Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Chi
1991


No special rulings
Almost no drawn games

By Ing Chang-ki

Translated by
James Davies




















These rules have been applied in all tournaments organized or sponsored by the Chinese Taipei Wei-ch'i Association and the Ing Chang-Ki Wei-Ch'i Educational Foundation since September 1977.



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Translator's Note

In the past two decades Ing Chang-Ki has made a lot of us aware that the game of wei-ch'i or go has more than one set of rules. Those who have tried out his SST rules have discovered that despite their novel appearance, they do not alter the tactics and strategy of the game, except in extremely rare cases in which the traditional rules themselves are in question.

During these two decades the SST rules have evolved considerably, reflecting a commendable readiness on the part of their author to update them in light of continued research and practical experience. This edition includes two significant modifications. One is a simplification of the counting of shared territory. Shared spaces are now divided equally; there are no fractions or owed stones. The other is that players are not penalized for making mistakes in triple ko and other multiple-ko situations; mistakes are handled in such a way that neither player sufers. The idea of a set of rules that forgives mistakes instead of demanding absolute obedience is rather appealing.

I would not be surprised to see further evolution of the ko rule, but two features of the present SST ko rule deserve attention. The present rule relieves the player of the duty to keep track of full-board repetition. The difficulty of recognizing full-board repetition accurately was the most widely-voiced objection to the older SST rule (the super-ko rule). The present rule also tries to impose the minimum restrictions necessary to avoid endless games. The super-ko rule, while conceptually simpler, is unnecessarily restrictive in positions like the ones shown in Dias. A3 to A8.

The SST rules should remind us that although wei-ch'i has a history of thousands of years, it is still a game to be played and played with, and this can lead not only to the discovery of new openings but also the invention of new and improved equipment and rules.

(signed)
James Davies
February 1992




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Profile of
Ing Chang-Ki

by K'ung Ch'ing-Lung

A native of Tze-Ki in the city of Ningbo in Chekiang Province, China, Ing Chang-Ki is a frank and efficient person, a deep thinker with an inquiring mind. In a career spanning thirty years each in finance and industry, he has founded the Reward Wool Industry Corporation, Cathay Chemical Works, Inc., Eagle Food Industry Corporation, and International Bills Finance Corporation, all of which are now listed on the stock market in Taiwan.
Ing Chang-Ki has been an enthusiastic wei-ch'i player since his youth and has promoted the game steadily for the past sixty years. It is his belief that in the twentieth century, now that wei-ch'i is not just an individual pastime but has entered a new age of international competition, it needs a complete and perfect set of rules. He has therefore devoted eighteen years, from 1973 to 1991, to a study of the rules of wei-ch'i. The results are summarized as follows. "Moves are unrestricted except for invariation" enlarges the scope of variety in wei-ch'i to the maximum limit. "Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing" deals with rule dilemmas mechanically, eliminating the need for annulment rulings and repudiating the illogic of the super-ko rule. "All stones are filled in to count" is a scientific counting method that does not disturb the final position on the board and makes the result clear at a glance. These three rules were invented by Ing Chang-ki.
An American, William F. Mann, once wrote that the fill-in counting system had unsurpassed merit, but was infeasible because of the requirement for exactly 180 black and white stones. Hearing of this, to complete his dream Ing Chang-Ki spent more than ten years developing the Model 9186 bowls with measuring frames. In the finite span of 18 years, Ing Chang-Ki has made an invaluable contribution to the infinite future by laying the foundations of a unified set of wei-ch'i rules.



Contents

Translator's Note
Profile of Ing Chang-Ki
Contents

Introduction
Preface
History of Codification of the Rules of Wei-Ch'i
Terminology

Rules
Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i
Chapter 1 Rules of Competition
(the move; removal; ko; counting)
Chapter 2 Tournament Rules
(tournament agreement; handicaps;
time limits; penalties; conduct; duties)
Chapter 3 Equipment Specifications
(the board; the stones; the bowls;
the desk and table)

Illustrations
Explanatory Diagrams for Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i
Diagrams Illustrating the Three Principles of the Laws of Wei-Ch'i
Diagram of the Ping-Tuan-Chi Rating Scale
Ing Symbols for Tournament Results

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Rights and duties in implementing the rules

1. The sponsors have the right to determine the rules.
2. The referee is responsible for enforcing the rules.
3. The players must obey the rules.

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Preface

By Ing Chang-Ki

What I Have Learned in Eighteen Years of
Studying the Rules of Wei-ch'i

There are three essential principles in the rules of wei-ch'i: (1) there must be absolutely no special rulings; (2) the more variety the better; and (3) the fewer drawn games the better. Rules that conform to these three principles must be adopted; rules that violate these principles must be abolished. Particulars are discussed next.

(1) Life and death of stones must be determined by removal, counting both stones and spaces as territory, and not by special rulings.

Counting both stones and spaces as territory is a precondition for determining life and death by removal. China changed from counting only spaces as territory in the Ming Dynasty, and has used actual removal as the standard of life and death ever since. Japan and Korea still preserve the old rule that only spaces are territory, which they took from China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties 1500 years ago, only changing the character for "space" from Chinese lu (road) to Japanese me (eyes) and Korean hu (house). Under the old rule each move a player plays inside his own territory costs him one point, so life and death cannot be decided by actual removal; special rulings are the only alternative. Resulting defects in the Japanese rules are (1) a special ruling that bent-four-in-the-corner is unconditionally dead, regardless of positions in other parts of the board, and (2) special rulings about whether or not reinforcing moves are needed at the end of the game. The ruling about bent-four-in-the-corner is absurd, leaving the players no choice but to avoid the position altogether. The ruling about reinforcing at the end of the game has come up occasionally and caused serious trouble. It led to arguments in two games played by Wu Ch'ing-Yuan (Go Seigen) against Iwamoto Kaoru and Takagawa Kaku. It is highly inappropriate for the rules to require reinforcing moves.
Under Chinese rules, since stones and spaces are both territory and life and death can be demonstrated by actual removal, there is no need for any special rulings. A bent-four-in-the-corner can be settled through actual play, like any other position. Stones that can be removed are dead. Stones that cannot be removed are alive. As for whether or not to reinforce, that is the player's affair and he should make up his own mind; the rules should not decide for him. Reinforcing or not reinforcing is a question of skill, not a question of rules. Settling questions of like and death by actually removing the dead stones leaves no room for argument. Counting both stones and spaces as territory also reduces the occurrence of drawn games by a factor of five hundred. Under the Japanese counting system the draw rate is five percent, while under the SST system it is only one game in ten thousand.

(2) A complete ko rule must prevent invariation, and must distinguish between fighting and disturbing ko.

