player has no points to
contest and passes, his opponent can still play. (2) When
both players make one pass play each, signifying that all
neutral points have been filled and there is nothing more
to contest, play pauses. (3) After play pauses, if there
are no disagreements when the dead stones are taken away,
both players make one more pass play each to end the game.
Since a pass play, like a board play, is now a move in its
own right, hot stones can be removed after an interval of
one pass play. Using the term "pass play," instead of
speaking of relinquishing one's turn, and giving detailed
and precise descriptions of the effects and limitations of
pass plays in the rest of the rules makes "pass play" an
important term in the laws of wei-ch'i and improves their
formulation.
(4) A perfect counting procedure must use stones to
count territory by filling in.Fill-in counting is the
only counting procedure that works perfectly with counting
both stones and spaces as territory. It is the most logical
and scientific method: using bowls with special measuring
frames, it employs a known number of stones to measure an
unknown number of territory. Any so-called "perfect"
counting procedure must satisfy three conditions: (1) it
must leave the position at the end of the game undisturbed;
(2) it must make the result clear at a glance, so that the
players can see who has won without doing mental
arithmetic; and (3) the procedure must make counting simple
and quick, and errors obvious and easy to check. Three
counting procedures are used in the world at present: (1)
the Japanese system of comparing spaces is the most
widespread, and has a history of over 2000 years; (2) the
Chinese system of counting one side's stones has been
widely used for 500 years, but only in China; it is rarely
seen in other countries; (3) the SST fill-in counting
system has a history of less than twenty years. When the
three conditions stated above are considered, the fill-in
system complies best. Basically a stone-counting system
that also compares spaces, the fill-in system is the
perfect counting method.
The fill-in counting procedure is as follows: (1) At the
end of the game, both players fill all prisoners, dead
stones, and the stones remaining in their bowls into
territory of the same color. (2) After this filling in is
completed, any remaining spaces are called winning spaces
and any remaining stones are called losing stones. Losing
stones are filled into the opponent's winning spaces. (3)
If there is one shared space, it is left unfilled. If there
are two or more shared spaces, each player fills in half of
them to indicate that they are divided equally. (4) The
difference value consists of one point for a winning space
and two points for each losing stone, compensation stone,
and time-difference penalty stone. (5) The stones in the
difference value should be placed in separate areas, with
the winning space located in a corner, or on a side if no
corner is available. Losing stones are filled into side
points adjacent to the winning space. Compensation and
time-penalty stones are filled into separate areas near the
winning space or shared space.
The previous thirteen editions of the SST rules all
followed the principle that spaces belonged to their
surrounding stones, with shared spaces divided in
proportion to the number of black and white stones
surrounding them. When there were two or more shared areas
with different denominators, however, adding them up was
difficult, and the advantage of the fill-in counting system
in making the result clear at a glance was lost. In
addition, the principle that spaces belong to their
surrounding stones did not clearly reduce the number of
drawn games, so in this edition it has been changed to the
principle that shared spaces are divided equally.
In the past, when bowls with measuring frames were not
available in large quantities at low prices, the fill-in
counting system was an impractical dream, but now that the
necessary conditions are satisfied, fill-in counting can be
used in major tournaments.
(5) Balanced ratings and compensation points are needed
to equalize differences of less than one play.A
player's rating is an indication of his strength, and rises
or falls depending on his tournament results. At present
there is still no standard worldwide system. In recent
years European and American wei-ch'i organizations have
called for a computerized rating system similar to the
well-established tennis ranking system, but no such system
is likely to come into wide use in the near future, because
it has not been adopted by any of the major wei-ch'i
playing countries in Asia. The SST ranking system is
divided into three levels. Ping ranks are reserved
for professional players; the difference between ranks is
one-fourth play or two compensation points. Tuan
ranks are given to strong amateur players; the difference
between ranks in one-half play or four compensation points.
Chi ranks are for general amateur players; the
difference between ranks is one play; compensation points
are unnecessary. The compensation in even games is eight
points. This value is quite accurate because it comes from
a detailed statistical study of tournament results,
totaling some 10,000 games. Black wins 55% of the time
giving six-point compensation and 49% of the time giving
eight-point compensation, so eight-point compensation is
more fair and reasonable. Eight points also matches well
with the difference of two points per ping given above.
Japan was the first country to use compensation points for
differences of less than one move, but they started doing
this only sixty or seventy years ago. The compensation has
increased from 3.5 points to 4.5, then 5.5, and is still
moving up. Examples of compensation in games between
ping-ranked players are given below:
1 ping vs. 1 ping (no difference)
Black gives 8 compensation points
1 ping vs. 2 ping (.25 play difference)
The 2-ping player takes Black and gives 6 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 3 ping (.5 play difference)
The 3-ping player takes Black and gives 4 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 4-ping (.75 play difference)
The 4-ping player takes Black and gives 2 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 5 ping (1 play difference)
The 5-ping player takes Black and gives no compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 6 ping (1.25 plays difference)
The 6-ping player takes Black and receives 2 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 7 ping (1.5 plays difference)
The 7-ping player takes Black and receives 4 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 8 ping (1.75 plays difference)
The 8-ping players takes Black and receives 6 compensation
points.
1 ping vs. 9 ping (2 plays difference)
The 9-ping player takes a one-play handicap.
(6) Setup stones must be eliminated for the sake of
greater variety and fewer restrictions. The move must not
be restricted, except for invariation.Old Chinese game
records begin not from an empty board but from a setup
position. Setup stones were used in both even games and
handicap games. In even games Black and White each placed
two setup stones in diagonally opposite corners. In
handicap games, a two-stone handicap was placed in
diagonally opposite corners, for a three-stone handicap a
stone was added on the t'ien-yuan point, a
four-stone handicap was placed in the four corners, for a
five-stone handicap a stone was added on the
t'ien-yuan point, and so on, the handicap stones
always being placed in fixed positions. This greatly
reduced the variety in the game. What was the point of
that? Japan eliminated setup stones from even games, and
the Japanese practice has now become the world standard,
and improvement for which Japan deserves credit, but
unfortunately setup stones have not been universally
eliminated from handicap games. A principle of the SST
rules is that the move is unrestricted except for
invariation: a move can be played on any point that results
in variation. For example, self-removal of a group of
stones can be used as a ko threat, or in filling breathing
points: it always changes the position on the board, so why
should it be prohibited? All restrictions and prohibitions
that reduce the variety of the game are contrary to
wei-ch'i principles and must be revised.
(7) The law of conservation of territory requires that
breathing points be territory.We do not know what
counting system was used in China before the Han Dynasty
because no game records remain. Territory was denoted by
the word tao (way) in the Han Dynasty and the word
lu in the T'ang Dynasty, which are equivalent to
Japanese me; all three characters mean the same
thing. The traditional Chinese counting system did not
distinguish between stones and spaces, but required every
group to have two breathing points which were not counted
as territory, creating in effect a tax on groups: the
player with more groups had to give up one stone for every
excess group. Japan did not use this rule, but counted all
surrounded spaces as territory. It is to Japan's credit
that their practice has become the world standard. China
gradually abandoned the group tax under the influence of
games with strong Japanese players who visited Peking when
Wu Ch'ing-Yuan was a boy. I learned wei-ch'i at that time,
so I was painfully aware of the confusion of counting
systems. Older players demanded group tax. The younger
generation used a different system under which Black gave
up half a stone when he played last. This chaos of counting
systems is what impelled me to spend eighteen years
studying the rules of wei-ch'i.
History of Codification of the Rules of Wei-Ch'i
1 The Age of Verbal Rules has EndedFor four
thousand years wei'ch'i had no written rules, only verbal
rules that were passed down by word of mouth, mutually
understood, and tacitly accepted. Verbal rules concerning
basic matters like capturing and ko that occur in every
game can be clearly remembered, but players will be
perplexed by rare, unusual ko patterns such as eternal
life, triple ko, quadruple ko, and round-robin ko. Verbal
rules served for small, local tournaments or friendly games
between individuals. In the twentieth century, however,
Japan created a professional organization and newspapers
began to sponsor lengthy tournaments with large prizes, so
both the players and the general public became concerned
about whether the rules and regulations were fair and
reasonable. In the past decade the number of international
tournaments has rapidly increased. The age of verbal rules
has ended.
2 Wu Ch'ing-Yuan's (Go Seigen) Contributions to
Codification of the RulesThe world's first written
rules were the Laws of Go adopted by the Nihon Kiin on
October 2, 1949. these rules grew out of a problem that
occurred in 1948 in the first game of a ten-game match
between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Iwamoto Kaoru. (Dia. 1)
 
