Handicap Stones in Go: How Handicap Games Work
A handicap in Go lets two players of very different strength have a real game. The weaker player takes Black and places a number of stones on the board before White’s first move, usually between two and nine. Nothing else about the rules changes. This is what makes Go unusually good at mixed-strength play: a beginner and a club player can sit down together and both have to try.
Chess has nothing that works as cleanly: removing a queen is a blunt instrument and produces a strange game. In Go the handicap is just extra stones on good points, so what follows still plays like Go.
How a handicap game starts
Black puts all the handicap stones down first, in one go, before anything else happens. Then White plays, and from there the two players alternate as normal. Black does not get another move straight after placing: the stones are the head start, and White’s first move is White’s answer to them.
A five-stone handicap therefore means five black stones on the board, then White to play, then Black, then White, through to the end.
Where the stones go
The traditional points are the star points, the nine marked dots on a 19x19 board. They sit on the 4-4 points in the corners, the midpoints of the sides, and the centre, which are exactly the points a strong player would want early anyway.
Smaller handicaps use a subset of the same nine points. Two stones go on opposite corners, four stones take all four corners, and the rest fill in the sides and the centre. The order is fixed under Japanese rules, so a five-stone handicap always looks the same.
On a 9x9 board the star points sit on the 3-3 points and the centre, and handicaps shrink to match. Two to four stones is the usual range, and even four is a large lead on a board that size.
How many stones
The rule of thumb is one stone per rank of difference. Amateur Go ranks run from about 30 kyu (a complete beginner) down to 1 kyu, then continue upward through 1 dan to 7 dan, so a 12 kyu and a 5 kyu are seven ranks apart and would play with seven stones.
One rank apart is a special case. Instead of a single stone, the weaker player takes Black and nobody pays komi, which is worth roughly the same thing. Handicap stones proper start at two.
This site has no ranking system yet, so there is no number to look up. If you play the same person often, start somewhere plausible and move the handicap up or down a stone whenever one of you wins several in a row. A handicap that is set right produces games that are close and games either of you could win.
Komi in a handicap game
Komi normally drops to 0.5. White already gets the first move after the handicap stones are placed, and the stones plus that move are meant to be the whole balance, so full komi on top would overshoot badly. The half point stays purely to rule out a draw. Some rule sets give White nothing at all in a handicap game, which comes to the same thing except that a tie becomes possible.
Fixed points or free placement
Japanese rules use fixed placement: the stones go on prescribed star points and Black has no say in it. Chinese rules use free placement: Black gets the same number of stones and may put them anywhere, including all in one corner, or on the 3-3 points, or spread along one side.
Free placement is slightly better for Black in theory, since Black can pick a shape that suits how they want to play. Most players use the star points anyway, because the star points are good. Chinese vs Japanese rules covers the other differences between the two systems.
Playing with a handicap as Black
You are ahead. The job is to stay ahead rather than extend the lead, and the fastest way to lose a handicap game is trying to win it by more.
Keep things simple. When White plays next to one of your stones, answer solidly instead of looking for a clever counterattack. Connect your stones when you can, because a connected position gives White nothing to cut. Take the plain move when the complicated one might go wrong, and let White be the one who has to make something happen.
Give up stones you do not need. A strong opponent will often start a fight in a corner precisely because fights are where a rank gap shows. If one is going badly, hand over the two or three stones involved and take a solid position outside instead. Losing a small group while keeping your lead is a good trade here, even though it never feels like one. Strategy for beginners has more on when a stone is worth saving.
Playing against a handicap as White
You are behind, and even trades keep you behind. White’s job is to create positions where something can go wrong for Black, because Black is the one more likely to misread them.
Play into Black’s areas rather than around them. Start fights. Avoid the simple exchange that settles a corner in ten moves, since a settled corner is one less place where the rank gap can pay off. None of this is good technique in an even game. It works here only because the opponent is weaker and a quiet game is a loss.
Handicaps on this site
This site does not support handicap stones yet. Every game starts from an empty board with 7.5 komi, whether you are playing the computer or a friend.
To make a game against the computer easier or harder, change the difficulty instead. Easy, Medium, and Hard are three genuinely different opponents, and the gap between them is wider than a couple of handicap stones. Start a game and pick the level that gives you a close one.
If you are playing a friend over a shared link and one of you is much stronger, the nearest thing to a handicap is dropping to a 9x9 board, where one mistake matters less, or agreeing that the stronger player takes White and gives up komi. The rules are the same either way, and the tutorial is the same ten minutes for whoever is newer.
Frequently asked questions
How many handicap stones should I take?
One per rank of difference, if you both have ranks. If you do not, guess and adjust: start at four stones against someone who beats you comfortably, and change it by one stone whenever either of you wins three in a row. A correct handicap feels uncomfortable for both players, which is the point.
Does White get komi in a handicap game?
Usually 0.5, which exists only to prevent a draw. Some rule sets give White no komi at all in handicap games. Either way White does not receive the full 7.5, because the handicap stones are already doing the compensating and the first move after placement belongs to White.