Wei-ch'i has been played for four thousand years without a complete ko rule. Games that could not be resolved by traditional rules unfortunately had to be abandoned. That the best players in the world are unfamiliar with life and death in multiple ko is the bad result of paying too much attention to tactics and strategy and not enough attention to the rules. "Invariation" refers to repetition of the same position or cyclic removal. Repetitive removal gives fighting invariation in a fighting ko, while cyclic removal gives disturbing invariation in a disturbing ko. A complete ko rule is obtained by prohibiting the immediate removal of hot stones in fighting invariation, and not allowing the disturber to recycle in disturbing invariation.
Traditional rules had only single hot stones, which did not satisfy the requirements of fighting ko. The SST rules introduced double hot stones for use in the eternal life position and twin hot stones for use in triple ko, thereby resolving all fighting kos. The fighting ko rule is that hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one board play or pass play; this eliminates special rulings about fighting ko.
A disturbing ko has no hot stones. Hot stones do not work in a disturbing ko because both sides can remove different stones; they do not have to fight over the removal of hot stones. A disturbing ko is initiated by one player, who is called the "disturber". His opponent is said to have been "disturbed." A disturbing ko only serves to exchange breathing points. It does not affect life and death but just prevents the game from ending, like perpetual check in Chinese chess. The disturbing ko rule is that after one disturbing cycle, the disturber is never allowed to continue disturbing; this eliminates special rulings about disturbing ko. (Recycling refers to disturbing the game beyond one cycle. The word "never" makes the rule easy to enforce. After one cycle, every recycling move causes disturbing invariation These moves can be prohibited at any time, whenever a player calls on the referee.) Disturbing ko in wei-ch'i and perpetual check in Chinese chess both demand that the disturber be stopped from recycling and that the board return to its original state with no harm to either side.
The rules about invariation and ko and the classification of ko into fighting and disturbing are complete, but they cannot be explained verbally; they have to be formulated in writing. Now is the time to do this, when wei-ch'i has become an international and professional game, making written rules essential.

(3) To divide moves into board and pass plays, a pass must be called a play.

In a note on the changes in Chinese wei-ch'i counting methods. Dr. Yang Lien-Sheng mentioned that the American Go Association had formed a rules committee in 1934, that its president Karl Davis Robinson had written a manuscript on The Structure of Go that made a detailed study of different verbal rules (at that time China and Japan did not yet have written rules) and discussed methods of dealing with unusual positions, that the first draft had been completed in 1946 and was currently being revised, and that the author hoped to publish. I was eager to find this book and made many requests and inquiries, but without success. Then in 1978 I led a group of go players on a tour of Europe. In Luxembourg, the first country we visited, I met Dr. Henny, a German collector of wei-ch'i literature, and he handed me the very book I had been looking for. It was a copy of a typed manuscript, but I was overjoyed at this unexpected good luck and made another copy, which I took back to Taipei to study. It was from this book that I learned the term "pass play." The author stated that there were two kinds of play: board play and pass play. I translated these terms into Chinese as shih-shou and hsu-shou. Wei-ch'i starts with a board play and ends with pass plays. Pass plays are limited to use in three situations: (1) a player can place two stones on the board as a pass play to indicate that he resigns: (2) at the beginning of a handicap-play game White makes a certain number of mandatory pass plays, the number being the size of the handicap; and (3) a player passes when he has no points to contest, in which case his opponent may continue to play on one-sided neutral points. There are also rules about the states of passing: (1) When one player has no points to contest and passes, his opponent can still play. (2) When both players make one pass play each, signifying that all neutral points have been filled and there is nothing more to contest, play pauses. (3) After play pauses, if there are no disagreements when the dead stones are taken away, both players make one more pass play each to end the game. Since a pass play, like a board play, is now a move in its own right, hot stones can be removed after an interval of one pass play. Using the term "pass play," instead of speaking of relinquishing one's turn, and giving detailed and precise descriptions of the effects and limitations of pass plays in the rest of the rules makes "pass play" an important term in the laws of wei-ch'i and improves their formulation.

(4) A perfect counting procedure must use stones to count territory by filling in.

Fill-in counting is the only counting procedure that works perfectly with counting both stones and spaces as territory. It is the most logical and scientific method: using bowls with special measuring frames, it employs a known number of stones to measure an unknown number of territory. Any so-called "perfect" counting procedure must satisfy three conditions: (1) it must leave the position at the end of the game undisturbed; (2) it must make the result clear at a glance, so that the players can see who has won without doing mental arithmetic; and (3) the procedure must make counting simple and quick, and errors obvious and easy to check. Three counting procedures are used in the world at present: (1) the Japanese system of comparing spaces is the most widespread, and has a history of over 2000 years; (2) the Chinese system of counting one side's stones has been widely used for 500 years, but only in China; it is rarely seen in other countries; (3) the SST fill-in counting system has a history of less than twenty years. When the three conditions stated above are considered, the fill-in system complies best. Basically a stone-counting system that also compares spaces, the fill-in system is the perfect counting method.
The fill-in counting procedure is as follows: (1) At the end of the game, both players fill all prisoners, dead stones, and the stones remaining in their bowls into territory of the same color. (2) After this filling in is completed, any remaining spaces are called winning spaces and any remaining stones are called losing stones. Losing stones are filled into the opponent's winning spaces. (3) If there is one shared space, it is left unfilled. If there are two or more shared spaces, each player fills in half of them to indicate that they are divided equally. (4) The difference value consists of one point for a winning space and two points for each losing stone, compensation stone, and time-difference penalty stone. (5) The stones in the difference value should be placed in separate areas, with the winning space located in a corner, or on a side if no corner is available. Losing stones are filled into side points adjacent to the winning space. Compensation and time-penalty stones are filled into separate areas near the winning space or shared space.
The previous thirteen editions of the SST rules all followed the principle that spaces belonged to their surrounding stones, with shared spaces divided in proportion to the number of black and white stones surrounding them. When there were two or more shared areas with different denominators, however, adding them up was difficult, and the advantage of the fill-in counting system in making the result clear at a glance was lost. In addition, the principle that spaces belong to their surrounding stones did not clearly reduce the number of drawn games, so in this edition it has been changed to the principle that shared spaces are divided equally.
In the past, when bowls with measuring frames were not available in large quantities at low prices, the fill-in counting system was an impractical dream, but now that the necessary conditions are satisfied, fill-in counting can be used in major tournaments.

(5) Balanced ratings and compensation points are needed to equalize differences of less than one play.

A player's rating is an indication of his strength, and rises or falls depending on his tournament results. At present there is still no standard worldwide system. In recent years European and American wei-ch'i organizations have called for a computerized rating system similar to the well-established tennis ranking system, but no such system is likely to come into wide use in the near future, because it has not been adopted by any of the major wei-ch'i playing countries in Asia. The SST ranking system is divided into three levels. Ping ranks are reserved for professional players; the difference between ranks is one-fourth play or two compensation points. Tuan ranks are given to strong amateur players; the difference between ranks in one-half play or four compensation points. Chi ranks are for general amateur players; the difference between ranks is one play; compensation points are unnecessary. The compensation in even games is eight points. This value is quite accurate because it comes from a detailed statistical study of tournament results, totaling some 10,000 games. Black wins 55% of the time giving six-point compensation and 49% of the time giving eight-point compensation, so eight-point compensation is more fair and reasonable. Eight points also matches well with the difference of two points per ping given above. Japan was the first country to use compensation points for differences of less than one move, but they started doing this only sixty or seventy years ago. The compensation has increased from 3.5 points to 4.5, then 5.5, and is still moving up. Examples of compensation in games between ping-ranked players are given below:
1 ping vs. 1 ping (no difference)
Black gives 8 compensation points
1 ping vs. 2 ping (.25 play difference)
The 2-ping player takes Black and gives 6 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 3 ping (.5 play difference)
The 3-ping player takes Black and gives 4 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 4-ping (.75 play difference)
The 4-ping player takes Black and gives 2 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 5 ping (1 play difference)
The 5-ping player takes Black and gives no compensation points.
1 ping vs. 6 ping (1.25 plays difference)
The 6-ping player takes Black and receives 2 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 7 ping (1.5 plays difference)
The 7-ping player takes Black and receives 4 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 8 ping (1.75 plays difference)
The 8-ping players takes Black and receives 6 compensation points.
1 ping vs. 9 ping (2 plays difference)
The 9-ping player takes a one-play handicap.

(6) Setup stones must be eliminated for the sake of greater variety and fewer restrictions. The move must not be restricted, except for invariation.

