Baduk First Step.

Before your first move

From a single stone,
to the end of a game.

You do not need to memorize difficult moves at the start. First notice how stones connect, the empty points where they breathe, and each player's territory. Then finish a game on a small board.

01 · Placing stones

Play where the lines meet, not inside the squares

Black and White take turns placing one stone at a time. Black plays first in an even game. Place stones on empty intersections of horizontal and vertical lines. Once placed, a stone does not move to another point.

Stones of the same color connected horizontally or vertically along the lines form one group. Diagonally adjacent stones are not connected yet. In your first practice, get used to counting them as separate groups.

Try it on the board In the game, go to ‘Learn → First steps → Try placing stones’ and tap an empty intersection. If accurate placement is difficult, turn on move confirmation in the ‘Play’ settings.

02 · Liberties and capturing

Count the empty points beside your stones

Empty intersections directly touching a stone or connected group horizontally or vertically are called ‘liberties’. Diagonal empty points are not liberties. An empty point shared by two stones in the same group is counted only once.

A central black stone and its four libertiesA black stone sits in the center of a 5×5 board. The empty points directly above, right, below, and left are labeled 1 through 4. The diagonal points are not labeled.1234
The central black stone has four liberties. On an otherwise empty board, a stone on the side has three and a corner stone has two.

Fill all the liberties of an opposing group to remove it from the board. This is ‘capturing’. A group with only one liberty left is in ‘atari’, a warning that it can be captured next move.

Do not automatically run when you are in atari. Look for a move that actually increases your liberties: extend into open space, connect to another friendly group, or capture the attacking stones first.

Try it on the board Count the empty points in ‘Liberties — a stone's breathing spaces’, then try ‘Capturing — taking your opponent's stones’. If the capture fails, first check whether an empty liberty remains.

03 · Repetition and shortage of liberties

Not every empty point is a legal move

This game does not allow a move that leaves your group with no liberties. However, if that move first captures opposing stones and creates liberties, it is legal. That is why you need to check the result of a capture, even at a point that looks surrounded.

‘Ko’ is a repetition where, after one stone is captured, an immediate recapture would restore the previous position. You must play elsewhere before recapturing. To prevent longer repetitions too, Baduk First Step's practice engine rejects moves that recreate any earlier board position in the same game.

Reduce mistakes If a stone will not play, read the on-screen message first. It tells you whether the point is occupied, the move causes self-capture, or the position repeats. An illegal move does not use up your turn.

04 · Life and death

A roomy eye space is not the same as two eyes

An empty space surrounded by your stones is called an ‘eye’. If one fully connected group protects two independent real eyes, the opponent cannot fill both in a single move and cannot capture that group.

Two visible holes do not always mean two eyes. If some surrounding stones are disconnected or can be captured, an eye may be false. Check the connections and diagonal points around the eye, not just the empty point inside.

Start with ‘Two eyes mean life’ and ‘False eyes — how to recognize them’, in that order. Then read the life-and-death dojo explanations of why a point is vital. This helps you consider the opponent's replies as well as remembering shapes.

05 · Scoring

Practice finishing a game, as well as capturing

When you think no worthwhile moves remain, choose ‘Pass’. Two consecutive passes take this game to the scoring screen. You can also select ‘Count points (score)’ during practice.

On the scoring screen, tap stones that cannot live to mark them dead, then select ‘Confirm result’. The position estimate is only a guide; marking live stones dead changes the result. If useful moves remain, select ‘Keep playing’ to finish the board.

This game counts surrounded empty territory and captured stones, then adds White's komi. Komi compensates White for Black's first-move advantage; the default for an even game is 6.5 points. Tournaments and other services may use different scoring methods or komi, so follow their rules.

Review once After the game, use the record's previous- and next-move buttons to find the largest capture. Count your stones' liberties on the move just before it to avoid the same mistake next game.

06 · Your first practice plan

Start on 9×9, then move up when comfortable

  1. Learn stones and liberties. Begin with stone placement, liberties, capturing, and atari in the First steps course.
  2. Finish a game. Play the first opponent on a 9×9 board in ‘Play’, then try consecutive passes and scoring.
  3. Review one technique. Review a capture, then choose the lesson you need today from ladders, nets, and snapback.
  4. Read the explanation after a problem. Select ‘Show explanation’ in the life-and-death dojo to see why the answer works and how incorrect moves differ.

The 29 courses and 73 dojo problems are for practice. On-screen ranks indicate progress within this service, not official tournament ranks or certified playing strength.

Practice in the game