Diagram 1. Wu Ch'ing-Yuan vs. Iwamoto Kaoru. Diagram 2. Wu
Ch'ing-Yuan vs. Takagawa
As White, Iwamoto declined to play either A or B. Kaku. As
White, Wu declined to reinforce at A .
(Black gets a ko by playing at 1 , 2 , and 3 ,
but Black has no ko threats.)
At the end of the game Iwamoto neither captured at A nor
connected at B , saying that he did not need too because he
had more ko threats than White. This gained him a point.
The Nihon Kiin finally appealed to the highest authority in
the wei-ch'i world at the time, the 21st Honinbo Shusai,
Meijin. Holding that no reinforcement was required by the
player with more ko threats, Shusai ruled that Black did
not have to reinforce and White had won by one or two
points.
Japanese professional players were alarmed at this ruling.
They worried that in a similar occurrence in the future the
one-point difference might change the outcome of the game.
Thus professional players came to recognize the need for
written rules. The written rules adopted by the Nihon Kiin
required all direct kos to be reinforced, however,
differing from Honinbo Shusai's decision. Then in 1959
further trouble unexpectedly arose in the second game of a
three game match between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Takagawa Kaku.
(Dia.2)
At the end of the game, Takagawa called on Wu to obey the
fourth precedent in the Laws of Go and reinforce at A . Wu
refused, arguing that the rules could not make a player
reinforce; it was up to the player himself to decide if
reinforcement was necessary. Both sides held out in this
argument for several months, but Wu received no support, so
in the end he had to agree to reinforce. If he had not
reinforced he would have won by half a point. Reinforcing,
he lost by half a point. As a condition for agreeing, Wu
demanded that the Nihon Kiin revise its Laws of Go, but
thirty years have passed without the revision being
made.
3 This Precedent Reviewed in Light of the Ing
RulesIn the game between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Honinbo
Iwamoto, Iwamoto claimed that he did not have to connect
the final ko because he had more ko threats, but that was a
one-sided argument. Not connecting is unreasonable, as
proved by the absence of any recorded game, past or
present, in which a final ko was left open. The SST rule is
that a hot stone can be recaptured after an interval of one
pass play or one board play. No matter how many ko threats
Iwamoto had, Wu could always recapture the hot stone after
one pass play, so he would never run out of threats.
Iwamoto's supply of ko threats was finite; Wu's supply was
infinite. Under SST rules, when both sides pass the game
stops but does not end. To end the game there must be four
consecutive pass plays, two by each side.
In the game between Wu and Takagawa, Wu was right; it is up
to the player himself to decide whether to reinforce; this
is a question of skill, not a question of rules. It was
fundamentally illogical to have a rule determine when to
reinforce. How could such a rule be called reasonable? For
thirty years the Nihon Kiin has failed to come up with a
logical revision of the reinforcing rule. As Wu said, "It
can't be done."
Terminology
- 1 SST Laws: the complete SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i,
which are free of special rulings and produce almost no
drawn games. These laws were developed over a 16-year
period by Ing Chang-Ki, who devised the fill-in counting
system and the principle that the move is unrestricted
except for invariation in 1974, and added the division of
ko into fighting ko and disturbing ko in 1990.
2 Board and pass plays: Moves are classified as
board plays and pass plays.
3 Unrestricted except for invariation: A player
can play on any point that produces variation.
Traditional rules had many unnecessary restrictions,
including setup stones and forbidden moves, but lacked
necessary restrictions, as in ko annulment.
4 Contest for territory: Wei-ch'i is a contest for
territory. Territory has been defined in different ways
at different times. In the first period it was Chinese
lu, which became Korean hu and Japanese
me; all three characters mean "space." In the
second period, which began with the SST rules in 1974,
territory consists of points.
5 Board point: an intersection of horizontal and
vertical lines on the board. During the game stones are
played on board points. In fighting, board points become
breathing points. When the score is counted at the end of
the game, board points become points of territory.
6 Game: In wei-ch'i, competition takes place in
games; a single competition is a single game. A game is
the basic unit of competition; one game has one
outcome.
7 Move: also called play. There are board plays
and pass plays. A game starts with a board play and ends
with pass plays.
8 Board play: a play that changes the position on
the board and increases the number of moves played. The
only restriction on a board play is that it must not
cause invariation.
9. Pass play: a play that only increases the
number of moves played, without changing the position on
the board. Like a board play, a pass play is a move.
10 Ko removal after passing: Removal of a hot
stone is generally called ko removal. The ko rule states
that hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval
of one board play or pass play, so after each side passes
once, ko removal is naturally possible. Those who have
not studied the rules may think incorrectly that ko
removal is possible only after a ko threat has been made
and answered. See Dias. A3-A8.
11 Setup stone: In old Chinese game records both
even games and handicap games started from setup stones
instead of from an empty board. Japan eliminated setup
stones from even games and the whole world has done
likewise. Setup stones are still frequently used in
handicap games.
12 Forbidden point: Traditional rules forbid
self-removal.
13 Ko annulment: Annulment is a special Japanese
ruling. The SST rules have no special rulings at all.
14 Resignation: is indicated by placing two stones
on the go board.
15 Mandatory pass play: See Dia. A1.
16 Handicap game: traditionally played with setup
stones, but not in the SST laws. The SST handicap rule
conforms to the following three principles; (1) Black
first, White second; (2) one move at a time; (3)
unrestricted except for invariation. Traditional rules
violate these principles.
17 No points to contest; one-sided neutral points:
See Dia. A2.
18 Play pauses when each side passes once, making
two consecutive pass plays. If there is disagreement
about life and death, play can resume.
19 Play ends when each side passes twice, making
four consecutive pass plays. Play cannot resume for any
reason, so the game ends.
20 Breathing point: or "breath." A space next to a
stone in a life-and-death situation. For the different
types of breaths, see Dias. B11-B20.
21 Breathless: the state in which the breathing
points surrounding a stone or stones have all been
occupied, including internal breathing points.
22 Permanent breath: A group of stones with
permanent breaths is independently alive.
23 Balancing breath: A group of stones with
balancing breath is alive in coexistence.
24 Fighting breath: Stones with fighting breaths
are alive in ko.
25 Interchangeable breath: Stones with
interchangeable breaths are in a state of unalterable
life or death.
26 Unreal breath: Stones with unreal breaths are
dead.
27 Removal: Breathless stones are removed from the
board.
28 Life and death determined by removal: Whether
stones are alive or dead is determined by applying the
rule of removal.
29 Live and death determined by ruling: The
Japanese rules, which count spaces, cannot determine life
and death by removal, so they have special rulings about
life and death.
30 Ko prevents invariation: Endless removal gives
invariation through repetition of the same position or
recycling. The ko rule restricts removal in order to
prevent invariation.
31 Fighting and disturbing ko: A fighting ko
involves repetitive removal; immediate removal of hot
stones is prohibited. A disturbing ko involves cyclic
removal; the disturber is prohibited from recycling.
32 Ko stone: a stone that can be removed
repetitively or cyclically.
33 Single Ko stone: See Dia. C1.
34 Double ko stones: See Dia. C2.
35 Triple ko stones: See Dias. C3-C4.
36 Ko configuration: a position with ko stones;
see Dias. C5-C15.
37 Hot stone: a stone repeatedly contested by both
sides.
38 Single hot stone: See Dia. C5.
39 Double hot stone: See Dia. C6.
40 Twin hot stone: See Dia. C7-C8.
41 Disturber: a player who creates a disturbing ko
with no hot stones by cyclic removal, either by attacking
his opponent or by using a double ko.
42 Recycling: Cyclic removal is limited to one
cycle. In the second cycle and subsequent cycles every
move causes invariation; this is called recycling.
43 Stones and spaces are both territory; all stones
are filled in to count: the fill-in counting
procedure is the ultimate counting method, clearly
expressing the definition of territory as both stones and
spaces.
44 Bowls with measuring frames: necessary items
for fill-in counting, showing at a glance whether there
are 180 black and white stones without the need to count
the stones.
45 Winning space: a space left when a player's
stones have all been filled into that player's
territory.
46 Losing stone: a stone left when a player's
stones cannot all be filled into that player's
territory.
47 Shared space: a space adjacent to both black
and white stones in coexistence, shared equally by both
sides. See Dia. D2
48 Compensation points: points given to the
opponent to equalize the game.
49 Time-difference penalty points: An SST rule
provides for time-difference penalty points. Ing timers
are necessary.
50 Difference value: The fill-in counting method
counts only the difference value, consisting of the
winning space, losing stones, compensation stones, and
penalty stones. Other filled-in black and white stones
need not be counted because they cancel out and do not
contribute to the difference.
Ing's SST Laws of Wei-ch'i
Chapter 1 Rules of Competition
Article 1: The move
Moves are board or pass plays. Moves are unrestricted
except for invariation.Wei-ch'i: Wei-ch'i is a
contest for points. The points gained, whether stones or
spaces, are called points of territory. The winner is the
side with more points of territory.
Game: In wei-ch'i, a single contest is called a
game. The game starts from an empty board. Black and White
play one move at a time, Black playing first and White
second. When the score is counted by filling in after the
end of the game, the winner is said to have won by
counting. When the score is not counted, the winner is said
to have won without counting.
Move: Moves, also called plays, are classified as
board plays and pass plays. A move must provide variation.
Moves not resulting in variation are prohibited, because if
such moves were to continue, the game would have to be
annulled. A board play changes the position on the board
and increases the number of moves played; a pass play only
increases the number of moves played. A game starts with a
board play and ends with pass plays.
Board Play: In these laws the move is
unrestricted except for invariation, so a board play can be
made on any point that does not cause invariation through
repetition of the same position or recycling. Self-removal
of a single stone, immediate removal of hot stones, and
recycling are prohibited because of invariation. Self
removal of a group of stones does not cause invariation so
it is not prohibited.
Pass Play: A player passes when resigning, in
which case play naturally stops. If one player passes but
does not resign, play continues. After the neutral points
have been filled, both players pass and play pauses. After
the dead stones have been taken away, both players pass
again and play ends.
Article 2: Removal
Breathless stones are removed. Determine life and death by
identifying breath types.Breathless: Spaces
next to stones in a life-or-death situation are called
breathing points, or breaths. These laws classify breaths
according to life and death: permanent breaths for
independent life, balancing breaths for coexistence, unreal
breaths for non-life, fighting breaths for ko life, and
interchangable breaths for disturbances that do not alter
life and death. Stones that have lost all their unreal
breaths are said to be breathless.
Removal: Breathless stones are taken off the
board by the player who eliminated their last breath,
whether the stones belong to that player or his opponent.
This is called removal. When the stones of both sides
