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Capture in Go: How Stones Are Actually Removed

⏱ Read ~4 min · Updated July 2026 · Part of: Learn Go

Capturing is the moment Go becomes satisfying. You squeeze the last breath out of an enemy group and it disappears from the board. The rule is tiny; the skill is spotting when it happens and how many stones come off at once.

English中文Plain meaning
liberty氣an empty neighbor — air
capture提子／吃子fill last liberty → remove group
group一群子connected same-color stones sharing air
atari打吃one liberty left — about to be captured

1. The capture rule, in one sentence

When your stone fills the last liberty of an enemy group, that group is captured — remove every stone in it from the board.

🫁 Analogy: a group is a balloon. Liberties are the air inside. Fill the last bit of air and the balloon pops — the stones are gone.

2. One move can capture several groups

Beginners often capture one group and stop looking. Don't. A single move can fill the last liberty of two or more enemy groups at once, and they all come off.

🎯 Reflex: after every move you play that touches the enemy, scan all adjacent enemy groups. Did any drop to zero liberties? Each one is removed — not just the one you were watching.

3. Capture beats suicide (the ordering trick)

Here's a rule that trips up many beginners: captures are resolved before your own stone is checked for suicide.

Imagine your move would leave your own stone with no air — but the same move also captures the enemy group next to it. What happens?

✅ The enemy is removed first. Once they're gone, your stone suddenly has air again (their old points are now empty). So your stone lives. The move is legal.

The only thing that's illegal is a move that leaves your group breathless and captures nothing. That's the suicide rule, and capture ordering is why it almost never comes up.

4. Counting a capture (worked example)

Picture a White stone in the corner. It started with 2 liberties. Black plays both neighboring points over two moves:

Now picture two White stones touching each other in the corner, sharing 2 liberties. Black fills both → the whole 2-stone group is captured at once. Connection didn't save them, because the group shared the same limited air.

5. Why capture is the heart of beginner Go

On a 4×4 board there's nowhere to hide — stones touch immediately, so nearly every game is a series of small capture fights. That's why the beginner variant Capture Go ("first to capture wins") works so well: it strips the game down to exactly this skill.

Try it

Reading about capture is slow. Capturing your first stone — with instant feedback — takes seconds.

👉 Play brainGO — capture your first group

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