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Introduction
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Go is a deeply fascinating Far Eastern board game with a long history. Put simply, black and white stones look to surround each other and win space on a 19 x 19 board. The rules of Go are remarkably simple, but the seriously large numbers of possible lines of play have kept Go software programmers largely in check, at least at the highest levels of play. And there's a whole world of strategy. Curious? Hiroki Mori has made an excellent website introduction called The Interactive Way to Go which gently walks you through the basics to get you up and ready to play, on-board or online. And you'll find much more useful information at Sensai's Library and the American Go Association.
At 361points.com, you can play against the GnuGo engine online without the need to download or install any software on your own computer. There are three different table sizes to choose from (9 x 9, 13 x 13, or the full 19 x 19) and engine strength is adjustable. A big bonus for beginners is the chance to challenge an online computer to play a simplified version of the game called Capture Go. In Capture Go (Atari-Go) the player who first manages to surround and capture the opponent's stones wins outright. You can play on a board of any size. Simple and fun and a great way to start to get to grips with the full game. In fact 361points.com could be a good first stop for computer play. It's a friendly site offering a lot of useful resources and links. |
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Discussion - free standalone Go programs
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On launching JagoClient from the Windows start menu go to "Actions", click "Play Go (using GMP)" and set your handicap to zero. And you should be ready to Go!
In general, PANDA-glGo offers many features but is also beginner-friendly. It even has a charmingly illustrated tutorial teaching the rules of the game. It's a good idea to start off on a smaller board (eg. 9 x 9). The program is also a client for the free Internet Go server (IGS), where you can get to watch quality games without even having to register. Unlike JagoClient, you have to download the GnuGo engine separately if you don't have it already. The PANDA-glGo program kindly walks you through this when you first click the "Play GNU Go" button. Just a word of warning about sound—an important feature in Go. When I tried switching from the default (Windows) sounds I lost the audio altogether and found myself having to do a clean reinstall to get it back (the issue is acknowledged in the genuinely helpful User Manual). Don't let this put you off trying this very likable program.
There's also plenty more Go freeware available. Two freeware Go study programs recommended in the comments below are: You'll probably want to download some amateur / professional free Go game database archives in SGF format.
Looking for a board game which has something in common with Go? Try Reversi. Please help us by rating this review or posting feedback |
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5.0 
Unrestricted Freeware 
Windows 95 to Vista, Java Runtime Environment
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Editor's Note
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If you're able to improve this page, please feel free to do so, Wiki style. All feedback welcome. Particular thanks to Gizmo, Jojo Yee, Kip and Anon. |
[This article is about: go board game online, free software download, jagoclient, panda-glgo, weiqi, baduk, SGF, go boardgame freeware]
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yeah it is good
I like stonebase and qgo.
http://www.stonebase.cn/stonebase/eng/index.html
http://qgo.sourceforge.net/
Thanks - your suggestions are much appreciated.
Bob
Any suggestion for Shogi? Sorry for being off-topic, but I can't comment on the Chess page.
I think Shogi ("Japanese Chess") can be of real interest to lovers of both Chess and Go.
You'll now find a few suggestions here:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-computer-shogi-japanes...
Feedback welcome.
Too bad for the split from chess. I think that was bringing more people to the game of go. Now chess players may never even look.
Ah well...
"I think that was bringing more people to the game of go. "
Yes, that was one of the ideas behind the original article. Trying to think how...
A smart link has been added by the editor. "Before we go... why not go to Go."
These are some of the comments previously posted at "Best Free Computer Chess and Go"(obsolete category):
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#3 Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 17:19.
There is a good client for playing go (free) on KGS - http://www.gokgs.com/
I also like glgo - interface for gnugo as well as connection to the igs server.
http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/glgo/
Don't miss sensei's library http://senseis.xmp.net/?About
How to play go tutorial - http://playgo.to/interactive/
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#4 Submitted by Bob on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 14:08.
Hello again - I've now briefly tried out these recommendations.
- glGo seems excellent (http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/glgo/) and could be a good candidate for a top recommendation [when I'm able to update the page]. It has a pleasant and reasonably intuitive interface. The "Preferences" allow you to choose whether you want to see the board in 2D or 3D - a nice touch. There's a slider to adjust engine strength when playing against the computer. In general, the program offers many features but is also beginner-friendly. It even has a charmingly illustrated tutorial for anyone who needs to learn the rules of the game. I've enjoyed watching online games at the Internet Go server (IGS), where the sounds are really useful to help follow the game. A word of warning here: when I tried switching from the default (Windows)sounds I lost the audio altogether and found myself having to do a clean reinstall to get it back. The issue is acknowledged in the genuinely helpful User Manual, and the website does warn one to expect some bugs. But this shouldn't put anyone off trying this very likable program.
- Unfortunately, I haven't been able to access the KGS server (from http://www.gokgs.com/) on my computer. This seems to be a Java-related issue - again acknowledged on the server's website.
- Yes, Sensei's Library has bags of stuff to explore...
- I agree that Hiroki Mori's Interactive Way to Go tutorial (http://playgo.to/interactive/) is superb. It provides a great introduction to a truly great board game.
Thank you again for the suggestions - greatly appreciated!
Bob
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#5 Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 16:09.
Yes - you must have java for KGS.
Either a java client or the one that loads when you try to play.
I thought you would like glgo. I think others will like it as well.
I agree, watching games is very easy, even logged in as a guest.
I like to sort the list by number of moves, so I can watch games from near the beginning.
I would argue that go is the best board game in the world!
I am a high school teacher and try to teach as many kids as I am able, to play go.
I like to teach 9x9 capture go first - so many lessons come quickly with this method.
I just discovered this link (http://www.361points.com/capturego/)
On that site I just learned you can play gnugo online.
(http://www.361points.com/computergo/#gnugo)
Don't forget igowin for the go beginner - this is really nice for 9x9 play against the computer to get used to the game.
http://www.smart-games.com/igowin.html
Another good link to learn the game -
http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/index-e.htm
I forget if (gizmo)is strictly for windows programs?
A great client for mac osx - Sen:te (http://www.sente.ch/software/goban/) Just look at that pretty board and those stones. It will also play with gnugo.
A flash into to the game -
http://www.macloo.com/gogame/gointro.htm
Finally - a mega link
http://www.usgo.org/resources/internet.html#Rules
k5kip
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#6 Submitted by Bob on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 21:09.
Hi k5kip -
This is great. Thanks!
I agree with you that Go has a very special fascination.
Yes, I appreciate the wisdom of starting off on a smaller sized board like 9 x 9, or playing Capture-Go. Your links to "361points.com" are great and I see this site has plenty of other interesting material (as does your "usgo.org" resources link). I'll certainly have a look at "Igowin" too.
Thanks also for the Mac OS X client link - yes, Gizmo does currently focus largely on Windows (though the existence of Mac is not ignored!)
Please free to make any additions/changes ("edit") you think best for the page ..
Regards
Bob
PS Re: "you must have java for KGS. Either a java client or the one that loads when you try to play." Yes I do ... but it still wouldn't work for me on Firefox or IE7.
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#7 Submitted by Bob on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 23:43.
Thanks Anon for the info on glgo -- I'll follow your link.
The excellent interactive tutorial you mention was actually one of the starting points for this page. Sensei's library is also cited (perhaps not clearly enough though).
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