become breathless simultaneously, the player removes his
opponent's stones. Removals that would cause invariation
are subject to restriction; to prevent invariation, they
are played out as ko, divided into fighting ko and
disturbing ko.
Life and Death: Stones live or die according to
whether they can be removed. Stones that can be removed are
dead; stones that cannot be removed are alive. These are
the only crieria for life and death. Disputes about taking
away dead stones cannot be settled by special rulings.
Article 3: Ko
Ko prevents invariation. Ko is classified as fighting or
disturbing.Ko stones: Stones that can be
repeatedly or cyclically removed are called ko stones.
There are three types: single ko stones, double ko stones,
and triple ko stones.
Ko position: A position including ko stones is
called a ko position. These laws divide ko positions into
fighting and disturbing ko. Every ko position must have an
outcome; the game must not end without result.
Fighting ko: When life and death are not settled,
repeated fighting for breaths is called a fighting ko. The
ko stones in the repeating fight are called hot stones. Hot
stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one
board play or pass play.
Hot stones: A single ko stone that has removed a
stone in a single ko becomes a single hot stone. When one
stone is added to another to make double ko stones in an
eternal life position, these become double hot stones. In a
triple ko, besides the single hot stone there is another
single or double ko stone; these are also regarded as hot
stones, called twin hot stones. Twin hotstones are thus
used in triple ko, which was left unresolved by traditional
ko rules.
Disturbing ko: When life and death are settled,
recycling of interchangable breaths is called a disturbing
ko. The player who starts a disturbing ko is called the
disturber. By attacking his opponent or using a double ko,
the disturber creates a disturbing ko with no hot stones.
After one cycle, the disturber is never allowed to continue
disturbing.
Article 4: Counting
Stones and spaces are both territory. All stones are
filled in to count.Criteria: The counting
criteria in these laws are that stones and spaces are both
territory. The sum of the points in both sides' territory
is always the total number of points on the board, and the
difference is the margin of victory.
Procedure: The counting procedure given by these
laws fills in all stones without moving any stones in the
original configuration, making the score clear at a glance.
Fill-in counting is done using bowls with Ing's measuring
frames.
Filling in: After both players have filled in
their stones, any remaining spaces are called winning
spaces and any remaining stones are called losing stones.
Spaces adjacent to both black and white stones in
coexistence are called shared spaces; each player fills
half of them. If there is only one shared space, neither
player can fill it.
Positioning: Winning spaces are positioned in a
corner, or on a side if no corner is available. Losing
stones are filled into the opponents winning spaces. For
compensation points and time difference penalty points, one
stone for every two points is filled into a separate area
near the winning or shared space.
Counting: The score of the game is the difference
value. The difference value includes one point for the
winning space and two points for each losing stone,
compensation stone, and penalty stone. A game with no
difference is a draw, both sides having equal amounts of
territory.
Chapter 2 Tournament Rules
Article 5: Tournament agreementTournament
agreement: An agreement to hold a tournament is
referred to as a tournament agreement or tournament
contract. The agreement should stipulate: (1) the name of
the tournament, (2) the object of the tournament, (3)
qualifications for entry, (4) the entry deadline, (5) the
rules, (6) handicap conditions, (7) time limits for games,
(8) penalties, (9) required conduct, and (10) rights and
duties. In a formal tournament the sponsors, together with
cooperating organizations, or individuals must determine
the tournament agreement beforehand, the players must abide
by it, and the referee must enforce it.
Game arrangement: Tournament games should normally
be played under standard conditions, with two players and
one board. However, tournaments may also be played under
the pair system with two players playing alternately on
each side, or the consultation system with two or more
players consulting on each side. Tournaments can also be
played using telecommunications equipment such as facsimile
machines or computers instead of having players face each
other across the board.
Tournament system: The tournament system must be
clearly stated in the tournament agreement. The tournament
should follow a system suitable for its purpose, number of
contestants, and duration. Possibilities include single
elimination, multiple elimination, round-robin, team
elimination, the Ing system, a ten-game match, and so on.
The number of games and the schedule should be decided in
detail. Scoring: In an elimination or round-robin
tournament, standings are determined by primary and
secondary scores. Primary scores are equal to the number of
wins: a player get one point per won game. When players are
tied on primary scores, the tie is broken by secondary
scores. There are four types of secondary scores: A1, A2,
B1, and B2. A1 is the sum of defeated opponents' primary
scores. A2 is the sum of other opponents' primary scores.
B1 is the sum of defeated opponents' secondary scores. B2
is the sum of the other opponents' secondary scores. Ties
on primary scores are broken by comparing A1, ties on A1
are broken by comparing A2, and so on.
Article 6: HandicapsHandicap: Differences
between players' strengths are adjusted by three methods of
handicapping: compensation points, taking black, and
handicap plays. The handicapping system uses one or more of
these methods to equalize the players' chances of winning
the game. Games played under the handicapping system are
said to be handicapped. Other games are said to be
unhandicapped.
Ranks: The SST ranks are ping, tuan, and chi.
Professional players have ping ranks, running from 1 (high)
to 9 (low). The difference per ping is 1/4 play or two
points. Strong amateurs have tuan ranks, running from 9
(high) to 1(low). The difference per yuan is 1/2 play or
four points. Players weaker than 1 tuan have chi ranks
running from 1 (high) to 9 (low). Players weaker than 9 chi
are not ranked. Each organization may, according to methods
they stipulate, determine their own players' ranks and
certify such ranks for use in tournaments. They may also
retract certification of a player who obstructs a
tournament in violation of the spirit of the competition. A
chart of the ping, tuan, and chi rankings is appended on a
later page.
Compensation points: Compensation points are now
universally used to equalize games in which the difference
between the players' strengths is a fraction of a play, or
a whole number of plays plus a fraction. Although it has
existed for less than a century, this system has completely
replaced the outdated system of equalization over a series
of games. Game statistics show that Black's advantage in
playing first is worth 16 points of territory. In a single
even game (zero-play handicap) it is not possible to give
each player black an equal number of times, so black gives
white eight points of territory, which is half the
advantage of playing first. The win rate then approaches 50
percent. This system is referred to as eight-point
compensation in even games. For draws, a practical rule is
to award the game to black.
Choosing colors: In an even game, colors are chosen
as follows. The older player takes a handful of white
stones and his opponent guesses even or odd. If he guesses
correctly, he can choose black or white. Otherwise, the
older player chooses black or white.
Handicap plays: When the differenc in strength
between the two players is two plays or more, handicap
plays are used. The game is said to be a handicap-play
game. In a one-play handicap, for example, Black makes a
board play anywhere, White makes a mandatory pass play,
then Black makes another board play anywhere. The size of
the handicap is one less than the number of (N) of initial
board plays by Black. Changing the traditional handicap
stones to handicap plays conforms to the following
principles: (1) Black first, White second; (2) one move at
a time; (3) the move is unrestricted except for
invariation. Handicap stones violate the standard rules for
the move because (1) White plays first and Black second,
(more than one move is played at a time, and (3) setup
stones are required, instead of letting moves be
unrestricted except for invariation.
Article 7: Time limitsTime limits: The time
limit for a game includes all time used for thinking,
playing, removing stones, and so on. The time limit is
divided into basic time and additional time. Even in major
tournaments, games should be completed in one day. At lunch
or dinner, or when a game lasts more than five hours, the
players can ask for a short break.
Basic time: Basic time (BT) is the time allotted to
each player at the beginning of the game. In a game with
time-difference penalty points, if a player does not use
all his basic time, the remaining time is not considered in
determining the time difference.
Additional time: When a player uses up his basic
time, he may receive additional time in one of two forms:
penalty points (PP) or second reading (RS).
(1) Penalty points (PP): The penalty for exceeding the
basic time limit is two points. The penalty for using
additional time in excess of 1/6 the basic time is another
two points, making four points in all. The penalty for
using additional time in excess of 2/6 the basic time limit
is another two points, making six points in all. A player
who uses additional time in excess of half the basic time
limit forfeits the game. If both players are penalized,
opposing penalty points cancel, but the first player whose
additional time reaches 3/6 the basics time limit still
loses by forfeit.
(2) Second reading (RS): When a player uses up his basic
time limit he is allowed to exceed a certain number of
seconds per move a certain number of times before
forfeiting.
The PP and RS systems are built into Ing's electronic
wei-ch'i timer. The system used should be specified in the
tournament agreement.
Article 8: PenaltiesLateness: When a player
is late for a game, twice the amount of time by which he is
late is deducted from his basic time limit.
Unpenalized mistakes: The following are not
penalized.
(1) Mistaken pass: If a player makes a pass play when a
point could still be made by a board play, thus failing to
make a possible board play, he loses his turn, but is not
penalized. If both players overlook the final neutral point
and it is discovered during the fill-in procedure, since
the game has ended and play cannot resume, the point is
left as a shared space. There is no penalty.
(2) Mistaken removal: Double hot stones and twin hot stones
were first introduced by these laws. They rarely occur in
actual play and are not familiar to all players, so in
repetitive or cyclic positions a stone may be removed by
mistake. When this is noticed by one or both players or is
called to their attention by the referee, parity of moves
is restored, then play continues according to the rules
with no penalty.
Forfeiture: In the cases listed below, after the
occurrence is confirmed by the referee, the offending
player forfeits the game.
(1) Failure to appear: a player fails to appear within his
time limit.
(2) Abandonment: a player is unable to continue and
abandons the game midway through.
(3) Retraction of a play: a player changes a play after
making it.
(4) Excessive time: a player exceeds the stipulated time
limit.
(5) Defiance: a player refuses to accept the referee's
decision.
Suspension: If a player fails to appear or requests
absence more than a stipulated number of times, he is
barred from further participation in the tournament and
forfeits his remaining games.
Disqualification: A player who intentionally
violates the rules or obstructs the progress of the
tournament is barred from further participation and
disqualified from entering the tournament for a period of
years. Extreme violations are punishable by depriving the
player of his rank certificatiion, so that he loses his
basic qualification for tournament participation.
Article 9: ConductCorrect conduct: By
correct conduct the players show mutual respect, uphold the
dignity and character of wei-ch'i, and enable the game to
proceed smoothly.
