Go Terms Glossary: Liberty, Atari, Ko, Seki & More (Plain English)
⏱ Read ~7 min · Updated July 2026 · Part of: Learn Go
Go has a lot of jargon, and because the West learned the game through Japan, much of it is Japanese. This glossary gives you the terms you'll actually meet as a beginner — each with the English word, the Chinese characters, the Japanese reading, and a one-line plain explanation. No pro-level obscure terms unless we label them.
🧭 Advanced terms (marked 🔭) belong to the full 19×19 game. brainGO's 4×4 puzzles use only the beginner subset — but knowing the words helps you read any Go article.
The basics
| English | 中文 | Japanese | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go / Weiqi / Baduk | 圍棋 | Igo (囲碁) | the game itself |
| liberty | 氣 | kokyūten (呼吸点) | an empty neighbor — a stone's breath |
| atari | 打吃／叫吃 | atari (当たり) | one liberty left — capturable next move |
| capture | 提子／吃子 | toru | fill last liberty → remove the group |
| group | 一群子 | — | connected same-color stones sharing air |
| ko | 劫／打劫 | ko (劫) | can't instantly recapture in a 1-for-1 |
| capture go / atari go | 吃子棋／叫吃棋 | — | beginner variant: first to capture wins |
Life and death
| English | 中文 | Japanese | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| eye | 眼 | me (眼) | a fully surrounded empty point |
| false eye | 假眼 | — | looks like an eye, doesn't count for life |
| alive / two eyes | 活棋／兩眼 | — | two eyes = uncapturable forever |
| dead | 死棋 | — | can't make two eyes → will be captured |
| seki (mutual life) | 雙活 | seki (関) | shared air; whoever moves gets captured |
| tsumego | 詰棋／死活題 | tsumego (詰碁) | life-and-death puzzle |
Tactics and shape
| English | 中文 | Japanese | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| connect | 連（連接） | tsugi | same-color stones touch, share air |
| cut | 切斷（斷） | kiri | split the enemy group in two |
| ladder | 征子（梯子） | shichō (シチョウ) | chase in atari zig-zag across the board |
| sente | 先手 | sente (先手) | initiative — opponent must respond |
| gote | 後手 | gote (後手) | lose the initiative — you respond |
| tesuji | 手筋 | tesuji (手筋) | a clever best move in a local position |
| hane | 扳 | hane (跳ね) | play around an opponent's stone |
🔭 Advanced (full 19×19 game)
These belong to the complete game — useful for reading Go content, not needed for 4×4 capture puzzles.
| English | 中文 | Japanese | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| dame | 單官 | dame (駄目) | neutral empty point, no territory value |
| komi | 貼目 | komi (込み) | bonus points for white (going second) |
| hoshi (star point) | 星位 | hoshi (星) | dotted corner/side point (4-4 etc.) |
| tengen | 天元 | tengen (天元) | center of the board |
| fuseki | 佈局 | fuseki (布石) | opening phase |
| joseki | 定石 | jōseki (定石) | established corner sequence |
| yose | 收官 | yose (寄せ) | endgame phase |
| moyo (framework) | 厚勢／模樣 | moyō (模様) | potential territory from loose stones |
How to use this glossary
- Just starting? Learn the basics table only. That's enough to play and to read beginner articles.
- Stuck on a word in another Go article? Cmd-F this page.
- Curious about the full game? The 🔭 advanced terms are the door to 19×19 Go — but brainGO's 4×4 puzzles deliberately stay in the beginner subset above the line.
💡 Notice how many key terms are Japanese (atari, ko, seki, sente, tesuji). That's historical: the West met Go through Japan. The Chinese names (打吃, 劫, 雙活…) are equally valid and used across Chinese-speaking Go communities.
Start using the words
Terms stick fastest when you meet them in a real puzzle.
👉 Play brainGO — your first atari, ko, and capture