Learn 19×19 Go Through Play

You know the rules. The full board still feels far away. This is a complete beginner’s course for that gap.

Professional player Hibiki-sensei (Kansai Ki-in) and her assistant Kanon walk you through each lesson with portraits, dialogue, and a living 19×19 board.

As you work through the course, the once-baffling 19×19 board will gradually begin to make sense.

Meet Your Teachers

Hibiki-sensei (Hibiki Mishima) Right

A professional Go player affiliated with the Kansai Ki-in, originally from Okayama.

She first discovered Go after happening to pass by the Kansai Ki-in. Nothing makes her happier than seeing more people come to love the game.

During lessons, she explains the essential ideas clearly and guides you in the right direction. During matches, she offers advice based on how the game is unfolding.

Kanon (Kanon Uemura) Left

A 5-dan amateur Go instructor from Kyoto.

She began playing Go in high school and now teaches students of all levels throughout the Kansai region, from complete beginners to dan-level players.

Her teaching emphasizes becoming stronger through understanding while sharing what makes Go so fascinating. During lessons, she asks questions from the student’s perspective. During matches, she plays to win.

Profiles, videos, and photo galleries featuring both instructors are also available as bonus content within the game.

Lectures

From first moves to territory and thickness, joseki, fuseki, strong and weak stones, tesuji, attack and invasion, whole-board judgment, and the endgame. Fourteen sections build the thinking you need for 19×19.

Click to advance the conversation, or answer by choosing a point on the board. Cleared lectures are recorded.

Challenge Matches

Face a slime, goblin, orc, dragon, and demon king — then the teachers themselves — on a full 19×19 board.

Handicap games from 9 stones down to even. Opponents react to the position as you play.

The engine is KataGo, bundled with the game. No extra install.

A win-rate bar, 3-move assist, and territory prediction can be toggled during play. After the game: review, save the record, or show a QR code.

Problems, Joseki, Proverbs

• Problems

• Joseki Dictionary — Review joseki with accompanying explanations.

• Go Proverbs — Collect proverbs and learn what they mean through board examples.

Extras

Teacher profiles, videos, and a photo gallery. Unlock them with points earned in challenge matches.

For players who

• Know the rules but don’t know what to think about on 19×19

• Can play 9×9 but haven’t found their footing on the full board

• Prefer conversation and demonstration over a textbook

• Want to study Go but find it difficult to begin with books