(1) Manners: Before the game, the younger player should
clean the board with a soft cloth to show respect for the
cleanlienss of the equipment. During the game the players
should be neat and tidy in dress. For international games
players should wear western clothes.
(2) Deportment: During the game the players should maintain
good posture and concentrate fully on the game. They should
handle the stones properly and gracefully.
Passing: Indicating a pass play is an important part
of the conduct of the game.
(1) Resigning: When a player is losing, can see no way to
win, and resigns by making a pass play, he should place two
stones on the board to indicate that he has resigned. With
the increasing number of international games, players often
cannot speak each others' languages, so a method of
indicating pass plays is increasingly important.
(2) Other pass plays: When a player makes a mandatory pass
play or passes because he has no points to contest, he
should place one stone beside the board, or indicate by
other appropriate means that he passes.
Improper conduct: Improper conduct that causes
annoyance to the other player during the game is
impolite.
(1)Disturbances: When playing a stone the player should not
obstruct his opponent's view by moving the stone over the
board. A player should not disturb his opponent while
thinking by rattling stones in the board or tapping them on
the table.
(2) Bad habits: A player should not hold a supply of stones
in his hand, or hold a stone between thumb and forefinger
when playing it. When returning stones that have been
removed, lobbing them in the general direction of the
opponent's bowl is uncouth.
Counting: When using the fill-in counting system and
measuring bowls, the player should observe the following
customs:
(1) Verification of the stones: Before the start of the
game, the players should use the measuring frame to verify
the number of stones, and correct any deficiencies.
(2) Location of stones: During the game, there should be no
stones except the live and dead stones on the board,
unplayed stones in the bowls, and removed stones in their
designated containers.
(3) Putting the stones away: After counting by the fill-in
method, each player should replace his own stones in their
bowls and check that there are 180 to confirm that the game
was counted correctly. If the outcome was close, the loser
can ask the referee to supervise the putting away of the
stones. If there is no referee, the loser has the right to
put away both the black and white stones, and the winner
cannot object.
(4) Filling in territory: In counting, the stones should be
filled in one at a time, or at most two at a time. If a
stone is inadvertently dropped on the board and the other
stones moved, the original position must be restored and
the opponent's confirmation obtained before the dropped
stone is retrieved. A player cannot arbitrarily restore the
original position by himself.
Article 10: DutiesReferee: The referee may
also be referred to as the tournament director. In a large
tournament with two or more referees, one referee should be
appointed chief referee. A referee's duties are to enforce
the tournament rules and rule on matters not prescribed in
them, answer the players' questions and warn them about
improper conduct, take charge of the sealed play, and in
general keep order at the tournament. He has absolute
authority to decide about violations of the rules and issue
warnings about conduct; the players must abide by his
decisions and warnings. If they do not, the referee should
report this to the tournament sponsors and a strict penalty
should be applied.
Recorder: A recorder's duty is to record the plays
on a diagram of the wei-ch'i board, using odd Arabic
numbers for Black's plays and even ones for White's. Pass
plays should be numbered and recorded. If a pass play is
not followed by a board play, however, the pass play should
not be recorded as part of the sequence of plays. The same
number must not appear twice in the game record. If there
is no recorder but a game record is required, the winner
should record the game after it is finished and the loser
should sign the game record.
Timekeeper: A timekeeper's duties are to record the
time used by both players, using a tournament clock, to
inform a player when he is about to run out of basic time
or additional time, and to perform or supervise the reading
out of seconds when the second reading system is used. If
there is no timekeeper, the recorder must perform these
duties. If there is no recorder either, the players must
keep the time by operating the tournament clock themselves.
Even when a timekeeper is present, if the players are
accustomed to operating the tournament clock themselves
they have the right to do so, instead of letting the
timekeeper operate the clock. The tournament clock is
placed at White's right. The players must play stones and
press the clock with the same hand.
Courier: When a commentary is given on a large
public board, a courier should be appointed, whose duty is
to place the plays recorded by the recorder in their
correct positions on the public board. If the game is
monitored by a television camera, however, a courier is not
needed.
Chapter 3 Equipment Specifications
Article 11: The boardLines: The board is
marked with nineteen vertical lines spaced 2.21 cm apart
and nineteen horizontal lines spaced 2.36 cm apart. The
vertical lines are identified from left to right by Roman
letters from A to T, skipping I. The horizontal lines are
numbered 1 to 19 from bottom to top. The board should
measure 45 cm vertically, 42 cm horizontally, and at least
2.5 cm in thickness. Besides the standard 19 X 19 board,
smaller boards can be used for teaching wei-ch'i to
beginners or for short informal games. There are five
sizes: 17 X 17 = 289, 15 X 15 = 225, 13 X 13 = 169, 11 X 11
= 121, and 9 X 9 = 81.
Points: The intersections of the horizontal and
vertical lines are called "points." The number of points is
the square of the number of lines: 19 X 19 = 361. the nine
points at which lines D, K, and Q intersect lines 4, 10,
and 16 are marked with small dots to aid in judging
distance on the board, and are called star points. The
center star point is called t'ien-yuan.
Stones are played on the points at the intersections of the
horizontal and vertical lines. The points are then called
points of play. Points are also the basic unit of counting
territory and determining the margin of victory. The points
are then called points of territory.
The 361 points are designated by the letters and numbers of
their lines: A, B, C, ..., T from left to right and 1, 2,
3, ..., 19 from bottom to top. The letter is given first,
the number second. The center t'ien-yuan point is
K10, the top left corner point is A19, the bottom left
corner point is A1, the top right corner point is T19, and
the bottom right corner point is T1.
Diagram 3. Wei-ch'i board, showing numbering
and lettering of lines and a Black stone at R16.
Article 12: The stonesStandards: The stones
should be disc-shaped and of two colors, black and white.
Each stones should be 2.18 cm in diameter, and 1.05 cm
thick at the center. The standard grade of stones is 6.5 g
in weight.
Number of stones: The number of stones of each
color should be half the number of points on the board
minus one. For a standard 19-line wei-ch'i board with 361
points, there should be 180 black and 180 white stones.
Article 13: The bowlsMeasuring frame: The
measuring frame is a device for checking the number of
stones. There are three types: removable, retractable, and
collapsible. The removable frame is circular and has 19
holes, of which the center hole holds nine spare stones and
the other 18 holes hold ten stones each. The retractable
and collapsible frames are hexagonal and have 37 holes, of
which the center hole holds spare stones and the other 36
holes hold five stones each. These frames fit inside the
bowls. When the fill-in counting system is used, bowls with
measuring frames are indispensable.
Bowls: The bowls are containers for the stones
and are of two types: circular and hexagonal. The black and
white stones are kept in separate bowls. The bowls should
have removable lids that can be turned upside down to hold
removed stones. The bowls should contain measuring frames
so that the number of stones can be checked at a glance
without having to count. Bowls with measuring frames are
necessary implements for keeping the set of stones complete
and for using the scientific fill-in counting method.
Article 14: The desk and tableDesk: The
desk is 70 cm high, 66.6 cm long, 1 m wide (with a single
board) or 2 m wide (with dual boards), and can be used as
an ordinary rectangular desk. When a spring is pressed, the
top can be rotated to interchange surfaces and present a
board for playing or studying wei-ch'i. Panels beside the
board slide into racks to reveal containers with
retractable measuring frames and space for Ing's electronic
wei-ch'i timer. Desks of this type are suitable for halls
accommodating 100 people or more.
Table: The table is 65 cm high, 60 cm long, and
55 cm wide and resembles a square tea table. Ordinarily it
can be used as an elegant item of furniture. A spring latch
opens the semicircular drawers. Another spring latch
enables the top to be rotated, presenting a board for
playing or studying wei-ch'i. The board locks into place
automatically. The drawers have built-in containers with
retractable measuring frames. Tables of this type are
suitable for use in the living room of a house.
Explanatory Diagrams for Ing's SST Laws of
Wei-Ch'i
Section A: Pass play restrictions and
effectsPassing is not the same as relinquishing one's
turn. A pass play is subject to definite restrictions;
relinquishing one's turn is not. "Pass play" is a technical
term in the laws of wei-ch'i; relinquishing one's turn is a
non-technical expression.
A pass play can occur only when mandatory, when a player
has no points to contest, or when a player resigns.
1. In a handicap game, one player makes mandatory pass
plays.
Diagram A1. Moves 2 and 4 are mandatory
passes by White in a two-play handicap
2. A player may pass because he is unable to contest
one-sided neutral points.
Diagram A2. Pass plays due to incontestable
one-sided neutral points. White passes at
moves 2, 4, and 6. Black 3 at A .
3. When one player makes a pass play, his opponent may
continue playing, as in Dias. A1 and A2.
4. When both players make one pass play each in
succession, play pauses. After two successive passes,
however, ko removal is allowed because of the intervening
pass play, and if there is a disagreement about life and
death when the dead stones are being taken away, play must
continue. Play therefore pauses after two pass plays, but
does not end. See dias. A3 to A8.
Example of ko removal after an intervening pass play.
(5x5 board.)
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Diagram A3. Black to play. Is the game over? Which
stones are dead? |
Diagram A4. White 4 is a pass. Mutual attacking
with board plays. |
Diagram A5. Mutual attacking continues. |
Diagram A6. Result: All black stones die. |
After two pass plays the game pauses, but there is
disagreement about life and death. The intervening pass
plays permit ko removal. The game ends with four pass
plays.
 |
 |
| Diagram A7. White 4 is a pass. Suppose Black
answers with another pass; what is the result? |
Diagram A8. Ko removal is allowed after a pass
play; all black stones die. |
5. After taking away the dead stones each player makes
one more pass play, ending the game with no further
possible disagreement.
Moves must provide variation: moves not resulting in
variation are prohibited: all other moves are
allowed.
For a board play, a player can select any point except a
point that would cause invariation. The move is said to be
unrestricted except for invariation. In ordinary language,
invariation means: (1) self-removal of a single stone,
which is the same as not playing; or (2) playing the same
moves over and over, by repeating the same board position
or recycling, in a fighting ko or disturbing ko. If the
move were completely unrestricted, repetitive or cyclic
removal would continue forever, causing invariation.
1. Self-removal of a single stone is prohibited as
invariation.
Diagram A9. Self-removal of a
single stone: prohibited as invariation
2. Self-removal of a group of stones.
Self-removal of a group of stones is not prohibited
because it does not cause invariation. Self-removal of a
group of stones can create variations that have never been
seen before. The more variety there is in wei-ch'i, the
better; rules that prohibit variation are illogical.
     
