The Go World

Ranks

In countries where Go is popular, ranks are employed to indicate playing strength. From about the sixteenth century, the Japanese formalised the teaching and ranking of Go. The system is comparable to that of martial arts schools; and is considered to be derived ultimately from court ranks in China.

Beginning players today start at a rank of between 25 and 30 kyu. The kyu ranking then decreases in magnitude as the player becomes stronger, dropping down to 1 kyu (or 1k). Since beginners will commonly progress through elementary concepts quickly, it may be difficult to set a solid kyu ranking for new players. Players who have progressed through the kyu ranks and passed the 1 kyu mark are then ranked at 1 dan (or 1d), sometimes called shodan. The player then could advance through the amateur dan ranks up to amateur 7 dan, which only few players achieve. That playing level is roughly equivalent to where the ranks for professionals start with pro 1 dan going up to 9 dan (also sometimes called ping or p as in 9 p to avoid confusion between a 1 dan professional and a weaker amateur 6 dan).

The distinction between each amateur rank is, by definition, one handicap stone. Professional ranks are awarded by professional organisations and though they are less well defined, they are closer, so that the difference between an average 1p and a prime 9p may be three handicap stones (however, tournament games are even).

In other words, the difference in rank between two players is theoretically equal to the number of handicap stones required for each player to have an even chance of winning. Beating this handicap consistently is the indicator that a player's strength has improved, and their rank should be adjusted upward by one stone, thus changing the number of handicap stones required.

Timing

Like many other games, a game of Go may be timed. There are three typical methods of timing a game:

• Absolute: a specific amount of time is given for the entire game, regardless of how fast or slow each player is. This is extremely rare.
• Byo-Yomi (Japanese Timing): After the main time is depleted, a player has a certain number of time periods (typically around 30 seconds). After each move, the number of time periods that the player took (possibly zero) is subtracted. For example, if a player has three 30-second time periods and takes 30 or more (but less than 60) seconds to make a move, they lose one time period. With 60-89 seconds, they lose two time periods, and so on. If, however, they take less than 30 seconds, the timer simply resets without subtracting any periods. This is written as:
  <maintime> + <byo-yomi time period>x<number of byo-yomi time periods>.
• Canadian Byo-Yomi: After the main time is depleted, a player must make a certain number of moves within a certain period of time. For example, 5 moves within 2 minutes. If 5 moves are made in time, the timer resets to 2 minutes again. This is written as:...