THE RULES OF GO
Black goes first. Take turns placing one stone. To capture territory, surround it.
There you have it! No aribtrary addenda, no complex conventions to memorize. The above thirteen words state the object of go, and the only "rule".
Before attempting to play, you should spend a few moments learning the customs and traditions the Go players follow, such as komi -- compensation for the advantage of making the first move -- and special situations like ko and seki. Here are three ways to learn what you need to know:
Video: View a lively
15-minute film produced by American Ing Goe:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Online Tutor: Click here for an interactive online tutorial by Hioki Mori.
Booklet: Click here to download and print out The Way To Go, Karl Baker's classic introductory handbook.
Arcana: Although you can learn everything you need to know to play through the above links, you can also delve deeply into questions regarding the superiority of at least six separate rule sets. Like the metric and avoirdupois systems, these rules are mutually exclusive, but each gets the job done. For those interested more, click here.