Diagrams A10, A11, A12, A13, A14, and A15. In the Diagrams,
White has ko threats at the key points marked X.
Self-removal can be used to fill an opponent's breathing
points.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Diagram A16. Starting position. |
Diagram A17. Self-removal. |
Diagram A18. After removal. |
Diagram A19. Coexistence. |
The principle that the move is unrestricted except for
invariation is the most important principle in Ing's rules.
Invariation, through repetition of the same position or
recycling, prevents the game from ending. Invariation must
therefore be prohibited, but other restrictions are
unnecessary. Unnecessary restrictions are bad rules because
the reduce the variety of the game. Traditional Chinese
rules had two unnecessary restrictions: (1) setup stones, a
completely uncalled-for restriction that greatly reduced
the variety of both even games and handicap games; and (2)
the rule forbidding self-removal of a group of stones
despite the presence of variation, another obviously
unnecessary restriction that reduces the variety of the
game. The more variety there is in wei-ch'i, the better;
the rule that the move is unrestricted except for
invariation abolished unnecessary restrictions and adds
variations that could not have appeared under traditional
rules. In past centuries, the Japanese rules have made two
major contributions to wei-ch'i: (1) The elimination of
setup stones from even games greatly increased the variety
in the game. Unfortunately, setup stones have still not
been eliminated from handicap games. Setup stones may
simplify handicap games for White, but the sooner they are
abolished, the better. (2) The elimination of "group tax"
led to new three-three point variations in the corner. When
a player invades at the three-three point, the group tax
costs him about four points, so in old Chinese game records
there were very few three-three point invasions early in
the game.
Section B: Life and death are determined by removal,
without exception; example of bent four in the
cornerStones live or die according to whether or not
they can be removed: stones that can be removed are dead;
stones that cannot be removed are alive. There are no
exceptions whatsoever to this rule that life and death are
determined by removal. This standard for life and death is
objective, reasonable, and fair, and leaves no room for
argument. Conditions under which bent four in the corner
lives and dies are shown next.
   