Old Chinese game records begin not from an empty board but from a setup position. Setup stones were used in both even games and handicap games. In even games Black and White each placed two setup stones in diagonally opposite corners. In handicap games, a two-stone handicap was placed in diagonally opposite corners, for a three-stone handicap a stone was added on the t'ien-yuan point, a four-stone handicap was placed in the four corners, for a five-stone handicap a stone was added on the t'ien-yuan point, and so on, the handicap stones always being placed in fixed positions. This greatly reduced the variety in the game. What was the point of that? Japan eliminated setup stones from even games, and the Japanese practice has now become the world standard, and improvement for which Japan deserves credit, but unfortunately setup stones have not been universally eliminated from handicap games. A principle of the SST rules is that the move is unrestricted except for invariation: a move can be played on any point that results in variation. For example, self-removal of a group of stones can be used as a ko threat, or in filling breathing points: it always changes the position on the board, so why should it be prohibited? All restrictions and prohibitions that reduce the variety of the game are contrary to wei-ch'i principles and must be revised.

(7) The law of conservation of territory requires that breathing points be territory.

We do not know what counting system was used in China before the Han Dynasty because no game records remain. Territory was denoted by the word tao (way) in the Han Dynasty and the word lu in the T'ang Dynasty, which are equivalent to Japanese me; all three characters mean the same thing. The traditional Chinese counting system did not distinguish between stones and spaces, but required every group to have two breathing points which were not counted as territory, creating in effect a tax on groups: the player with more groups had to give up one stone for every excess group. Japan did not use this rule, but counted all surrounded spaces as territory. It is to Japan's credit that their practice has become the world standard. China gradually abandoned the group tax under the influence of games with strong Japanese players who visited Peking when Wu Ch'ing-Yuan was a boy. I learned wei-ch'i at that time, so I was painfully aware of the confusion of counting systems. Older players demanded group tax. The younger generation used a different system under which Black gave up half a stone when he played last. This chaos of counting systems is what impelled me to spend eighteen years studying the rules of wei-ch'i.


History of Codification of the Rules of Wei-Ch'i

1 The Age of Verbal Rules has Ended

For four thousand years wei'ch'i had no written rules, only verbal rules that were passed down by word of mouth, mutually understood, and tacitly accepted. Verbal rules concerning basic matters like capturing and ko that occur in every game can be clearly remembered, but players will be perplexed by rare, unusual ko patterns such as eternal life, triple ko, quadruple ko, and round-robin ko. Verbal rules served for small, local tournaments or friendly games between individuals. In the twentieth century, however, Japan created a professional organization and newspapers began to sponsor lengthy tournaments with large prizes, so both the players and the general public became concerned about whether the rules and regulations were fair and reasonable. In the past decade the number of international tournaments has rapidly increased. The age of verbal rules has ended.

2 Wu Ch'ing-Yuan's (Go Seigen) Contributions to Codification of the Rules

The world's first written rules were the Laws of Go adopted by the Nihon Kiin on October 2, 1949. these rules grew out of a problem that occurred in 1948 in the first game of a ten-game match between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Iwamoto Kaoru. (Dia. 1)


Diagram 1. Wu Ch'ing-Yuan vs. Iwamoto Kaoru. Diagram 2. Wu Ch'ing-Yuan vs. Takagawa
As White, Iwamoto declined to play either A or B. Kaku. As White, Wu declined to reinforce at A .
(Black gets a ko by playing at 1 , 2 , and 3 ,
but Black has no ko threats.)

At the end of the game Iwamoto neither captured at A nor connected at B , saying that he did not need too because he had more ko threats than White. This gained him a point. The Nihon Kiin finally appealed to the highest authority in the wei-ch'i world at the time, the 21st Honinbo Shusai, Meijin. Holding that no reinforcement was required by the player with more ko threats, Shusai ruled that Black did not have to reinforce and White had won by one or two points.
Japanese professional players were alarmed at this ruling. They worried that in a similar occurrence in the future the one-point difference might change the outcome of the game. Thus professional players came to recognize the need for written rules. The written rules adopted by the Nihon Kiin required all direct kos to be reinforced, however, differing from Honinbo Shusai's decision. Then in 1959 further trouble unexpectedly arose in the second game of a three game match between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Takagawa Kaku. (Dia.2)
At the end of the game, Takagawa called on Wu to obey the fourth precedent in the Laws of Go and reinforce at A . Wu refused, arguing that the rules could not make a player reinforce; it was up to the player himself to decide if reinforcement was necessary. Both sides held out in this argument for several months, but Wu received no support, so in the end he had to agree to reinforce. If he had not reinforced he would have won by half a point. Reinforcing, he lost by half a point. As a condition for agreeing, Wu demanded that the Nihon Kiin revise its Laws of Go, but thirty years have passed without the revision being made.

3 This Precedent Reviewed in Light of the Ing Rules

In the game between Wu Ch'ing-Yuan and Honinbo Iwamoto, Iwamoto claimed that he did not have to connect the final ko because he had more ko threats, but that was a one-sided argument. Not connecting is unreasonable, as proved by the absence of any recorded game, past or present, in which a final ko was left open. The SST rule is that a hot stone can be recaptured after an interval of one pass play or one board play. No matter how many ko threats Iwamoto had, Wu could always recapture the hot stone after one pass play, so he would never run out of threats. Iwamoto's supply of ko threats was finite; Wu's supply was infinite. Under SST rules, when both sides pass the game stops but does not end. To end the game there must be four consecutive pass plays, two by each side.
In the game between Wu and Takagawa, Wu was right; it is up to the player himself to decide whether to reinforce; this is a question of skill, not a question of rules. It was fundamentally illogical to have a rule determine when to reinforce. How could such a rule be called reasonable? For thirty years the Nihon Kiin has failed to come up with a logical revision of the reinforcing rule. As Wu said, "It can't be done."

