Go scoring: territory, stones and komi
How a game of Go is scored: your stones plus the empty points you surround, with komi for white. Learn to count a finished 9×9 game. Life, death and tactics · lesson 1 of 5.
The lesson in words
When neither player can gain anything, both pass and the game ends. Each player scores their stones on the board plus the empty points they surround. That’s area scoring, used here.
White gets komi, 6.5 points, to make up for black moving first.
Stones plus surrounded points, plus komi for white. Next: groups that can never be captured.
Questions
What are the scores?
Black 9 + 36 = 45. White 9 + 27 = 36.
With 6.5 komi for white, who wins?
White has 36 + 6.5 = 42.5. Black wins by 2.5. The half point means Go games can’t be drawn.