Diagram B1. Diagram B2. Diagram B3. Diagram B4.
Basic pattern. Killing ko sequence, Killing ko sequence,
Killing ko sequence,
moves 1 and 2. moves 3 and 4. move 5.
Diagrams B5 and B6. Basic pattern variations.
Life or death of bent four in the corner is closely
related to the whole board.
   
Diagram B7. Diagram B8. Diagram B9. Diagram B10.
No ko threat: death. Large ko threat: life. Small ko
threat: First player wins.
exchange.
Five type and eight patterns of breathing points
Spaces adjacent to stones in a life-or-death situation are
called breathing points, or breaths. For stones, life is
breath: stones live with breathing points and die without
them. Breathing points can be classified into five types
according to life and death: (1) permanent breaths for
independent life, (2) balancing breaths for coexistence,
(3) fighting breaths for ko life, (4) interchangeable
breaths for disturbances that do not alter life and death,
and (5) unreal breaths for non-life.
There are eight breath patterns, Permanent and balancing
breaths occur in life, and there are always at least two.
Without two breathing points, stones die; their breath is
unreal. There are four basic breath patterns: (1) territory
breaths and (2) eye breaths are always permanent breaths;
(3) shared breaths and (4) ko breaths are always balanced
breaths.
   
Diagram B11. Diagram B12. Diagram B13. Diagram B14.
Territory breaths. Eye breaths. Shared breaths. Ko
breaths.
There are also three combined patterns involving balancing
breaths, and one compound pattern of unreal breaths: (5)
shared and eye breaths; (6) shared and ko breaths; (7) eye
and ko breaths; and (8) compound unreal breaths. In the
last of these patterns, a general unreal breath is paired
with an eye or ko breath in such a way that there can never
be two eye or ko breaths. For fighting and interchangeable
breaths, see Section C.
 