Terminology

1 SST Laws: the complete SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i, which are free of special rulings and produce almost no drawn games. These laws were developed over a 16-year period by Ing Chang-Ki, who devised the fill-in counting system and the principle that the move is unrestricted except for invariation in 1974, and added the division of ko into fighting ko and disturbing ko in 1990.
2 Board and pass plays: Moves are classified as board plays and pass plays.
3 Unrestricted except for invariation: A player can play on any point that produces variation. Traditional rules had many unnecessary restrictions, including setup stones and forbidden moves, but lacked necessary restrictions, as in ko annulment.
4 Contest for territory: Wei-ch'i is a contest for territory. Territory has been defined in different ways at different times. In the first period it was Chinese lu, which became Korean hu and Japanese me; all three characters mean "space." In the second period, which began with the SST rules in 1974, territory consists of points.
5 Board point: an intersection of horizontal and vertical lines on the board. During the game stones are played on board points. In fighting, board points become breathing points. When the score is counted at the end of the game, board points become points of territory.
6 Game: In wei-ch'i, competition takes place in games; a single competition is a single game. A game is the basic unit of competition; one game has one outcome.
7 Move: also called play. There are board plays and pass plays. A game starts with a board play and ends with pass plays.
8 Board play: a play that changes the position on the board and increases the number of moves played. The only restriction on a board play is that it must not cause invariation.
9. Pass play: a play that only increases the number of moves played, without changing the position on the board. Like a board play, a pass play is a move.
10 Ko removal after passing: Removal of a hot stone is generally called ko removal. The ko rule states that hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one board play or pass play, so after each side passes once, ko removal is naturally possible. Those who have not studied the rules may think incorrectly that ko removal is possible only after a ko threat has been made and answered. See Dias. A3-A8.
11 Setup stone: In old Chinese game records both even games and handicap games started from setup stones instead of from an empty board. Japan eliminated setup stones from even games and the whole world has done likewise. Setup stones are still frequently used in handicap games.
12 Forbidden point: Traditional rules forbid self-removal.
13 Ko annulment: Annulment is a special Japanese ruling. The SST rules have no special rulings at all.
14 Resignation: is indicated by placing two stones on the go board.
15 Mandatory pass play: See Dia. A1.
16 Handicap game: traditionally played with setup stones, but not in the SST laws. The SST handicap rule conforms to the following three principles; (1) Black first, White second; (2) one move at a time; (3) unrestricted except for invariation. Traditional rules violate these principles.
17 No points to contest; one-sided neutral points: See Dia. A2.
18 Play pauses when each side passes once, making two consecutive pass plays. If there is disagreement about life and death, play can resume.
19 Play ends when each side passes twice, making four consecutive pass plays. Play cannot resume for any reason, so the game ends.
20 Breathing point: or "breath." A space next to a stone in a life-and-death situation. For the different types of breaths, see Dias. B11-B20.
21 Breathless: the state in which the breathing points surrounding a stone or stones have all been occupied, including internal breathing points.
22 Permanent breath: A group of stones with permanent breaths is independently alive.
23 Balancing breath: A group of stones with balancing breath is alive in coexistence.
24 Fighting breath: Stones with fighting breaths are alive in ko.
25 Interchangeable breath: Stones with interchangeable breaths are in a state of unalterable life or death.
26 Unreal breath: Stones with unreal breaths are dead.
27 Removal: Breathless stones are removed from the board.
28 Life and death determined by removal: Whether stones are alive or dead is determined by applying the rule of removal.
29 Live and death determined by ruling: The Japanese rules, which count spaces, cannot determine life and death by removal, so they have special rulings about life and death.
30 Ko prevents invariation: Endless removal gives invariation through repetition of the same position or recycling. The ko rule restricts removal in order to prevent invariation.
31 Fighting and disturbing ko: A fighting ko involves repetitive removal; immediate removal of hot stones is prohibited. A disturbing ko involves cyclic removal; the disturber is prohibited from recycling.
32 Ko stone: a stone that can be removed repetitively or cyclically.
33 Single Ko stone: See Dia. C1.
34 Double ko stones: See Dia. C2.
35 Triple ko stones: See Dias. C3-C4.
36 Ko configuration: a position with ko stones; see Dias. C5-C15.
37 Hot stone: a stone repeatedly contested by both sides.
38 Single hot stone: See Dia. C5.
39 Double hot stone: See Dia. C6.
40 Twin hot stone: See Dia. C7-C8.
41 Disturber: a player who creates a disturbing ko with no hot stones by cyclic removal, either by attacking his opponent or by using a double ko.
42 Recycling: Cyclic removal is limited to one cycle. In the second cycle and subsequent cycles every move causes invariation; this is called recycling.
43 Stones and spaces are both territory; all stones are filled in to count: the fill-in counting procedure is the ultimate counting method, clearly expressing the definition of territory as both stones and spaces.
44 Bowls with measuring frames: necessary items for fill-in counting, showing at a glance whether there are 180 black and white stones without the need to count the stones.
45 Winning space: a space left when a player's stones have all been filled into that player's territory.
46 Losing stone: a stone left when a player's stones cannot all be filled into that player's territory.
47 Shared space: a space adjacent to both black and white stones in coexistence, shared equally by both sides. See Dia. D2
48 Compensation points: points given to the opponent to equalize the game.
49 Time-difference penalty points: An SST rule provides for time-difference penalty points. Ing timers are necessary.
50 Difference value: The fill-in counting method counts only the difference value, consisting of the winning space, losing stones, compensation stones, and penalty stones. Other filled-in black and white stones need not be counted because they cancel out and do not contribute to the difference.


Ing's SST Laws of Wei-ch'i

Chapter 1 Rules of Competition

Article 1: The move
Moves are board or pass plays. Moves are unrestricted except for invariation.

Wei-ch'i: Wei-ch'i is a contest for points. The points gained, whether stones or spaces, are called points of territory. The winner is the side with more points of territory.

Game: In wei-ch'i, a single contest is called a game. The game starts from an empty board. Black and White play one move at a time, Black playing first and White second. When the score is counted by filling in after the end of the game, the winner is said to have won by counting. When the score is not counted, the winner is said to have won without counting.

Move: Moves, also called plays, are classified as board plays and pass plays. A move must provide variation. Moves not resulting in variation are prohibited, because if such moves were to continue, the game would have to be annulled. A board play changes the position on the board and increases the number of moves played; a pass play only increases the number of moves played. A game starts with a board play and ends with pass plays.

Board Play: In these laws the move is unrestricted except for invariation, so a board play can be made on any point that does not cause invariation through repetition of the same position or recycling. Self-removal of a single stone, immediate removal of hot stones, and recycling are prohibited because of invariation. Self removal of a group of stones does not cause invariation so it is not prohibited.

Pass Play: A player passes when resigning, in which case play naturally stops. If one player passes but does not resign, play continues. After the neutral points have been filled, both players pass and play pauses. After the dead stones have been taken away, both players pass again and play ends.

Article 2: Removal
Breathless stones are removed. Determine life and death by identifying breath types.

Breathless: Spaces next to stones in a life-or-death situation are called breathing points, or breaths. These laws classify breaths according to life and death: permanent breaths for independent life, balancing breaths for coexistence, unreal breaths for non-life, fighting breaths for ko life, and interchangable breaths for disturbances that do not alter life and death. Stones that have lost all their unreal breaths are said to be breathless.

Removal: Breathless stones are taken off the board by the player who eliminated their last breath, whether the stones belong to that player or his opponent. This is called removal. When the stones of both sides become breathless simultaneously, the player removes his opponent's stones. Removals that would cause invariation are subject to restriction; to prevent invariation, they are played out as ko, divided into fighting ko and disturbing ko.

Life and Death: Stones live or die according to whether they can be removed. Stones that can be removed are dead; stones that cannot be removed are alive. These are the only crieria for life and death. Disputes about taking away dead stones cannot be settled by special rulings.

Article 3: Ko
Ko prevents invariation. Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing.

Ko stones: Stones that can be repeatedly or cyclically removed are called ko stones. There are three types: single ko stones, double ko stones, and triple ko stones.

Ko position: A position including ko stones is called a ko position. These laws divide ko positions into fighting and disturbing ko. Every ko position must have an outcome; the game must not end without result.

Fighting ko: When life and death are not settled, repeated fighting for breaths is called a fighting ko. The ko stones in the repeating fight are called hot stones. Hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one board play or pass play.

Hot stones: A single ko stone that has removed a stone in a single ko becomes a single hot stone. When one stone is added to another to make double ko stones in an eternal life position, these become double hot stones. In a triple ko, besides the single hot stone there is another single or double ko stone; these are also regarded as hot stones, called twin hot stones. Twin hotstones are thus used in triple ko, which was left unresolved by traditional ko rules.

Disturbing ko: When life and death are settled, recycling of interchangable breaths is called a disturbing ko. The player who starts a disturbing ko is called the disturber. By attacking his opponent or using a double ko, the disturber creates a disturbing ko with no hot stones. After one cycle, the disturber is never allowed to continue disturbing.

Article 4: Counting

Stones and spaces are both territory. All stones are filled in to count.

Criteria: The counting criteria in these laws are that stones and spaces are both territory. The sum of the points in both sides' territory is always the total number of points on the board, and the difference is the margin of victory.

Procedure: The counting procedure given by these laws fills in all stones without moving any stones in the original configuration, making the score clear at a glance. Fill-in counting is done using bowls with Ing's measuring frames.

