Editing Go (game) (section)

=== Basic rules ===
[[File:Go adjacent stones.png|thumb|One black chain and two white chains, with their liberties marked with dots. Liberties are shared among all stones of a chain and can be counted. Here the black group has 5 liberties, while the two white chains have 4 liberties each.]]
The two players, Black and White, take turns placing stones of their color on the intersections of the board, one stone at a time. The usual board size is a 19×19 grid, but for beginners or for playing quick games,{{sfn|Kim|Jeong|1997|pp=3–4}} the smaller board sizes of 13×13{{sfn|Nihon Kiin|1973|p=22 (Vol. 1)}} and 9×9 are also popular.{{sfn|Moskowitz|2013|p=14}}
The board is empty to begin with.{{sfn|Lasker|1960|p=2}} Black plays first unless given a handicap of two or more stones, in which case White plays first. The players may choose any unoccupied intersection to play on except for those forbidden by the [[#Ko rule|ko]] and [[#Suicide|suicide]] rules (see below). Once played, a stone can never be moved and can be taken off the board only if it is [[#capture|captured]].{{sfn|Nihon Kiin|1973|p=23 (Vol. 1)}} A player may pass their turn, declining to place a stone, though this is usually only done at the end of the game when both players believe nothing more can be accomplished with further play. When both players pass consecutively, the game ends{{sfn|Fairbairn|2004|p=12}} and is then [[#Scoring_rules|scored]].