Master Weiqi (Go), the world's most strategic board game

Weiqi Division of Singapore Polytechnic Mind Sports

Play Now Learn the Rules

What is Weiqi?

Weiqi (also known as Go in Japan) is one of the world's oldest games originating from China between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. Two players take turns placing black and white stones on a 19×19 board aiming to claim more territory than their opponent.

In fact, Weiqi has more possible positions than atoms in the observable universe.

Black plays first

Image of an unfinished Weiqi board with black and white stones — An image of a Weiqi game.
Photo by Donarreiskoffer via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Singapore Polytechnic students playing Weiqi in a tournament. — Singapore Polytechnic students playing Weiqi in the Pesta Sukan Weiqi tournament.

Why play Weiqi?

Weiqi is simple to learn, hard to master.
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced player, it challenges your mind and sharpens your strategic thinking.

Sharpens Your Mind
Weiqi trains strategic thinking, pattern recognition and long-term planning which are valuable skills to have in life.

Mental Discipline
Train your focus, resilience and calm decision making under pressure.

Compete & Connect
Join our weekly sessions, competitions and most importantly, make friends!

History of Weiqi

Weiqi is one of the oldest board games on Earth. Traditionally in China, it was not just a game — it was used by generals and scholars alike to hone their strategic thinking and plan for real-world conflict and warfare.

A modern milestone was the famous match between the top Go player Lee Sedol and AlphaGo, a computer Go program by DeepMind. In Game 4, Lee played what has been called "The Hand of God (神之一手 in Chinese)" which was a brilliant and unexpected move at Move 78 that helped him win the game.

Weiqi painting in the Edo period by Kubo Shunman depicting a Weiqi game. — Japanese painting in the Edo period showing a Weiqi game.
Artwork by Kubo Shunman via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain (CC0)

Weiqi board showing a sample position illustrating liberties. — Sample Weiqi position illustrating liberties and Ko.

Simplified Weiqi Rules

Liberties: Each stone must have at least one open adjacent intersection, known as a liberty. A stone or group of stones with no remaining liberties is captured and removed from the board.

Capture: Stones are captured by completely surrounding them, leaving no liberties. Captured stones are removed from the board.

Surviving: A group of stones is considered alive if it has two separate internal empty points known as eyes. A group of two or more eyes cannot be captured.

Ko rule: A player may not make a move that recreates the exact board position from the previous turn. This prevents infinite repetition.

Ending the game: Players may pass instead of placing a stone. When both players pass consecutively, the game ends.

Winning: After the game ends, scores are counted and the player with the higher total score wins. In standard play, White receives additional compensation points (komi) to compensate for Black moving first.

View Full Rules

Made by Players, for Players

Our resources are created by SPMS Weiqi members who once started exactly where you are. We focus on what actually matters when learning the game — clear explanations and practical examples.

SPMS Weiqi Fundamentals (PDF)

Covers life and death basics, seki (mutual life), and an introduction to Ko fights.

Download PDF Updated 13 March 2026

Join Our Weiqi Division in SP Mindsports!

Open to all SP students — no prior experience needed!

Day & Time: Fridays, 6 to 9 PM

Who Should Join: Beginners, casual players, or anyone curious about Weiqi