Where to Play Go Online: Servers and Apps Compared
There are five or six online Go servers worth knowing about, and they split neatly by what you want. To play a game in the next thirty seconds with no sign-up, play here. To get a rank and play people at your level, use OGS. To play against very strong opposition, use Fox or Tygem. Everything below is the detail behind that.
| Server | Account needed | Ranks | Computer opponent | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This site | No | No | Yes, three levels | A first game, or a quick one |
| OGS | Yes | Yes | Bots you can challenge | Ranked games, correspondence, review |
| KGS | Yes | Yes | Bots you can challenge | Teaching games and watching reviews |
| Fox Weiqi | Yes | Yes | Not its focus | Strong opponents, fast live games |
| Tygem | Yes | Yes | Not its focus | Strong opponents, Korean-style play |
| Pandanet (IGS) | Yes | Yes | Not its focus | A long-established, quieter server |
OGS (online-go.com)
OGS runs entirely in a browser, costs nothing to use, and is where most English-speaking players end up. You get a rank that adjusts as you play, live games at any board size, and correspondence games where each side has days to move, which suits anyone who cannot sit down for an hour at a time.
Its two strongest features for improvement are the automatic AI review of finished games, which shows where the result actually turned, and an active enough player pool that you can find an even game at almost any strength. It also supports handicap games properly, so you can play friends far above or below your level.
The client is open source, there are tournaments and ladders, and there are bot accounts you can challenge if you want a computer opponent. If you are going to make one account anywhere, make it here.
KGS
KGS has been running for a long time and has a culture built around teaching. Games are played in rooms, spectators are normal, and post-game reviews on the board with a stronger player are a standard part of how it works. It is a good place to watch a strong player explain their moves in real time.
It is traditionally played through CGoban, its own desktop client, which needs Java, and there is a browser client as well. The desktop requirement puts some people off before they start, which is a shame, because the review culture is genuinely hard to find elsewhere.
Fox Weiqi
Fox is the largest Chinese server and the one with the deepest pool of strong players, including professionals playing casually. Games are fast, live, and mostly on 19x19.
It runs as a desktop and mobile app rather than in a browser, and the interface is largely in Chinese, though English is available and the board is a board in any language. Registration and the rank system take a little working out if you cannot read the menus. The reason people put up with all that is the strength of the opposition: if you want to be outclassed by someone very good, Fox will arrange it immediately.
Tygem
Tygem is the Korean equivalent, also app-based, also full of strong players, also home to a lot of professional casual play. Ranks run on their own scale, which tends to be harsher than the Western servers, so expect to be rated lower there than on OGS.
Between Fox and Tygem there is not much to choose for a Western beginner. Both are for later, once you have a stable rank and want harder games.
Pandanet (IGS)
Pandanet runs IGS, one of the oldest internet Go servers still operating. It is Japanese-run, has desktop and mobile clients, hosts league play, and carries a settled, unhurried atmosphere compared with the Chinese and Korean servers.
It is a reasonable place to play if you like Japanese-rules conventions and a slower pace. It is not the place to go looking for an instant game at midnight.
This site
No account, no download, no sign-in. Open the page and the board is there.
You can play the computer at Easy, Medium, or Hard on 9x9, 13x13, or 19x19, or play a friend by sending them a link, or take a quick match against whoever else is waiting on a 9x9 board. Single-player games are stored in your own browser, so you can close the tab and come back to them.
What you do not get is a rank, a rating, a game archive, a tournament, or an AI review. Those are the things a server with accounts can give you and a site without accounts cannot. That trade is deliberate: the goal here is that a complete beginner can play their first game without creating anything, and the interactive tutorial exists for the same reason.
Which one to use
If you have never played a full game, play a few here first, on a 9x9 board against the computer. Losing to software in private is a much better way to learn the shape of a game than losing to a stranger who is waiting on your clock. If you do not know the rules yet, the rules of Go takes about five minutes to read.
Once you can finish a game without getting confused about why it ended, make an OGS account. A rank is the single most useful thing you can have when you are trying to improve, because it puts you in front of opponents who are beating you roughly half the time, which is where all the learning happens. How to get better at Go covers what to do from there.
Fox and Tygem are worth trying once you are a few years in and the pool on OGS is no longer stretching you. Most players never need them, and nothing is lost by that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Go server for beginners?
OGS, once you want ranked games against people. It is free, runs in a browser, gives you a rank quickly, and has enough players that you get even games. Before that point, play a few games here instead, where there is no account to make and a computer opponent that will not mind you taking twenty minutes over a move.
Can I play Go online without an account?
Here, yes. This site needs no sign-up for a game against the computer, for a friend game over a shared link, or for a quick match. The established servers all require registration, because a rank has to attach to something. If you just want to see what a game of Go feels like, skip the sign-up and start one.
Which Go server do professionals use?
Professionals who play online casually are mostly found on Fox and Tygem, the Chinese and Korean servers, which is why those two have a reputation for brutal opposition. Official professional games are usually played in person or on an organisation’s own system rather than on a public server.