Editing Go (game) (section)

== Strategy ==
{{Main|Go strategy and tactics}}

Strategy deals with global influence, the interaction between distant stones, keeping the whole board in mind during local fights, and other issues that involve the overall game. It is therefore possible to allow a tactical loss when it confers a strategic advantage.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Novices often start by randomly placing stones on the board, as if it were a game of chance. An understanding of how stones connect for greater power develops, and then a few basic [[Go opening theory|common opening sequences]] may be understood. Learning the ways of life and death helps in a fundamental way to develop one's strategic understanding of ''weak groups''.{{efn|1=Whether or not a group is weak or strong refers to the ease with which it can be killed or made to live. See this [http://senseis.xmp.net/?BenjaminTeuber%2FGuideToBecomeStrong:v52 article] by Benjamin Teuber, amateur 6 dan, for some views on how important this is felt to be.}} A player who both plays aggressively and can handle adversity is said to display [[kiai]], or fighting spirit, in the game.

=== Opening strategy ===

{{main|Go opening}}

In the opening of the game, players usually play and gain territory in the corners of the board first, as the presence of two edges makes it easier for them to surround territory and establish the eyes they need.{{sfn|Ishigure|2006|pp=7–8}} From a secure position in a corner, it is possible to lay claim to more territory by extending along the side of the board.{{sfn|Otake|2002|p=2}} The opening is the most theoretically difficult part of the game and takes a large proportion of professional players' thinking time.{{sfn|Ishigure|2006|p=6}}{{sfn|Kageyama|2007|p=153}} The first stone played at a corner of the board is generally placed on the third or fourth line from the edge. Players tend to play on or near the 4–4 star point during the opening. Playing nearer to the edge does not produce enough territory to be efficient, and playing further from the edge does not safely secure the territory.{{sfn|Nihon Kiin|1973|p=7 (Vol. 2)}}

In the opening, players often play established sequences called [[joseki]], which are locally balanced exchanges;<ref name=Joseki>{{citation | last = Ishida | first = Yoshio | title = Dictionary of Basic Joseki| year = 1977 | publisher = Kiseido Publishing Company}}</ref> however, the joseki chosen should also produce a satisfactory result on a global scale. It is generally advisable to keep a balance between territory and influence. Which of these gets precedence is often a matter of individual taste.

=== Middlegame and endgame ===
The middle phase of the game is the most combative, and usually lasts for more than 100 moves. During the middlegame, the players invade each other's territories, and attack formations that lack the necessary ''two eyes'' for viability. Such groups may be saved or sacrificed for something more significant on the board.<ref name="Think Big in Go">{{cite web|last1=David|first1=Ormerod|title=Thinking big in Go|url=http://gogameguru.com/thinking-big/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211223806/http://gogameguru.com/thinking-big|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 11, 2011|publisher=GoGameGuru|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> It is possible that one player may succeed in capturing a large weak group of the opponent's, which often proves decisive and ends the game by a resignation. However, matters may be more complex yet, with major trade-offs, apparently dead groups reviving, and skillful play to attack in such a way as to construct territories rather than kill.<ref name="Induction in Go">{{cite web|last1=David|first1=Ormerod|title=Go technique: Induction in the game of Go|url=http://gogameguru.com/go-technique-induction/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902060143/http://gogameguru.com/go-technique-induction/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 2, 2010|publisher=GoGameGuru|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref>

The end of the middlegame and transition to the endgame is marked by a few features. Near the end of a game, play becomes divided into localized fights that do not affect each other,{{sfn|Müller|Gasser|1996|p=273}} with the exception of ''ko'' fights, where previously, the central area of the board related to all parts of it. No large weak groups are still in serious danger. Moves can reasonably be attributed some definite value, such as 20 points or fewer, rather than simply being necessary to compete. Both players set limited objectives in their plans, in making or destroying territory, capturing or saving stones. These changing aspects of the game usually occur at much the same time, for strong players. In brief, the middlegame switches into the endgame when the concepts of strategy and influence need reassessment in terms of concrete final results on the board.