Diagram B15. Diagram B16.
Shared and eye Eye and ko breaths:
breaths. variation.
Note: Variation B16 was discovered by the Japanese rules
theorist Kaise Takaaki. The three black stones and three
white stones are actually one eye each.
   
Diagram B17. Diagram B18. Diagram B19. Diagram B20.
Shared and ko breaths. Eye and ko breaths. Unreal breaths.
Compound pattern
of unreal breaths.
Section C: The fighting/disturbing ko distinction; the
game has an outcomeWhen two opposing groups are locked
together in the tiger's-mouth shape, the stones in the
opposing side's mouth can be repetitively or cyclically
removed, so these stones are called ko stones. There are
three types of ko stones: single, double, and triple.
Repetitive removal occurs in fighting ko. Cyclic removal
occurs in disturbing ko. If not restricted by rules, both
repetitive and cyclic removal lead to invariation,
obstructing the end of the game so that the game has to be
annulled. If the hot stones in a fighting ko could be
removed immediately, removal would follow removal without
end, neither side willing to give in, causing invariation.
The fighting ko rule accordingly states that hot stones
cannot be removed until after an interval of one board play
or pass play. Invariation is thus prohibited; other moves
are unrestricted.
In addition to the removal of hot stones in a fighting ko,
recycling in a disturbing ko can also continue endlessly,
causing invariation. The disturbing ko rule accordingly
states that after one cycle, the disturber is never allowed
to continue disturbing. Disturbance of the game is limited
to one cycle; after the first cycle, further disturbance
constitutes recycling. Immediate removal of hot stones in a
fighting ko and recycling in a disturbing ko must both be
prohibited as causing invariation; otherwise we will never
be rid of the annulments found in the Japanese rules.
   
Diagram C1. Diagram C2. Diagram C3. Diagram C4.
Single ko stone. Double ko stones. Triple ko stones Triple
ko stones
in actual play, I in actual play, II.
In the example of "triple ko stones in actual play", White
2 and Black 7 are game-disturbing moves that use ko threats
cyclically. This must be prohibited.
The next four examples illustrate fighting ko with three
types of hot stones: single, double, and twin. Single and
triple ko are shown.
   
Diagram C5. Diagram C6. Diagram C7. Diagram C8.
Single hot Double hot Twin hot Twin hot
stone: B1. stones: B1 stones: B1 stones: B1
and triangle. and triangle. and triangles.
The next four examples illustrate disturbing ko, showing
disturbed life. In disturbed life, one side attempts to
kill the other side's live stones or coexistence
stones.
   
Diagram C9. Diagram C10. Diagram C11. Diagram C12.
Sending two and Quadruple ko: Triple ko with Double ko
stones:
returning one. coexistence with an eye: coexist-
coexistence with
Disturbed life balanced breaths. ence with balanced
balanced breaths.
in which Black 1 Disturbed life in breaths. Disturbed
Disturbed life in
is the disturber. which either can life in which Black
which either side
be the disturber. can be the disturber. can be the
disturber.
The next three examples also illustrate disturbing ko,
showing disturbed death. In disturbed death, a player
disturbs his own dead stones.
 
