常见问题 | FAQ

Go (also known as Weiqi in Chinese, Baduk in Korean, and Igo in Japanese) is an ancient board game originating from China over 4,000 years ago. Two players take turns placing black and white stones on a grid board, aiming to control more territory than their opponent.

The rules of Go are remarkably simple, yet the strategy is incredibly deep. It is considered one of the most complex board games in the world — the number of possible positions on a Go board exceeds the number of atoms in the observable universe!

Go is not just a competitive game but also an excellent way to develop logical thinking, focus, and patience, suitable for people of all ages.

While both are strategic board games, Go and Chess differ in many ways:

• Pieces: Chess has different types of pieces (King, Queen, Rook, etc.), while Go stones are all identical (just black or white)
• Objective: Chess aims to checkmate the opponent's King; Go aims to control more territory
• Movement: Chess pieces move around the board; Go stones never move once placed
• Board: Chess is played inside squares; Go is played on intersections
• Complexity: Go has far more possible positions than Chess, making it the most complex classical board game known

The basic rules of Go are actually very simple — simpler than Chess! You only need to understand a few concepts: placing stones, liberties, capture, the suicide rule, and ko. Then you're ready to play!

Children as young as 4-5 years old can start learning Go. Cute Go's 5×5 small board is specifically designed to make it accessible for young learners.

Of course, Go is "easy to learn, hard to master" — while the rules are simple, playing well requires practice and deep thinking. That's what makes Go so fascinating!

"Liberties" are one of the most fundamental concepts in Go. They are the empty intersections directly adjacent to a stone (up, down, left, right — not diagonal).

• A stone in the center has 4 liberties
• A stone on the edge has 3 liberties
• A stone in the corner has only 2 liberties

When all liberties of a stone (or a connected group of stones) are occupied by the opponent, it is "captured" and removed from the board. Keeping your stones alive with enough liberties is the most basic survival strategy in Go.

Want to learn more? Check our Liberties Tutorial.

Ko is a special rule in Go. When both players could endlessly capture and recapture at the same position, the Ko rule prevents infinite loops: you cannot immediately recapture.

The player whose stone was captured must play elsewhere first (called a "ko threat"), and only then can they recapture. If the opponent doesn't respond to the ko threat, the ko fight ends.

Ko might seem complex, but Cute Go provides hints to help you understand it. Learn more in our Ko Rule Tutorial.

There are two main scoring methods in Go:

• Chinese Rules (Area Scoring): Count stones on the board + surrounded empty points
• Japanese Rules (Territory Scoring): Count only surrounded empty points + captured stones

Cute Go uses a simplified scoring method: the player with more stones on the board wins. This is easier for beginners to understand.

The game ends when both players consecutively choose to "Pass," indicating neither player wants to make another move.

Yes! Cute Go is completely free. No registration, no downloads, and no in-app purchases required. Just open the website and start playing.

Our goal is to make Go accessible to everyone, with no barriers to entry.

Cute Go offers 5 board sizes:

• 5×5 — Perfect for absolute beginners, just 25 intersections
• 6×6 — Slightly more complex
• 7×7 — Medium size with richer strategy
• 8×8 — Approaching standard small board
• 9×9 — Standard small board, highest AI difficulty available

We recommend beginners start with 5×5 and gradually increase the board size as they improve.

Cute Go offers 9 AI difficulty levels (Lv1-Lv9):

• Lv1 (Reactive Random): Mostly random moves, perfect for learning the rules
• Lv2 (Basic Tactics): Basic capturing and defense
• Lv3 (Atari Awareness): Actively looks for atari opportunities
• Lv4 (Chase Mode): Pursues weak stones
• Lv5 (Connection Awareness): Focuses on keeping stones connected
• Lv6 (Cut Tactics): Cuts apart opponent's stones
• Lv7 (Position Evaluation): Uses Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS)
• Lv8 (Deep Search): Deeper search depth
• Lv9 (Advanced): Strongest AI, combines all strategies

Note: Different board sizes support different maximum levels. For example, 5×5 supports up to Lv3, while 9×9 allows all levels up to Lv9.

Yes! Cute Go supports online multiplayer through peer-to-peer connections:

1. Click the "Online" button
2. Choose "Create Room"
3. Share the room code with your friend
4. Your friend enters the code to join

Online play uses P2P technology for low latency, and no account registration is needed. Room codes are valid for 5 minutes, and there's a 60-second reconnection window if someone disconnects.

One of Cute Go's unique features is that stones display expressions to help you understand the board position:

• Happy face — The stone is safe with plenty of liberties
• Worried face — The stone has few liberties and needs attention
• Scared face — The stone has only 1 liberty (in atari) and is about to be captured!

You can toggle expressions on or off in the settings. This feature is especially helpful for beginners to intuitively understand the safety of their stones.

The "Liberty Count" hint displays the number of liberties next to each stone. This is incredibly helpful for beginners to quickly assess which stones are safe and which are in danger.

You can toggle this feature in the hint settings at the bottom of the game interface. As you improve, try turning off hints to train your counting ability.

Currently, Cute Go supports Chinese and English. The interface automatically switches based on your browser language, and you can manually toggle by clicking the "EN/中" button in the top right.

Yes! Cute Go uses responsive design and works perfectly on phones, tablets, and desktop browsers. Touch controls are smooth — just tap an intersection to place a stone.

You can even "Add to Home Screen" to use Cute Go like a native app.

Here's a recommended path for your Go journey:

1. Read the tutorial — Start with our 8-lesson interactive tutorial to learn the basic rules
2. Start with 5×5 — The small board has fewer possibilities, making it easier to understand
3. Play AI Lv1 first — Get familiar with the interface and controls
4. Turn on all hints — Enable liberty count, expressions, and connection hints
5. Gradually increase difficulty — Move up only when you can consistently win
6. Practice tactics — Use tactics training to improve your reading ability

Losing is completely normal for beginners! Here are common mistakes and tips for improvement:

• Watch your liberties — Turn on liberty hints and always monitor your stones' safety
• Stay connected — Keep your stones together; isolated stones are easy targets
• Don't be greedy — Don't just focus on capturing; protect your own stones too
• Avoid lone corner stones — Corner stones have only 2 liberties and are easily captured
• Learn to sacrifice — Sometimes giving up one stone to secure a better position is the smart play

Practice more, review your games (use the replay feature), and you'll improve quickly!

Cute Go is specifically designed with neurodiverse individuals in mind:

• Clean interface — Minimal visual distractions, focus on the board
• No time pressure — Single-player mode has no time limits, think at your own pace
• Cute visual feedback — Stone expressions provide intuitive status information
• Progressive learning — From small to large boards, from easy to hard difficulty
• Customizable hints — Toggle various assistive hints on or off as needed

Research shows that Go helps improve focus and logical thinking. Cute Go is designed to let everyone learn Go at their own pace.