Filling in: After both players have filled in their stones, any remaining spaces are called winning spaces and any remaining stones are called losing stones. Spaces adjacent to both black and white stones in coexistence are called shared spaces; each player fills half of them. If there is only one shared space, neither player can fill it.

Positioning: Winning spaces are positioned in a corner, or on a side if no corner is available. Losing stones are filled into the opponents winning spaces. For compensation points and time difference penalty points, one stone for every two points is filled into a separate area near the winning or shared space.

Counting: The score of the game is the difference value. The difference value includes one point for the winning space and two points for each losing stone, compensation stone, and penalty stone. A game with no difference is a draw, both sides having equal amounts of territory.

Chapter 2 Tournament Rules

Article 5: Tournament agreement

Tournament agreement: An agreement to hold a tournament is referred to as a tournament agreement or tournament contract. The agreement should stipulate: (1) the name of the tournament, (2) the object of the tournament, (3) qualifications for entry, (4) the entry deadline, (5) the rules, (6) handicap conditions, (7) time limits for games, (8) penalties, (9) required conduct, and (10) rights and duties. In a formal tournament the sponsors, together with cooperating organizations, or individuals must determine the tournament agreement beforehand, the players must abide by it, and the referee must enforce it.
Game arrangement: Tournament games should normally be played under standard conditions, with two players and one board. However, tournaments may also be played under the pair system with two players playing alternately on each side, or the consultation system with two or more players consulting on each side. Tournaments can also be played using telecommunications equipment such as facsimile machines or computers instead of having players face each other across the board.
Tournament system: The tournament system must be clearly stated in the tournament agreement. The tournament should follow a system suitable for its purpose, number of contestants, and duration. Possibilities include single elimination, multiple elimination, round-robin, team elimination, the Ing system, a ten-game match, and so on. The number of games and the schedule should be decided in detail. Scoring: In an elimination or round-robin tournament, standings are determined by primary and secondary scores. Primary scores are equal to the number of wins: a player get one point per won game. When players are tied on primary scores, the tie is broken by secondary scores. There are four types of secondary scores: A1, A2, B1, and B2. A1 is the sum of defeated opponents' primary scores. A2 is the sum of other opponents' primary scores. B1 is the sum of defeated opponents' secondary scores. B2 is the sum of the other opponents' secondary scores. Ties on primary scores are broken by comparing A1, ties on A1 are broken by comparing A2, and so on.

Article 6: Handicaps

Handicap: Differences between players' strengths are adjusted by three methods of handicapping: compensation points, taking black, and handicap plays. The handicapping system uses one or more of these methods to equalize the players' chances of winning the game. Games played under the handicapping system are said to be handicapped. Other games are said to be unhandicapped.
Ranks: The SST ranks are ping, tuan, and chi. Professional players have ping ranks, running from 1 (high) to 9 (low). The difference per ping is 1/4 play or two points. Strong amateurs have tuan ranks, running from 9 (high) to 1(low). The difference per yuan is 1/2 play or four points. Players weaker than 1 tuan have chi ranks running from 1 (high) to 9 (low). Players weaker than 9 chi are not ranked. Each organization may, according to methods they stipulate, determine their own players' ranks and certify such ranks for use in tournaments. They may also retract certification of a player who obstructs a tournament in violation of the spirit of the competition. A chart of the ping, tuan, and chi rankings is appended on a later page.
Compensation points: Compensation points are now universally used to equalize games in which the difference between the players' strengths is a fraction of a play, or a whole number of plays plus a fraction. Although it has existed for less than a century, this system has completely replaced the outdated system of equalization over a series of games. Game statistics show that Black's advantage in playing first is worth 16 points of territory. In a single even game (zero-play handicap) it is not possible to give each player black an equal number of times, so black gives white eight points of territory, which is half the advantage of playing first. The win rate then approaches 50 percent. This system is referred to as eight-point compensation in even games. For draws, a practical rule is to award the game to black.
Choosing colors: In an even game, colors are chosen as follows. The older player takes a handful of white stones and his opponent guesses even or odd. If he guesses correctly, he can choose black or white. Otherwise, the older player chooses black or white.
Handicap plays: When the differenc in strength between the two players is two plays or more, handicap plays are used. The game is said to be a handicap-play game. In a one-play handicap, for example, Black makes a board play anywhere, White makes a mandatory pass play, then Black makes another board play anywhere. The size of the handicap is one less than the number of (N) of initial board plays by Black. Changing the traditional handicap stones to handicap plays conforms to the following principles: (1) Black first, White second; (2) one move at a time; (3) the move is unrestricted except for invariation. Handicap stones violate the standard rules for the move because (1) White plays first and Black second, (more than one move is played at a time, and (3) setup stones are required, instead of letting moves be unrestricted except for invariation.

Article 7: Time limits

Time limits: The time limit for a game includes all time used for thinking, playing, removing stones, and so on. The time limit is divided into basic time and additional time. Even in major tournaments, games should be completed in one day. At lunch or dinner, or when a game lasts more than five hours, the players can ask for a short break.
Basic time: Basic time (BT) is the time allotted to each player at the beginning of the game. In a game with time-difference penalty points, if a player does not use all his basic time, the remaining time is not considered in determining the time difference.
Additional time: When a player uses up his basic time, he may receive additional time in one of two forms: penalty points (PP) or second reading (RS).
(1) Penalty points (PP): The penalty for exceeding the basic time limit is two points. The penalty for using additional time in excess of 1/6 the basic time is another two points, making four points in all. The penalty for using additional time in excess of 2/6 the basic time limit is another two points, making six points in all. A player who uses additional time in excess of half the basic time limit forfeits the game. If both players are penalized, opposing penalty points cancel, but the first player whose additional time reaches 3/6 the basics time limit still loses by forfeit.
(2) Second reading (RS): When a player uses up his basic time limit he is allowed to exceed a certain number of seconds per move a certain number of times before forfeiting.
The PP and RS systems are built into Ing's electronic wei-ch'i timer. The system used should be specified in the tournament agreement.

Article 8: Penalties

Lateness: When a player is late for a game, twice the amount of time by which he is late is deducted from his basic time limit.
Unpenalized mistakes: The following are not penalized.
(1) Mistaken pass: If a player makes a pass play when a point could still be made by a board play, thus failing to make a possible board play, he loses his turn, but is not penalized. If both players overlook the final neutral point and it is discovered during the fill-in procedure, since the game has ended and play cannot resume, the point is left as a shared space. There is no penalty.
(2) Mistaken removal: Double hot stones and twin hot stones were first introduced by these laws. They rarely occur in actual play and are not familiar to all players, so in repetitive or cyclic positions a stone may be removed by mistake. When this is noticed by one or both players or is called to their attention by the referee, parity of moves is restored, then play continues according to the rules with no penalty.
Forfeiture: In the cases listed below, after the occurrence is confirmed by the referee, the offending player forfeits the game.
(1) Failure to appear: a player fails to appear within his time limit.
(2) Abandonment: a player is unable to continue and abandons the game midway through.
(3) Retraction of a play: a player changes a play after making it.
(4) Excessive time: a player exceeds the stipulated time limit.
(5) Defiance: a player refuses to accept the referee's decision.
Suspension: If a player fails to appear or requests absence more than a stipulated number of times, he is barred from further participation in the tournament and forfeits his remaining games.
Disqualification: A player who intentionally violates the rules or obstructs the progress of the tournament is barred from further participation and disqualified from entering the tournament for a period of years. Extreme violations are punishable by depriving the player of his rank certificatiion, so that he loses his basic qualification for tournament participation.

