On the Subject of Go

It’s best you... go... defuse this bomb...?

Given the stones on the board and the battery count, determine which of the players must place first, where they should place, and who should win, in an ongoing game of Go.

Determining who goes first

• Take the stones around the border of the board and count the number of stones of each color.
• If there are more black stones around the border than white stones, black must go first.
• If there are more white stones around the border than black stones, white must go first.
• Click any stone of the desired color to select who goes first.

Determining the starting position

• Take the third digit of the serial number. This is the column in which the stone must be placed in. (from left to right)
• Take the sixth digit of the serial number. This is the row in which the stone must be placed in. (from top to bottom)
• If either number is zero, you may place the stone in any position of that row or column.
• Place the stone in the desired position.
• After the first stone has been placed, if you need to see whose turn it is, click on any stone, and the indicated player’s stones will be highlighted.

Capturing stones

• If the battery count is even, black must capture. If it is odd, white must capture. If the wrong color captures, a strike will be incurred and the board will reset.
• A stone or group of stones is captured and removed from the board when all the intersections directly orthogonal to it are occupied by the other color’s stones.
• A self capture is a capture in which a stone placed by a player results in that own player being captured. This is always an illegal move. Even if this results in the correct color getting the capture, a strike will be incurred, and the board will reset.