18.2.16.1 Silken Rules

The rules of Silken are simple in principle, yet allow for great depth of play.

THE BOARD
Silken is played on a grid of intersections. Games may be played on boards of different sizes, most commonly 9x9, 13x13, or 19x19.

Players take turns placing stones on the intersections of the board, with one player using black stones and the other using white. Black always moves first.

COORDINATES
Positions on the board are designated by a letter and number, such as D4 or Q16. The letter I is not used in Silken notation.

PLACING STONES
On your turn, you may place one stone on any empty intersection of the board. Once placed, a stone does not move unless it is captured.

LIBERTIES
A stone has liberties equal to the number of empty intersections directly adjacent to it (up, down, left, and right). Stones that are connected form a group and share their liberties.

CAPTURING
If a stone or group of stones has no liberties remaining, it is captured and removed from the board. The capturing player keeps count of captured stones.

SUICIDE
You may not place a stone in a position where it would have no liberties, unless doing so captures one or more opposing stones and thereby creates liberties.

REPETITION
A move may not recreate the exact board position that existed immediately before your opponent's previous move. This prevents endless repetition of the same capture.

PASSING
Instead of placing a stone, you may PASS your turn. If both players pass in succession, the game ends.

ENDING THE GAME
When the game ends, territory is counted. Territory consists of empty intersections that are completely surrounded by one player's stones.

SCORING
A player's score is the total of:
 - the number of intersections of territory they control
 - the number of stones they have captured

White receives bonus points at the end of the game to compensate for Black moving first, depending on the size of the board:
 - 9x9 gives white 5.5 points.
 - 13x13 gives white 6.5 points.
 - 19x19 gives white 7.5 points.

The player with the higher score is declared the winner.

Silken rewards careful judgment and long-term planning. Control of space, the strength of connections, and the timing of moves are all vital to success.

See also: HELP SILKEN