Article 9: Conduct

Correct conduct: By correct conduct the players show mutual respect, uphold the dignity and character of wei-ch'i, and enable the game to proceed smoothly.
(1) Manners: Before the game, the younger player should clean the board with a soft cloth to show respect for the cleanlienss of the equipment. During the game the players should be neat and tidy in dress. For international games players should wear western clothes.
(2) Deportment: During the game the players should maintain good posture and concentrate fully on the game. They should handle the stones properly and gracefully.
Passing: Indicating a pass play is an important part of the conduct of the game.
(1) Resigning: When a player is losing, can see no way to win, and resigns by making a pass play, he should place two stones on the board to indicate that he has resigned. With the increasing number of international games, players often cannot speak each others' languages, so a method of indicating pass plays is increasingly important.
(2) Other pass plays: When a player makes a mandatory pass play or passes because he has no points to contest, he should place one stone beside the board, or indicate by other appropriate means that he passes.
Improper conduct: Improper conduct that causes annoyance to the other player during the game is impolite.
(1)Disturbances: When playing a stone the player should not obstruct his opponent's view by moving the stone over the board. A player should not disturb his opponent while thinking by rattling stones in the board or tapping them on the table.
(2) Bad habits: A player should not hold a supply of stones in his hand, or hold a stone between thumb and forefinger when playing it. When returning stones that have been removed, lobbing them in the general direction of the opponent's bowl is uncouth.
Counting: When using the fill-in counting system and measuring bowls, the player should observe the following customs:
(1) Verification of the stones: Before the start of the game, the players should use the measuring frame to verify the number of stones, and correct any deficiencies.
(2) Location of stones: During the game, there should be no stones except the live and dead stones on the board, unplayed stones in the bowls, and removed stones in their designated containers.
(3) Putting the stones away: After counting by the fill-in method, each player should replace his own stones in their bowls and check that there are 180 to confirm that the game was counted correctly. If the outcome was close, the loser can ask the referee to supervise the putting away of the stones. If there is no referee, the loser has the right to put away both the black and white stones, and the winner cannot object.
(4) Filling in territory: In counting, the stones should be filled in one at a time, or at most two at a time. If a stone is inadvertently dropped on the board and the other stones moved, the original position must be restored and the opponent's confirmation obtained before the dropped stone is retrieved. A player cannot arbitrarily restore the original position by himself.

Article 10: Duties

Referee: The referee may also be referred to as the tournament director. In a large tournament with two or more referees, one referee should be appointed chief referee. A referee's duties are to enforce the tournament rules and rule on matters not prescribed in them, answer the players' questions and warn them about improper conduct, take charge of the sealed play, and in general keep order at the tournament. He has absolute authority to decide about violations of the rules and issue warnings about conduct; the players must abide by his decisions and warnings. If they do not, the referee should report this to the tournament sponsors and a strict penalty should be applied.
Recorder: A recorder's duty is to record the plays on a diagram of the wei-ch'i board, using odd Arabic numbers for Black's plays and even ones for White's. Pass plays should be numbered and recorded. If a pass play is not followed by a board play, however, the pass play should not be recorded as part of the sequence of plays. The same number must not appear twice in the game record. If there is no recorder but a game record is required, the winner should record the game after it is finished and the loser should sign the game record.
Timekeeper: A timekeeper's duties are to record the time used by both players, using a tournament clock, to inform a player when he is about to run out of basic time or additional time, and to perform or supervise the reading out of seconds when the second reading system is used. If there is no timekeeper, the recorder must perform these duties. If there is no recorder either, the players must keep the time by operating the tournament clock themselves. Even when a timekeeper is present, if the players are accustomed to operating the tournament clock themselves they have the right to do so, instead of letting the timekeeper operate the clock. The tournament clock is placed at White's right. The players must play stones and press the clock with the same hand.
Courier: When a commentary is given on a large public board, a courier should be appointed, whose duty is to place the plays recorded by the recorder in their correct positions on the public board. If the game is monitored by a television camera, however, a courier is not needed.

Chapter 3 Equipment Specifications

Article 11: The board

Lines: The board is marked with nineteen vertical lines spaced 2.21 cm apart and nineteen horizontal lines spaced 2.36 cm apart. The vertical lines are identified from left to right by Roman letters from A to T, skipping I. The horizontal lines are numbered 1 to 19 from bottom to top. The board should measure 45 cm vertically, 42 cm horizontally, and at least 2.5 cm in thickness. Besides the standard 19 X 19 board, smaller boards can be used for teaching wei-ch'i to beginners or for short informal games. There are five sizes: 17 X 17 = 289, 15 X 15 = 225, 13 X 13 = 169, 11 X 11 = 121, and 9 X 9 = 81.

Points: The intersections of the horizontal and vertical lines are called "points." The number of points is the square of the number of lines: 19 X 19 = 361. the nine points at which lines D, K, and Q intersect lines 4, 10, and 16 are marked with small dots to aid in judging distance on the board, and are called star points. The center star point is called t'ien-yuan.
Stones are played on the points at the intersections of the horizontal and vertical lines. The points are then called points of play. Points are also the basic unit of counting territory and determining the margin of victory. The points are then called points of territory.
The 361 points are designated by the letters and numbers of their lines: A, B, C, ..., T from left to right and 1, 2, 3, ..., 19 from bottom to top. The letter is given first, the number second. The center t'ien-yuan point is K10, the top left corner point is A19, the bottom left corner point is A1, the top right corner point is T19, and the bottom right corner point is T1.


Diagram 3. Wei-ch'i board, showing numbering
and lettering of lines and a Black stone at R16.

Article 12: The stones

Standards: The stones should be disc-shaped and of two colors, black and white. Each stones should be 2.18 cm in diameter, and 1.05 cm thick at the center. The standard grade of stones is 6.5 g in weight.

Number of stones: The number of stones of each color should be half the number of points on the board minus one. For a standard 19-line wei-ch'i board with 361 points, there should be 180 black and 180 white stones.

Article 13: The bowls

Measuring frame: The measuring frame is a device for checking the number of stones. There are three types: removable, retractable, and collapsible. The removable frame is circular and has 19 holes, of which the center hole holds nine spare stones and the other 18 holes hold ten stones each. The retractable and collapsible frames are hexagonal and have 37 holes, of which the center hole holds spare stones and the other 36 holes hold five stones each. These frames fit inside the bowls. When the fill-in counting system is used, bowls with measuring frames are indispensable.

Bowls: The bowls are containers for the stones and are of two types: circular and hexagonal. The black and white stones are kept in separate bowls. The bowls should have removable lids that can be turned upside down to hold removed stones. The bowls should contain measuring frames so that the number of stones can be checked at a glance without having to count. Bowls with measuring frames are necessary implements for keeping the set of stones complete and for using the scientific fill-in counting method.

Article 14: The desk and table

Desk: The desk is 70 cm high, 66.6 cm long, 1 m wide (with a single board) or 2 m wide (with dual boards), and can be used as an ordinary rectangular desk. When a spring is pressed, the top can be rotated to interchange surfaces and present a board for playing or studying wei-ch'i. Panels beside the board slide into racks to reveal containers with retractable measuring frames and space for Ing's electronic wei-ch'i timer. Desks of this type are suitable for halls accommodating 100 people or more.

Table: The table is 65 cm high, 60 cm long, and 55 cm wide and resembles a square tea table. Ordinarily it can be used as an elegant item of furniture. A spring latch opens the semicircular drawers. Another spring latch enables the top to be rotated, presenting a board for playing or studying wei-ch'i. The board locks into place automatically. The drawers have built-in containers with retractable measuring frames. Tables of this type are suitable for use in the living room of a house.


