How Go Handicap Stones Work, For Beginners
A handicap is not a consolation prize. It is what lets two players several ranks apart finish a game worth thinking about. How go handicap stones work, what the ranking difference maps to, where the stones go, and what beginners usually get wrong.
Go handicap stones exist for a practical reason: they let a 15-kyu and a 3-kyu sit down and finish a game that both of them still care about winning. If you have only played even games, a handicap reads as a consolation prize. It is closer to a second game sharing the same rules, where the opening is lopsided on purpose and both players end up with problems they can actually see. This is how handicap stones work, what the handicap ranking difference maps to, where the stones go, what happens to komi, and the mistakes go handicap for beginners tends to produce. Gomoku is open right now on the play page at yiboardgame.com, and Go sits on the roadmap.
What a handicap is actually for
Without one, the weaker player usually loses before the game reaches anything interesting. The stronger player answers mildly, the position drifts, and by move sixty it is settled while neither person has learned much. Handicap stones hand the weaker player a block of territory up front, so the stronger player has to invade and start something to catch up. That is the trade. Black starts ahead and has to hold it. White starts behind and has to be sharp. Both halves of that are work.
Which is also why a handicap game feels nothing like an even game. In an even game both sides develop at their own pace. In a four-stone game white is attacking by move ten, and black spends the whole middlegame deciding which corner to give up. Players who only practise even games tend to be weak at both halves. That is worth knowing before you decide the handicap is beneath you.
How handicap stones work, from rank difference to stone count
The rule of thumb is one stone per rank of difference. One rank apart and you play even, with black taking the first move and no komi, which is called taking black. Two ranks apart, black places two stones before white replies. Nine ranks apart, black places nine, which is roughly where most people stop counting and start wondering whether the game is worth playing at all.
- Same rank, or one apart: even game, black moves first. With komi, white receives 6.5 points
- 2 ranks apart: 2 stones, no komi
- 3 ranks: 3 stones
- 4 ranks: 4 stones
- 5 ranks: 5 stones
- 6 to 9 ranks: 6 to 9 stones
- More than 9: most clubs stay at 9 stones and adjust the pace or the board size instead
Two cautions. Grades from different clubs and different servers are not measured on the same scale, so a handicap ranking difference read on one site is an approximate number anywhere else. Kyu grades are also wider than dan ranks: the drop from 5-kyu to 10-kyu is much larger than from 3-dan to 8-dan, even though both read as five steps. If you are reading up on go handicap for beginners, the second one is the part that catches people.
Where the stones go
Black does not place them wherever black likes. They go on the star points in a fixed order, and the order matters because it decides how the four corners connect.
- Stones 1 to 4: the four corner star points, one per corner
- Stone 5: tengen, the centre point
- Stones 6 and 7: the star points on the left and right sides
- Stones 8 and 9: the star points on the top and bottom sides
White plays first once the stones are down. That detail trips people up: in a nine-stone game black has just placed nine stones, and the next move belongs to white.
On a 13x13 board the same order applies to the smaller set of star points, and the nine-stone version does not really exist there. Most teaching games on 13x13 sit between two and five stones, which is also the range where you learn the most.
What white gets back
In an even game white takes komi, usually 6.5 points, as payment for moving second. A handicap has already settled that debt with stones, so handicap games normally run with no komi, or with half a point as a tiebreak. Give white a full komi on top of black’s stones and the handicap has been handed straight back.
What beginners get wrong about go handicaps
- Asking for fewer stones than the gap calls for, out of pride. A two-stone game between players five ranks apart is usually duller than the five-stone version
- Playing a handicap game like an even one. Black in a five-stone game has to keep the lead, which means answering solidly rather than starting fights for their own sake
- Expecting white to win big. White is behind on paper already, so winning by two points counts
- Converting ranks between servers as if they were interchangeable. Our notes on how ratings work explain why a 1200 start does not translate cleanly into a club grade
One last thing, which is not really a mistake: the handicap is an estimate. Two people who know each other’s play should adjust it by feel. The table only gets you to the right door.
FAQ
How many handicap stones do I need?
One per rank of difference, up to nine. One rank apart means no stones: black simply moves first, with no komi.
Do handicap stones count as moves?
No. Black places them all before play starts, then white makes the first move of the game. Black does not spend a turn placing them.
Is komi used in handicap games?
Usually not, since the stones replace it. Half a point is sometimes added so the game cannot end in a draw.
Can I play handicap games on YiBoard?
Not yet. Gomoku is live on the play page and Go is on the roadmap, with handicap settings as part of that work.