Endgame Basics — Sente, Gote and Counting Move Values

The endgame is usually the last thing people study, because it seems boring. Yet in beginner and intermediate games, this is usually where the result is decided. You can play well through the middle game, but if you leak 10 points in the endgame you won't win.

Beginner to intermediate Go · about 8 minutes to read

What is the endgame?

A game generally falls into three stages. The opening divides up the board, the middle game sorts out who is ahead through fighting, and the endgame settles the borders.

By the endgame, it is already roughly clear whose territory is whose. What remains is how far each border can be pushed. Each move swings a few points, and there are dozens of such places across the board. Added together, 20 to 30 points is not unusual.

There is one more reason the endgame matters: it is an area you can calculate. The opening needs feel and fighting needs reading, but in the endgame you just count the values. What you learn pays you back honestly.

Sente and gote — the key concepts of the endgame

To understand the endgame, start with these two words.

Sente

A move that the opponent must answer. Once they answer, it is your turn again. In other words, you play a move without losing the initiative.

Gote

A move that the opponent doesn't have to answer. They go to another big point instead. You've played a move and handed over the initiative.

There's a catch, though. If you habitually answer moves you don't need to answer, only your opponent benefits. Get into the habit of checking every time whether your opponent's move really must be answered. Answering when you don't have to is a common way beginner and intermediate players leak points.

How to count the value of an endgame move

The basis for counting is simple: the difference between you playing there and your opponent playing there.

Suppose that if you play a certain point your territory grows by 3 points, and if your opponent plays the same point their territory grows by 3. That point is worth not 3 points but 6, because by playing there you also stop the 3 points your opponent would have gained.

The mistake beginners make most often is forgetting to double. If you only think "this gains me 2 points" and move on, you'll miss what is really a 4-point move.

Factoring sente and gote into the value

Even at the same 6 points, sente and gote moves are worth different amounts. As a rough feel, a sente endgame move is worth about twice a gote move of the same size.

Here's why. If you gain 6 points in gote, your opponent takes the next big point. If you gain 6 points in sente, you get that big point too. The practical difference is that large.

So the order of endgame moves is roughly this.

1. Double sente — sente for whoever plays first. The most urgent.
2. Points that are sente for you — and gote for the opponent. Make sure you play them first.
3. Big gote moves — in order of size.
4. Small gote moves and one-point moves — last.

Endgame moves you'll see in every game

Hane and connect

The most basic and most frequent endgame move. On the border, you hane one point toward the opponent's side, and when they block, you connect.

On the edge of the board this move is usually sente, because if the opponent doesn't block you can push further in, so they have to answer. Being sente and fairly large, it has high priority in the endgame.

At beginner and intermediate level, just playing this one move on time gains you several points every game. Let your opponent hane first, and you lose that much.

Knight's-move and diagonal endgame moves

Moves that push in diagonally across the border. They're a little smaller than hane-and-connect, but often don't end in gote, which makes them efficient.

Endgame in the corners

The corners hold the biggest endgame moves. Since two sides meet there, one move shifts two borders at once. When you scan the board, it's a good habit to look at the corners first.

Endgame involving ko

Sometimes a ko arises on a border. A ko turns into a battle of ko threats, so counting its value gets complicated. At beginner and intermediate level, it's safer to settle the certain points first and leave the ko for later.

Habits that leak points in the endgame

Answering moves that don't need an answer

The one mentioned above. If you answer your opponent's moves by reflex, they keep sente and you keep getting dragged along. Count "how much do I lose if I don't answer?", and if somewhere else is bigger, play tenuki.

Playing small points first

The habit of playing whatever is right in front of you. The principle of the endgame is biggest first. One-point moves really do come last.

Adding a move where things are already settled

Connecting "just to be safe" out of nervousness. If there's a real danger of being cut, you have to connect; if there isn't, connecting is simply throwing a move away. In the endgame, one move is worth several points.

Never counting the score

If you don't know the current margin, you can't decide how to play. When you're ahead you should play safe, and when you're behind you need to take risks — but without counting, you can't even make that judgment. Get in the habit of counting, even roughly.

Don't forget komi

Leave out komi when counting and your whole assessment goes wrong. Komi is the points given to White to offset Black's advantage of moving first; under Korean/Japanese rules, including on this site, it is usually 6.5 points.

The half point is there to rule out a draw. That's why saving a single point in the endgame really can turn a game around. The phrase "winning by half a point" exists for a reason.

If the rules and the counting procedure themselves are confusing, it's better to read The Rules of Go, Explained first.

Summary

1. Count values double. The points you gain + the points the opponent doesn't get.
2. Play sente first. You get your turn back.
3. Don't answer by reflex. Count what you'd lose by not answering.
4. Big points first, corners first. One-point moves come last.
5. Count with komi included. You need to know whether you're winning to set your strategy.

The endgame isn't flashy, but it is the area that most reliably raises your rank. Capturing a large group in the middle game doesn't happen often, but the endgame comes up in every single game.