Explanatory Diagrams for Ing's SST Laws of Wei-Ch'i

Section A: Pass play restrictions and effects

Passing is not the same as relinquishing one's turn. A pass play is subject to definite restrictions; relinquishing one's turn is not. "Pass play" is a technical term in the laws of wei-ch'i; relinquishing one's turn is a non-technical expression.
A pass play can occur only when mandatory, when a player has no points to contest, or when a player resigns.

1. In a handicap game, one player makes mandatory pass plays.


Diagram A1. Moves 2 and 4 are mandatory
passes by White in a two-play handicap

2. A player may pass because he is unable to contest one-sided neutral points.


Diagram A2. Pass plays due to incontestable
one-sided neutral points. White passes at
moves 2, 4, and 6. Black 3 at A .

3. When one player makes a pass play, his opponent may continue playing, as in Dias. A1 and A2.

4. When both players make one pass play each in succession, play pauses. After two successive passes, however, ko removal is allowed because of the intervening pass play, and if there is a disagreement about life and death when the dead stones are being taken away, play must continue. Play therefore pauses after two pass plays, but does not end. See dias. A3 to A8.

Example of ko removal after an intervening pass play. (5x5 board.)
Diagram A3. Black to play. Is the game over? Which stones are dead? Diagram A4. White 4 is a pass. Mutual attacking with board plays. Diagram A5. Mutual attacking continues. Diagram A6. Result: All black stones die.

After two pass plays the game pauses, but there is disagreement about life and death. The intervening pass plays permit ko removal. The game ends with four pass plays.

Diagram A7. White 4 is a pass. Suppose Black answers with another pass; what is the result? Diagram A8. Ko removal is allowed after a pass play; all black stones die.

5. After taking away the dead stones each player makes one more pass play, ending the game with no further possible disagreement.

Moves must provide variation: moves not resulting in variation are prohibited: all other moves are allowed.


For a board play, a player can select any point except a point that would cause invariation. The move is said to be unrestricted except for invariation. In ordinary language, invariation means: (1) self-removal of a single stone, which is the same as not playing; or (2) playing the same moves over and over, by repeating the same board position or recycling, in a fighting ko or disturbing ko. If the move were completely unrestricted, repetitive or cyclic removal would continue forever, causing invariation.

1. Self-removal of a single stone is prohibited as invariation.


Diagram A9. Self-removal of a
single stone: prohibited as invariation

2. Self-removal of a group of stones.

Self-removal of a group of stones is not prohibited because it does not cause invariation. Self-removal of a group of stones can create variations that have never been seen before. The more variety there is in wei-ch'i, the better; rules that prohibit variation are illogical.


Diagrams A10, A11, A12, A13, A14, and A15. In the Diagrams, White has ko threats at the key points marked X.

Self-removal can be used to fill an opponent's breathing points.

Diagram A16. Starting position. Diagram A17. Self-removal. Diagram A18. After removal. Diagram A19. Coexistence.

The principle that the move is unrestricted except for invariation is the most important principle in Ing's rules. Invariation, through repetition of the same position or recycling, prevents the game from ending. Invariation must therefore be prohibited, but other restrictions are unnecessary. Unnecessary restrictions are bad rules because the reduce the variety of the game. Traditional Chinese rules had two unnecessary restrictions: (1) setup stones, a completely uncalled-for restriction that greatly reduced the variety of both even games and handicap games; and (2) the rule forbidding self-removal of a group of stones despite the presence of variation, another obviously unnecessary restriction that reduces the variety of the game. The more variety there is in wei-ch'i, the better; the rule that the move is unrestricted except for invariation abolished unnecessary restrictions and adds variations that could not have appeared under traditional rules. In past centuries, the Japanese rules have made two major contributions to wei-ch'i: (1) The elimination of setup stones from even games greatly increased the variety in the game. Unfortunately, setup stones have still not been eliminated from handicap games. Setup stones may simplify handicap games for White, but the sooner they are abolished, the better. (2) The elimination of "group tax" led to new three-three point variations in the corner. When a player invades at the three-three point, the group tax costs him about four points, so in old Chinese game records there were very few three-three point invasions early in the game.

Section B: Life and death are determined by removal, without exception; example of bent four in the corner

Stones live or die according to whether or not they can be removed: stones that can be removed are dead; stones that cannot be removed are alive. There are no exceptions whatsoever to this rule that life and death are determined by removal. This standard for life and death is objective, reasonable, and fair, and leaves no room for argument. Conditions under which bent four in the corner lives and dies are shown next.


Diagram B1. Diagram B2. Diagram B3. Diagram B4.
Basic pattern. Killing ko sequence, Killing ko sequence, Killing ko sequence,
moves 1 and 2. moves 3 and 4. move 5.


Diagrams B5 and B6. Basic pattern variations.

Life or death of bent four in the corner is closely related to the whole board.


Diagram B7. Diagram B8. Diagram B9. Diagram B10.
No ko threat: death. Large ko threat: life. Small ko threat: First player wins.
exchange.

Five type and eight patterns of breathing points
Spaces adjacent to stones in a life-or-death situation are called breathing points, or breaths. For stones, life is breath: stones live with breathing points and die without them. Breathing points can be classified into five types according to life and death: (1) permanent breaths for independent life, (2) balancing breaths for coexistence, (3) fighting breaths for ko life, (4) interchangeable breaths for disturbances that do not alter life and death, and (5) unreal breaths for non-life.
There are eight breath patterns, Permanent and balancing breaths occur in life, and there are always at least two. Without two breathing points, stones die; their breath is unreal. There are four basic breath patterns: (1) territory breaths and (2) eye breaths are always permanent breaths; (3) shared breaths and (4) ko breaths are always balanced breaths.


Diagram B11. Diagram B12. Diagram B13. Diagram B14.
Territory breaths. Eye breaths. Shared breaths. Ko breaths.

There are also three combined patterns involving balancing breaths, and one compound pattern of unreal breaths: (5) shared and eye breaths; (6) shared and ko breaths; (7) eye and ko breaths; and (8) compound unreal breaths. In the last of these patterns, a general unreal breath is paired with an eye or ko breath in such a way that there can never be two eye or ko breaths. For fighting and interchangeable breaths, see Section C.


Diagram B15. Diagram B16.
Shared and eye Eye and ko breaths:
breaths. variation.

Note: Variation B16 was discovered by the Japanese rules theorist Kaise Takaaki. The three black stones and three white stones are actually one eye each.


Diagram B17. Diagram B18. Diagram B19. Diagram B20.
Shared and ko breaths. Eye and ko breaths. Unreal breaths. Compound pattern
of unreal breaths.

Section C: The fighting/disturbing ko distinction; the game has an outcome

When two opposing groups are locked together in the tiger's-mouth shape, the stones in the opposing side's mouth can be repetitively or cyclically removed, so these stones are called ko stones. There are three types of ko stones: single, double, and triple.
Repetitive removal occurs in fighting ko. Cyclic removal occurs in disturbing ko. If not restricted by rules, both repetitive and cyclic removal lead to invariation, obstructing the end of the game so that the game has to be annulled. If the hot stones in a fighting ko could be removed immediately, removal would follow removal without end, neither side willing to give in, causing invariation. The fighting ko rule accordingly states that hot stones cannot be removed until after an interval of one board play or pass play. Invariation is thus prohibited; other moves are unrestricted.
In addition to the removal of hot stones in a fighting ko, recycling in a disturbing ko can also continue endlessly, causing invariation. The disturbing ko rule accordingly states that after one cycle, the disturber is never allowed to continue disturbing. Disturbance of the game is limited to one cycle; after the first cycle, further disturbance constitutes recycling. Immediate removal of hot stones in a fighting ko and recycling in a disturbing ko must both be prohibited as causing invariation; otherwise we will never be rid of the annulments found in the Japanese rules.


