First Steps

Never played Go? Start here.

Learn Go one small step at a time. Short lessons teach you the rules on a real board. Place the stones yourself, see what happens, and move on when you're ready.

JamsGo characters gathered around a Go board on a picnic mat
Courses

Step-by-step courses

  1. 1

    Intro 1 · Learn the rules

    Placing stones, liberties, atari, capturing

  2. 2

    Intro 2 · Capture stones

    Spotting atari, making atari, capturing, forbidden points

  3. 3

    Intro 3 · Save your stones

    Escaping, connecting, cutting, ko

  4. 4

    Intro Review

    Go over everything from the intro courses

  5. 5

    Beginner courses

    Telling whether a group is alive or dead, and more

First Steps course list
How lessons work

Learn by doing

Each lesson shows a position on the board with a simple explanation. Try the move yourself, and the board shows you what happens.

Example: “Can you capture right away? (Ko)” – learn why you can't take back a stone immediately in a ko, and what to do instead.

A First Steps lesson explaining ko

Progress at your own pace

Your progress is saved, and you can replay any course.

Bite-sized lessons

Each step takes only a minute or two.

Ready for the next challenge

Finish the courses and move on to Life & Death problems and AI matches.