If you only remember one idea from the rules of Go, make it this one: stones live by their liberties. Almost everything that happens in a game — captures, fights, life and death, even the shape of territory — comes back to counting the empty points around a group. This article explains liberties carefully, shows how capturing works in different parts of the board, and gives you a few habits that stop the most common beginner losses.
What a liberty is
A liberty is an empty intersection directly connected to a stone by a line: the point above, below, left or right. Diagonal points are not liberties.
A stone's number of liberties depends on where it sits:
- In the middle of the board: 4 liberties.
- On the edge: 3 liberties, because one direction leads off the board.
- In the corner: 2 liberties.
This is not trivia. It is the reason the edge is dangerous for weak stones, and the reason the corner is such an efficient place to make territory: the board edges do some of the surrounding work for you.
Groups share liberties
Stones of the same colour that touch along the lines form a group. A group is one unit: it lives or dies together, and its liberties are all the empty points that touch any of its stones.
Two black stones side by side in the centre have six liberties between them. Three stones in a straight line have eight. Adding stones to a group usually adds liberties, but not always — if the new stone touches few empty points, the group may gain little or nothing.
Stones that touch only diagonally are not connected. They are separate groups with separate liberties, even though they look close. The opponent can often cut between them. Learning to see which of your stones are truly connected is one of the first skills in Go.
Atari and capture
When a stone or group is down to one liberty, it is in atari. If the opponent fills that last point, the stones are captured and removed from the board.
When your group is in atari you have three honest options:
- Extend — play on the last liberty yourself, if doing so gives the group more liberties.
- Capture something — if a nearby enemy group is also short of liberties, taking it may rescue yours.
- Let it go — sometimes the stones are not worth saving and a move elsewhere is bigger.
Beginners tend to choose option 1 every time. Extending a group that will only be put in atari again is a classic way to lose more stones instead of fewer.
Capturing on the edge
On the edge, a stone has only three liberties, so it takes only three enemy stones to capture it, and running along the edge rarely helps. A group crawling along the first line gains one liberty per stone at best, and the opponent can keep pressing from above.
That is why experienced players say "the first line is the line of death" for weak groups: a group squeezed against the edge has little room to make eyes. The second line is better, and the third and fourth lines are where most of the early game happens.
Capturing in the corner
In the corner, a single stone has two liberties. Two enemy stones capture it.
The same geometry that makes the corner good for territory makes it dangerous for isolated stones. A stone thrown into the opponent's corner without support usually dies quickly.
Capturing more than one stone
When a move takes the last liberty of several enemy stones at once, all of them are removed together. It is also possible for one move to take the last liberty of two separate enemy groups at the same time; both are captured.
Captured stones leave empty points behind. Those points may become liberties for the capturing side, or they may become territory. In area scoring, as used on this site, captures matter because the stones disappear from your opponent's total and the empty points they leave can become yours.
Capturing takes precedence over suicide
A move is illegal if it would leave your own stone with no liberties — unless it captures. The capture is resolved first: the enemy stones are removed, and your stone then has at least one liberty where they used to be. This is why you can play into a point completely surrounded by enemy stones if that point is their last liberty.
Habits that save stones
Most stones lost by beginners are lost not to brilliant tactics but to simple oversights. Four habits prevent most of them:
- After every opponent move, look at the groups it touches. Ask: did any of my groups just lose a liberty? Is anything now in atari?
- Count liberties when two groups touch. If your group and an enemy group are pressed against each other, the one with more liberties usually wins the fight.
- Do not add stones to a dying group. If a group has two liberties and no way to gain more, extending it is usually just giving the opponent more prisoners.
- Watch diagonal connections. A diagonal link can be cut. If the cut would put either piece in trouble, make the connection solid.
Practise on a small board
The quickest way to make liberty counting automatic is to play many short games on a 9 × 9 board. The computer on the home page plays quickly and will punish stones left in atari. Some teachers also recommend a warm-up game called capture Go, in which the first player to capture any stone wins; it is described in capture Go for beginners.
For the full rules, including ko and the end of the game, read Go rules for beginners.
Frequently asked questions
Do diagonal points count as liberties?
No. Only points directly above, below, left and right are liberties, and only stones touching along those lines are connected.
Is it always bad to be in atari?
Not always, but it is always urgent. A stone in atari will be captured on the next move unless you do something about it or decide it is not worth saving.
What if my move captures and also leaves my stone with no liberties?
The capture happens first, so your stone then has a liberty where the captured stones were. The move is legal.
Why do strong players avoid the first line early in the game?
A group on the first line has few liberties and little room for eyes, and it makes very little territory. The third and fourth lines balance safety and territory much better.
How many liberties does a group of stones have?
Count every empty point that touches at least one stone of the group along a line. Each empty point counts once, even if it touches several stones of the group.
