Playing Go with a friend
Go handles unequal strength better than almost any other board game. The weaker player takes Black and places handicap stones before play begins — roughly one per rank of difference — which turns a mismatch into a real contest instead of a demonstration. Add a clock with different settings for each side and a teaching game becomes genuinely competitive for both people.
The handicap system
Go ranks are calibrated so that one rank equals one handicap stone. A 12-kyu player against a 7-kyu player is five ranks apart, so Black takes five stones and the game is, in principle, even.
| Difference | Handicap | Komi |
|---|---|---|
| Even strength | None | White receives komi (commonly 6.5) |
| 1 rank | Black plays first, no extra stones | Reduced or no komi |
| 2–9 ranks | 2–9 stones, placed on the star points | None |
Handicap stones go on the marked star points in a conventional order. Beyond nine stones the board runs out of star points and the gap is usually better addressed with a smaller board.
What makes this work is that the stones are not merely a bonus — they change the character of the game. Black starts with influence everywhere and must learn to keep it; White must start fights and complicate matters. Both players are practising something worth practising.
Timing a teaching game
Handicap stones equalise the board. They do nothing about the clock — and a stronger player usually also thinks faster, so an even time control quietly hands them a second advantage.
The fix is a time handicap, which is standard practice in Go and needs a clock that supports genuinely independent settings per player:
- Different main times. 30 minutes for the student, 15 for the teacher. Simple and effective.
- Different period counts. Both on byo-yomi, but five periods for the student and three for the teacher. This is the gentler option, because it does not rush the teacher's explanations.
- Different systems entirely. The student on byo-yomi with a guaranteed floor per move, the teacher on Fischer with a budget. Unusual, but coherent.
In Byoyomi Timer each side is configured separately — system, main time, period length, period count — so any of these is a normal setup rather than a workaround.
One phone between two players
The practical arrangement is the same as with a physical clock. Lay the phone flat at the side of the board, within reach of both players. The screen is split into two halves facing opposite directions, so each player reads their own clock upright without leaning across.
Each player presses the half facing them after playing their stone. The tap zones are deliberately large — you should be able to press without looking away from the board, which is much of the point.
Before you start: keep the phone plugged in or well charged for a long game (the app keeps the screen awake, which uses power), turn silent mode off if you want the spoken countdown, and agree who is Black.
What to play, by situation
| Situation | Board | Time control |
|---|---|---|
| Both new to Go | 9 × 9 | None, or 10 min sudden death |
| Teaching a beginner | 9 × 9 or 13 × 13 | None — explanation takes time |
| Friendly game, similar strength | 19 × 19 | 20 min + 5 × 30 s byo-yomi |
| Serious game, 3–5 ranks apart | 19 × 19 with handicap | Byo-yomi, more periods for the weaker player |
| Quick game before closing time | 13 × 13 | 5 min + 3 × 10 s byo-yomi |
For a genuine teaching game, consider leaving the clock off entirely. Its purpose is fairness under competitive pressure; in a lesson, that pressure is the thing you are trying to remove.
Counting together at the end
Two passes in a row end the game and the clock stops for counting — that is what the pass buttons on the clock face are for. Counting with someone learning is worth doing slowly and out loud: fill in the neutral points, arrange prisoners into the opponent's territory, then count the remaining empty points in tidy rectangles.
Beginners routinely find that a game they thought was lost is close, or vice versa. That gap between feeling and score is the most useful lesson of the session.
Turn your iPhone into a real Go clock
Byoyomi Timer plays every Go time system — byo-yomi, Canadian overtime, Fischer bonus time, Ing — and reads the seconds aloud like a human timekeeper.
Coming soon to the App Store