Play Atari Go Online | Capture Go
Atari Go—also called Capture Go or First Capture Go—is a mini game designed to help beginners master the basic techniques of capturing stones in the board game Go. The traditional goal is simple: be the first to capture one of your opponent’s stones. In Go Magic, you can keep this classic one-stone target or extend the game to 3, 5 or 7 captured stones. Play against a bot or use Free Play, begin from a crosscut or an empty board, choose your color and optionally enable One-Color Go. Level 1 can be started without logging in; stronger bot levels require an account. Atari Go is a practical first step for learning liberties, connected groups, atari and capture before moving on to a full game of Go. You can also watch our Atari Go video tutorial.
- A beginner-friendly capture game based on the rules of Go.
- Play against a bot or use Free Play without a computer opponent.
- Choose a target of 1, 3, 5 or 7 captured stones.
- Start from a crosscut for immediate tactical contact or from an empty board.
- Select one of 20 bot levels and optionally enable One-Color Go.
Atari Go is a capture-focused introduction to Go. In Go, a stone or connected group is in atari when it has only one liberty—the one remaining empty point directly next to it. If the opponent fills that last liberty, the stones are captured and removed from the board. You can review liberties, groups and capture in the illustrated Go rules guide.
Unlike a standard game of Go, Atari Go does not ask you to build and count territory. The selected capture target decides the winner, so the basic tactical rule becomes the whole game.
- Black plays first, and the players alternate placing stones on empty intersections.
- Stones of the same color connect along the lines, not diagonally. The empty adjacent intersections are their liberties.
- A stone or group is captured when the opponent fills its last liberty.
- The first player to reach the selected target—1, 3, 5 or 7 captured stones—wins.
- Mode. Choose vs Bot or Free Play.
- Bot strength. Select one of 20 levels. Level 1 is marked Free; stronger levels require login and show their current Energy or coin cost in the setup.
- Color. Choose Black, White or Nigiri.
- Capture target. Play to 1, 3, 5 or 7 captured stones.
- Starting position. Begin with a crosscut or place stones from an empty board.
- One-Color Go. Make all stones look alike for an additional memory challenge.
Crosscut places opposing stones in immediate contact, so every move affects liberties, connection or capture. It is the fastest way to practise reading a local fight. Empty board begins without a preset shape and gives you more freedom to create your own capture race.
- counting the liberties of a stone or group;
- recognising atari before a capture happens;
- connecting your stones and cutting the opponent’s stones;
- avoiding self-atari and choosing moves that reduce opposing liberties;
- reading short capture races without the extra task of counting territory.
Once you can see captures reliably, move to Survival Go to practise keeping groups alive and attacking them. Then play a full game of Go against the computer. For a guided explanation with examples, watch the Atari Go lesson.