How we play

The board and the result

We use area scoring: your living stones plus empty intersections surrounded only by your stones. Shared empty regions are neutral. White receives the agreed komi. Captured stones are shown for context and are not added again to the area score.

Suicide is illegal. Positional superko prevents a stone placement from recreating an earlier board position. Passing is always legal on your turn. Handicap stones are placed before the game; White then plays first. There is no extra handicap compensation beyond the selected komi.

Two consecutive passes, or an accepted scoring request, stop the clocks. KataGo assesses dead stones. Our server removes those stones and counts the remaining area. This is an automatic determination, not a guarantee that every unsettled position is interpreted correctly. Finish unresolved fights before passing.

Automatic scoring and appeals

The score becomes the recorded result immediately. The final board shows territory and dead stones. Either player may submit one appeal within seven days. Include coordinates and the reason you dispute the result. The existing result stands while the appeal is open.

The operator reviews the saved final position and complete game record. A correction changes whole groups’ dead/alive status, recalculates area and komi, and adjusts the game’s Elo contribution where applicable. The original result and decision remain on record. Later games’ ratings are not replayed. Appeals are reviewed manually; response times are not guaranteed during the beta.

Clocks

• 30 seconds per move (default): each turn starts with a fresh 30 seconds. Unused time does not accumulate. Reaching zero loses the game. You can choose 15 or 60 seconds, or no clock in a friendly game. Other clock systems are in Advanced timing.
• Japanese byo-yomi: main time, then a set number of overtime periods. A move resets the current period. Every fully consumed period is lost.
• Fischer: your clock receives the agreed increment after each completed move. Reaching zero first loses the game.
• Canadian: after main time, complete the specified number of moves within each overtime block. Completing the block resets its time and move quota.
• Per-move periods: the same period mechanics as byo-yomi, starting immediately without main time. Advanced timing lets you add extra periods; fully consumed periods are lost.
• No clock: available in friendly games. The game remains open until its players finish it.

The server’s received time decides whether a move arrived in time. Time at zero is expired. There is no latency credit. Both clocks pause during automatic scoring. Takeback, draw, and scoring requests do not pause the clock.

Connections and requests

When your connection drops, your clock keeps running. Reopen the game with the same account or browser session to recover the authoritative board. Two devices signed into one account control the same seat; use different accounts or guest sessions to play against each other. A server restart pauses the game from its last persisted state and restores it on startup.

A takeback needs the opponent’s approval and is disabled in ranked games. Human games undo one move. Computer games undo your most recent move and the computer’s reply when both are present. Clocks return to the saved state immediately before the first undone move, after the time already spent on that move. Requests expire after 30 seconds or the next move; each player has ten requests per game.

Waiting tables close after one hour. A matchmaking search expires after five minutes. Direct challenges expire after one minute. Public games may be watched. Players and spectators share the conversation at AI and friendly tables. At ranked tables, spectators can read during play and send messages before the game starts or after the result.

Ranked and friendly play

Ranked games require accounts, a clock, no handicap, and a 9×9, 13×13, or 19×19 board. Elo starts at 1200 with a fixed K-factor of 32. The first ten rated games are marked provisional. All completed ranked games count, including an early resignation or timeout. These are local platform ratings, not certified kyu or dan ranks.

Friendly games and computer games never affect Elo. The three KataGo levels use different search budgets; even Relaxed may be strong. The website does not provide live advice, evaluations, or move suggestions.

Your account and records

A guest identity lives in this browser’s session cookie for up to 30 days. Save it as an account before clearing browser data. Account creation preserves your current guest history. This beta has password sign-in but no email recovery or password-reset service. Keep a copy of important game records using SGF download.

Names, games, chat, social preferences, reports, appeals, and password hashes are stored on the server. Invite links grant access to private tables, so share them carefully. Blocking prevents new games and hides conversation between the two players. Reports are saved for the operator; they do not trigger automatic penalties.

Keep conversation respectful. A basic language filter and operator moderation support the community standards. You can permanently delete your account in Preferences. For help or privacy requests, visit Support.

Independent by design

Baduk Online is an original implementation of common Go playing capabilities. It is not affiliated with Orobaduk. Its code, navigation, layouts, copy, board artwork, and sound are independently created. KataGo and other open-source components retain their own licenses.