What is Team Go?
Team Go is Go for four players in two pairs, known in Japanese as rengo. Each pair plays one colour, so two players share the Black stones and two share the White stones, and the pair wins or loses together.
The four players move in a fixed order: Black 1, White 1, Black 2, White 2, then Black 1 again. On the board the colours still alternate as in any game of Go, but each player moves only every fourth turn, and the stone your partner plays next may not be the one you had in mind. Partners may not discuss their moves or signal to each other, so each player has to read the partner's plan from the stones alone. The table can't check this, so it is up to the players.
Every other rule is the rule of standard Go: captures, suicide, ko, passing, scoring and komi work as usual, and the board size, scoring rule, komi, ko rule, handicap stones, Capture Go and the toroidal board can all be chosen. Phantom Go is not available with four players.
Online, four players meet at one table and the computer can fill any empty seat. Against the computer you play one seat, and the computer plays your partner and both opponents. On one device, four people take turns at the board.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Go | Team Go |
|---|---|---|
| Players | Standard GoTwo players, Black and White. | Team GoFour players in two pairs. Black 1 and Black 2 share the Black stones, White 1 and White 2 share the White stones, and each pair wins or loses together. |
| Turn order | Standard GoBlack and White move in turn. | Team GoThe four players move in a fixed order: Black 1, White 1, Black 2, White 2, and round again. The colours still alternate on the board. |
| Talking to your partner | Standard GoThere is no partner: each player decides alone. | Team GoNot allowed: partners may not discuss moves or signal to each other during the game. The table can't enforce this, so it is up to the players. |
| Handicap stones | Standard GoBlack's handicap stones are placed on the star points, and White moves first. | Team GoPlacing the handicap stones is Black 1's turn, so White 1 makes the first move and the order goes on with Black 2. |
| Passing and the end | Standard GoTwo passes in a row, one by each player, end the game. | Team GoA pass uses up that player's turn in the order. Two passes in a row, one by each pair, end the game, and the board is scored. |
| Resigning, time and leaving | Standard GoA player who resigns, runs out of time or leaves loses the game. | Team GoPartners share one clock, so time one of them uses is gone for both. If either partner resigns, lets the pair's time run out or leaves, the whole pair loses. |
| How to win | Standard GoHave more points than the opponent when both players pass. | Team GoThe pair with more points wins together, scored by the same rules and with the same komi for White as in standard Go. |
| Other options | Standard GoBoard size, scoring, komi, ko rule and handicap can be chosen, along with Capture Go, the toroidal board and Phantom Go. | Team GoEvery option combines with four players except Phantom Go, which is turned off whenever a table is set up for two pairs. |
History
Go played by teams on one board is called rengo in Japanese: two sides of two or more players each share a colour, and the members of each side take turns in a fixed order. The general form puts no limit on who may play together.
The best-known form today is a game for mixed pairs, each made up of one woman and one man. It was devised in Japan by Hisao Taki, who launched an international amateur championship for mixed pairs in Tokyo in December 1990. The championship has been held regularly since then, and in 2008 it was staged as part of the World Mind Sports Games in Beijing. Mixed pairs were also one of the three Go events at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, where South Korea's Park Jeong-hwan and Lee Seul-a won the gold medal.
The tournament rules for mixed pairs fix the order of play as Black's first player, White's first player, Black's second player, White's second player; they forbid partners from consulting; and in handicap games they let Black's first player place the stones, so that White's first player moves first. This table follows that order and those rules, but any four players may form the pairs.