Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players in which the aim is to capture more territory than the opponent by fencing off empty space. The game was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago and is believed to be the oldest board game continuously played to the present day. A 2016 survey by the International Go Federation's 75 member nations found that there are over 46 million people worldwide who know how to play Go, and over 20 million current players, the majority of whom live in East Asia.
Go is played on a grid (usually 19×19). Game pieces (stones) are played on the grid line intersections.
Model of a 19×19 Go board, from a tomb of the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE)
Painting of a woman playing Go, from the Astana Graves. Tang dynasty, c. 744 CE.
Li Jing playing Go with his brothers. Detail from a painting by Zhou Wenju (fl. 942–961 CE), Southern Tang dynasty.
An abstract strategy game is a type of strategy game that has minimal or no narrative theme, an outcome determined only by player choice, and in which each player has perfect information about the game. For example, Go is a pure abstract strategy game since it fulfills all three criteria; chess and related games are nearly so but feature a recognizable theme of ancient warfare; and Stratego is borderline since it is deterministic, loosely based on 19th-century Napoleonic warfare, and features concealed information.
The abstract strategy game of Go
The game Stratego
Achilles and Ajax playing a board game.