Diagram C13. String ko: moonshine life. Diagram C14. Triple
ko with an eye:
White is the disturber, using the double disturbed death.
White cannot connect
ko in the bottom right. the ko. White is the disturber.
Diagram C15. Disturbed death with two separate
double kos: invariation. Black is the disturber. Recycling
is
prohibited, so Black is dead.
Section D: Stones and spaces are both territory; spaces
belong to their boundaryAfter the dead stones have
been taken away at the end of the game, all that remains
are (1) Black's live stones, (2) White's live stones, and
(3) spaces on the board. The sum of these three entities is
necessarily equal to the total number of points on the
board. Since stones and spaces are both territory, every
point on the board is territory. Every point is counted;
not one of the 361 points on the board is left uncounted;
all are territory. The boundaries of the territory are
determined by living stones; spaces form territory within
the boundaries. If the boundary is all black, the spaces
are black; if the boundary is all white, the spaces are
white; if the boundary is both black and white, the spaces
are shared. See Dias. D1 and D2.
 
Diagram D1. Diagram D2.
Black spaces Shared spaces.
and white space.
When there is a coexistence position on the board, the
breathing points shared by both sides form spaces with
boundaries made up of both black and white stones. These
are called shared spaces; they are shared equally between
the two sides.
Section E: Explanation of the fill-in counting
procedure(1) Introduction: Fill-in counting is
the only procedure that works perfectly with counting both
stones and spaces as territory. Applying the principle of
using stones to measure territory, it derives the unknown
difference in territory from the known total number of
stones. At the end of the game, all 360 stones are filled
into the 361 points, leaving one winning space, or if not a
winning space, then a shared space. When there is only one
shared space, it cannot be filled in, but when there are
two or more shared spaces, each side fills half of
them.
The advantages of fill-in counting are: (1) the
configuration on the whole board is left undisturbed, and
(2) the margin of victory is clear at a glance. Fill-in
counting also produces an aesthetically pleasing apperance
and keeps the set of stones complete. This scientific
counting procedure was introduced by the SST rules.
Extensive experience has shown that fill-in counting takes
one minute at the fastest, two minutes on the average, and
three minutes at the slowest.
(2) Difference value: The difference value has
two components:
1. Stones filled into spaces of the other color: losing
stones, compensation stones, and penalty stones.
2. A space that is left over or cannot be filled in: a
winning space or a shared space.
The combination of stones and spaces in the difference
value gives the margin of victory in the game. There are
four possible combinations:
1. Winning space
2. Winning space and losing stones
3. Shared space
4. Shared space and losing stones.
Combinations of 1 and 2 account for 99.5 percent of all
cases.
(3) Step size: Under SST rules, the margin of
victory changes in steps of two points. In the total 361
points, if one side gains one point then the other side
must lose one point; the combination of plus one and minus
one gives a difference of two points. When the score is
adjusted by compensation points or time-difference penalty
points, the unit of adjustment is therfore two points; the
score cannot be adjust by an odd number of points. (1) In a
game with no shared space, the margin of victory is odd.
(2) In a game with a shared space the margin of victory is
even.
(4) Positioning: The stones and spaces of the
difference value are located in definite positions. Winning
spaces are positioned in the corner of the largest
territory, or on a side if no corner is available. Losing
strones are positioned on a side, adjacent to the winning
space if one remains, or near the shared space if no
winning space remains. Compensation stones and penalty
stones are filled into seprate areas (as close as possible
to the winning or shared space). The margin of victory is
then clear at a glance.
 
Diagram E1. Winning space and eight point Diagram E2.
Winning space and losing stones
compensation: Black wins by one point. with eight point
compensation: Black wins by five points.
 
Diagram E3. Shared space with no compensation: Diagram E4.
Shared space and one losing stone
draw. with no compensation: Black wins by two points.
Diagrams Illustrating the Three Principles of the Law
of Wei-Ch'i
(1) Moves are unrestricted except for invariation.
(2) Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing.
(3) All stones are filled in to count.Breathless stones are removed. Life and death are
determined by removal.
   
Removing a Self-removal as Self-removal to Breathless
breathless stones a ko threat. gain coexistence.
simultaneously.
proves clearly The opponent's
that it is dead. stones are removed.
Ko prevents invariation. Fighting ko Hot
stones
   
Single ko with a Single ko with Triple ko with Triple ko
with
single ko stone double ko stones. a single ko stone. single
and double
ko stones.
Ko prevents invariation. Disturbing ko
Disturbed life
   
Sending two and Triple ko with Quadruple ko: Double ko:
returning one: an eye: single single ko stone. double ko
stones.
single and double ko stone. Either side Either side
ko stones. Black is the disturber can be the disturber. can
be the disturber.
Black is the disturber
Ko prevents invariation. Disturbing ko
Disturbed death
  
Disturbed death: Disturbed death: Disturbed death: two
moonshine life triple ko with separate groups with
eyes.
White is the disturber. an eye. White is Black is the
disturber.
the disturber.
Stones and spaces are both
territory.
All stones are filled in to count.
 
Stones and spaces Black gives four points
are both territory. compensation and wins
by one point.
Diagram of the Ping-Tuan-Chi Rating Scale
Scale Comparison
Ing Symbols for Tournament Results
|
^Won |
^Draw |
^Lost |
|
'Uncon- |
'By com- |
'By for- |
'Uncon- |
'By com- |
'By for- |
|
'dition- |
'pensa- |
'feit |
|
'dition- |
'pensa- |
'feit |
|
'ally |
'tion |
|
|
'ally |
'tion |
|
| 'Black |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
| 'White |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
[A gofig INSET WAS HERE] |
Ing Tournament System
- (diagram omitted)
1. This chart shows a tournament to select three winners
from sixteen particiapants. A player gets in (leaves the
tournament as a winner) when he wins four more games than
he has lost. For other numbers of participants or desired
winners, the in and out lines can be adjusted.
2. Pairings are made by closest number on the same line,
except that, if possible, the same two players should not
meet twice in the same tournament.
3. Winners move up one line.
4. A box around a number indicates that it was borrowed
from a different line to pair an odd number of players.
Summary of the Ing's Rules
Moves are board or pass plays.
Moves are unrestricted except for invariation.
Breathless stones are removed.
Life and death are determined by removal.
Ko prevents invaritation.
Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing.
Stones and spaces are both territory.
All stones are filled in to count.
Ing Chang-Ki Wei-Ch'i Educational Foundation
4F, No. 35, Kuan Fu S. Rd.,
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel:886-2-7614117
Fax:886-2-7686940
|