Diagram C1. Diagram C2. Diagram C3. Diagram C4.
Single ko stone. Double ko stones. Triple ko stones Triple ko stones
in actual play, I in actual play, II.

In the example of "triple ko stones in actual play", White 2 and Black 7 are game-disturbing moves that use ko threats cyclically. This must be prohibited.

The next four examples illustrate fighting ko with three types of hot stones: single, double, and twin. Single and triple ko are shown.


Diagram C5. Diagram C6. Diagram C7. Diagram C8.
Single hot Double hot Twin hot Twin hot
stone: B1. stones: B1 stones: B1 stones: B1
and triangle. and triangle. and triangles.

The next four examples illustrate disturbing ko, showing disturbed life. In disturbed life, one side attempts to kill the other side's live stones or coexistence stones.


Diagram C9. Diagram C10. Diagram C11. Diagram C12.
Sending two and Quadruple ko: Triple ko with Double ko stones:
returning one. coexistence with an eye: coexist- coexistence with
Disturbed life balanced breaths. ence with balanced balanced breaths.
in which Black 1 Disturbed life in breaths. Disturbed Disturbed life in
is the disturber. which either can life in which Black which either side
be the disturber. can be the disturber. can be the disturber.

The next three examples also illustrate disturbing ko, showing disturbed death. In disturbed death, a player disturbs his own dead stones.


Diagram C13. String ko: moonshine life. Diagram C14. Triple ko with an eye:
White is the disturber, using the double disturbed death. White cannot connect
ko in the bottom right. the ko. White is the disturber.


Diagram C15. Disturbed death with two separate
double kos: invariation. Black is the disturber. Recycling is
prohibited, so Black is dead.

Section D: Stones and spaces are both territory; spaces belong to their boundary

After the dead stones have been taken away at the end of the game, all that remains are (1) Black's live stones, (2) White's live stones, and (3) spaces on the board. The sum of these three entities is necessarily equal to the total number of points on the board. Since stones and spaces are both territory, every point on the board is territory. Every point is counted; not one of the 361 points on the board is left uncounted; all are territory. The boundaries of the territory are determined by living stones; spaces form territory within the boundaries. If the boundary is all black, the spaces are black; if the boundary is all white, the spaces are white; if the boundary is both black and white, the spaces are shared. See Dias. D1 and D2.


Diagram D1. Diagram D2.
Black spaces Shared spaces.
and white space.

When there is a coexistence position on the board, the breathing points shared by both sides form spaces with boundaries made up of both black and white stones. These are called shared spaces; they are shared equally between the two sides.

Section E: Explanation of the fill-in counting procedure

(1) Introduction: Fill-in counting is the only procedure that works perfectly with counting both stones and spaces as territory. Applying the principle of using stones to measure territory, it derives the unknown difference in territory from the known total number of stones. At the end of the game, all 360 stones are filled into the 361 points, leaving one winning space, or if not a winning space, then a shared space. When there is only one shared space, it cannot be filled in, but when there are two or more shared spaces, each side fills half of them.
The advantages of fill-in counting are: (1) the configuration on the whole board is left undisturbed, and (2) the margin of victory is clear at a glance. Fill-in counting also produces an aesthetically pleasing apperance and keeps the set of stones complete. This scientific counting procedure was introduced by the SST rules. Extensive experience has shown that fill-in counting takes one minute at the fastest, two minutes on the average, and three minutes at the slowest.

(2) Difference value: The difference value has two components:
1. Stones filled into spaces of the other color: losing stones, compensation stones, and penalty stones.
2. A space that is left over or cannot be filled in: a winning space or a shared space.
The combination of stones and spaces in the difference value gives the margin of victory in the game. There are four possible combinations:
1. Winning space
2. Winning space and losing stones
3. Shared space
4. Shared space and losing stones.
Combinations of 1 and 2 account for 99.5 percent of all cases.

(3) Step size: Under SST rules, the margin of victory changes in steps of two points. In the total 361 points, if one side gains one point then the other side must lose one point; the combination of plus one and minus one gives a difference of two points. When the score is adjusted by compensation points or time-difference penalty points, the unit of adjustment is therfore two points; the score cannot be adjust by an odd number of points. (1) In a game with no shared space, the margin of victory is odd. (2) In a game with a shared space the margin of victory is even.

(4) Positioning: The stones and spaces of the difference value are located in definite positions. Winning spaces are positioned in the corner of the largest territory, or on a side if no corner is available. Losing strones are positioned on a side, adjacent to the winning space if one remains, or near the shared space if no winning space remains. Compensation stones and penalty stones are filled into seprate areas (as close as possible to the winning or shared space). The margin of victory is then clear at a glance.


Diagram E1. Winning space and eight point Diagram E2. Winning space and losing stones
compensation: Black wins by one point. with eight point compensation: Black wins by five points.


Diagram E3. Shared space with no compensation: Diagram E4. Shared space and one losing stone
draw. with no compensation: Black wins by two points.



Diagrams Illustrating the Three Principles of the Law of Wei-Ch'i

(1) Moves are unrestricted except for invariation.
(2) Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing.
(3) All stones are filled in to count.

Breathless stones are removed. Life and death are determined by removal.

Removing a Self-removal as Self-removal to Breathless
breathless stones a ko threat. gain coexistence. simultaneously.
proves clearly The opponent's
that it is dead. stones are removed.

Ko prevents invariation. Fighting ko Hot stones

Single ko with a Single ko with Triple ko with Triple ko with
single ko stone double ko stones. a single ko stone. single and double
ko stones.

Ko prevents invariation. Disturbing ko Disturbed life

Sending two and Triple ko with Quadruple ko: Double ko:
returning one: an eye: single single ko stone. double ko stones.
single and double ko stone. Either side Either side
ko stones. Black is the disturber can be the disturber. can be the disturber.
Black is the disturber

Ko prevents invariation. Disturbing ko Disturbed death

Disturbed death: Disturbed death: Disturbed death: two
moonshine life triple ko with separate groups with eyes.
White is the disturber. an eye. White is Black is the disturber.
the disturber.

Stones and spaces are both territory.
All stones are filled in to count.


Stones and spaces Black gives four points
are both territory. compensation and wins
by one point.



Diagram of the Ping-Tuan-Chi Rating Scale

Scale Comparison



Ing Symbols for Tournament Results

^Won ^Draw ^Lost
'Uncon- 'By com- 'By for- 'Uncon- 'By com- 'By for-
'dition- 'pensa- 'feit 'dition- 'pensa- 'feit
'ally 'tion 'ally 'tion
'Black [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE]
'White [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE] [A gofig INSET WAS HERE]

Ing Tournament System

(diagram omitted)

1. This chart shows a tournament to select three winners from sixteen particiapants. A player gets in (leaves the tournament as a winner) when he wins four more games than he has lost. For other numbers of participants or desired winners, the in and out lines can be adjusted.

2. Pairings are made by closest number on the same line, except that, if possible, the same two players should not meet twice in the same tournament.

3. Winners move up one line.

4. A box around a number indicates that it was borrowed from a different line to pair an odd number of players.



Summary of the Ing's Rules

Moves are board or pass plays.
Moves are unrestricted except for invariation.
Breathless stones are removed.
Life and death are determined by removal.
Ko prevents invaritation.
Ko is classified as fighting or disturbing.
Stones and spaces are both territory.
All stones are filled in to count.












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