Go is a 2 player game that originates from the orient. It is one of the oldest games known, approximately 4000 years. Unlike shogi and Chinese chess, there is no parallel game in the west. This makes learning the game somewhat difficult to grasp, though the rules are simple and logical.
Go is a very chanllenging game. The rules are simpler than chess, yet the game is no less complex.
Go is an abstract game based on the concept that if you possess land or territory, you have an area to base life on. You then have liberty and freedom. Without land or territory, you do not have anything to base lif on. Then you can be considered without life, or dead.
Go is therefore a game of territory and not movement. You win by forming walls within your pieces that surround more territory than do your opponent's walls. When a piece or "stone" is placed on the board, it stays there for the entire game, unless it is captured. Then the stone is removed from the board. But capturing is not as common and being captured is not nearly as detrimental to ones cause as in most western games, like chess and checkers.