Go is a game of alternating moves, so the question "who moves next, and where?" sits behind every decision. Four terms describe that question: sente, gote, tenuki and miai. They are among the most useful words in the Go vocabulary, because understanding them changes how you choose moves, not only how you describe them.
Sente
A move is sente when your opponent must answer it. If they ignore it, they lose more than they would gain elsewhere. After they answer, it is your turn again, so you keep the initiative: you decide where the game goes next.
Examples of sente moves:
- A move that threatens to capture a group unless it is defended.
- An endgame hane that would push deep into territory if not blocked.
- A move that threatens to cut two weak groups apart.
Sente is valuable because it gains something and lets you play the next big move. The word is also used for the player: "Black has sente" means it is Black's turn with a free choice.
Gote
A move is gote when it does not force an answer. After you play it, your opponent may play anywhere. Gote moves are not bad; many important moves are gote, such as a solid move that makes a group safe or a big endgame move that simply claims territory. But a gote move gives away the initiative.
A sequence can also end in gote or sente. If you finish a local exchange with your own move, and nothing is left to force, you end in gote. If your opponent must make the last move of the exchange, you end in sente.
Double sente and reverse sente
- Double sente: a point that is sente for whichever player takes it. These are urgent; take them early.
- Reverse sente: a gote move that prevents your opponent's sente move. It is often underrated and worth about as much as the sente move it prevents.
The article on sente and gote in the endgame explains how these shape the order of endgame moves.
Tenuki
Tenuki means ignoring your opponent's last move and playing elsewhere. It is a decision, not a mistake: you judge that the move elsewhere is bigger than whatever you lose locally.
Tenuki is one of the clearest signs of a developing player. Beginners answer every move their opponent plays, like a conversation. Stronger players ask "what happens if I do not answer?" and often find that the local threat is small. Playing tenuki at the right moment keeps the initiative and gains more than answering would.
Tenuki can go wrong, of course. If the local threat is bigger than you thought, ignoring it can cost a group. The skill is in judging the size of the threat. When unsure, read out what your opponent can do if you play elsewhere.
Miai
Miai describes two points that are equally good, so if your opponent takes one, you take the other. Because you can always answer one with the other, you do not need to play either now.
Common examples:
- A group with two ways to make its second eye: if the opponent prevents one, you play the other. The group is effectively alive.
- Two extensions along the side: if your opponent blocks one, you take the other and still get a base.
- Two ways to connect: your stones are effectively connected even though they are not touching yet.
Recognising miai saves moves. If you see that something is miai, you can play elsewhere, knowing you have an answer ready.
Putting the terms together
These four ideas work together in real games:
- Look for sente moves that gain something and keep the initiative.
- Before answering your opponent, consider tenuki: is their threat smaller than the biggest move elsewhere?
- Recognise miai so you do not waste moves defending things that are already safe.
- Accept gote when a quiet move is simply the biggest move on the board.
A useful question to ask before every move is: "After this, who plays next, and where?"
These terms in other languages
Vietnamese players use tiên thủ for sente and hậu thủ for gote, literally "first hand" and "after hand", the same words used in cờ tướng for moving first and second. See Vietnamese Go words for more.
Practise with these ideas
On this site you can play the computer on the home page on 9×9 or 13×13, and people on the online page on 9×9, 13×13 or 19×19. After a game, sign in on the account page to replay it, and label a few of your moves as sente or gote. Look especially for moments where you answered a move you could have ignored. That single review habit teaches more about initiative than any definition.
For the complete vocabulary, see the Go glossary A to Z.
An everyday example
Suppose your opponent plays a stone near your territory on the right side, threatening to reduce it by a few points. At the same time, a large open area remains on the left side where a single move could claim much more. The beginner's reflex is to answer on the right. But if the right-side threat is worth only three or four points and the left-side move is worth ten, playing tenuki on the left is correct.
Now reverse the situation. If the right-side move threatens to cut off one of your groups and kill it, the loss would be far larger than ten points. Then you must answer; the opponent's move is sente. The words sente, gote and tenuki are simply labels for this kind of comparison, which you make many times in every game. Naming them helps you notice that you are making a choice, rather than answering on autopilot.
As a final tip, try one game where you deliberately play tenuki whenever you are unsure whether a threat is serious, and then review the results. You will quickly learn which threats were real and which were bluffs, and that experience is worth more than any definition.
Frequently asked questions
What does sente mean?
A move that forces an answer, so you keep the initiative and choose the next move.
Is a gote move a bad move?
No. Many essential moves are gote. Gote simply means your opponent chooses the next move.
What is tenuki?
Ignoring your opponent's last move to play a bigger move elsewhere.
What does miai mean?
Two points that are equally good, so if the opponent takes one, you take the other.
How do I know when I can play tenuki?
Read what your opponent can do locally if you ignore it. If that loss is smaller than the biggest move elsewhere, tenuki is right.
