The Endgame (Yose)
The endgame — yose in Japanese — is the final stage of a Go game, when the big frameworks are settled and both players close off the borders between their areas. It looks quiet, but more close games are lost here than anywhere else, because the endgame is pure points and easy to misplay.
Play a game
No account required — start in seconds.
What the endgame is
By the endgame, life and death is mostly decided and no huge open areas remain. What's left is a series of boundary plays — each worth a handful of points — that decide exactly where one player's territory ends and the other's begins. Playing these in the right order is worth many points over a full game.
Sente endgame comes first
The golden rule of the endgame is to play your sente moves — the ones your opponent must answer — before your gote ones. A sente endgame move lets you take the point and keep the initiative, so you get to play the next boundary too. Spend your sente moves while they still work, then take the biggest gote point.
Counting the value of a move
Strong endgame play means comparing moves by how many points they're worth and whether they're sente or gote. You don't need perfect math: even roughly estimating that one boundary is worth more than another, and playing the bigger one first, will win you games that a move-by-move drift would lose.
Frequently asked questions
- What is yose in Go?
- Yose is the Japanese term for the endgame — the final stage where players settle the boundaries between their territories. Each move is worth a set number of points, and playing them in the right order matters a lot.
- Which endgame moves should I play first?
- Play sente moves first — the ones your opponent has to answer — because they let you keep the initiative. After your sente moves are used, take the largest gote (non-forcing) point available.
- How much can the endgame change the result?
- A lot. Close games are often decided by a few points in the endgame. Playing boundary moves in a good order, rather than randomly, routinely swings games that were otherwise even.
Ready to play?
Open the board and start a free game now.