Computers have led to a flourishing go community, with participants from around the world and all levels of expertise.

On Web sites, there is a wealth of infomation on go, ranging from its history, philosophy and the profiles of many strong players, to libraries of games, standard sequences and commentaries. There are also players who offer lessons for a fee.

Next week, I will provide a list of the most popular Internet sites and links. Some sites require a fee to play, while others are not available in English or Japanese. One site that is available for free and in many languages is Kiseido, at www.kiseido.com

Personally though, I prefer the atmosphere at go clubs. This is where you can actually see your opponent and discuss the game afterward. Lists of go clubs with addresses and telephone numbers can be found on the Internet by country or city.

The second step--part 2

Last week, we changed the rules of the game a little. First, we were set the task of capturing just one stone to win, then we needed to capture three stones for victory. After a few practice games, we can increase this to five or 10 stones.

A stone is captured by taking away its last liberty. Two or more stones can be captured by taking away their last liberty.

Diagram 1: Where should Black play to capture the four marked stones?

Diagram 2: The marked stones in Diagram 1 have only one liberty so black 1 is the right move as it takes that last liberty away.

Diagram 3: The marked white stones are in danger. Where should Black play to capture them?

Diagram 4: Black should play at 1. However, isn't it possible for White to capture black 1 by playing at 2?

Diagram 5: After White has captured the stone, the situation looks like this. Notice the three marked stones have only one liberty left.

Diagram 6: Therefore, with his next move (black 3), Black can capture the three marked stones.

This play in which one side (in this case, Black) sacrifices one stone to capture more at a later time is called "snapback." Needless to say, White shouldn't have captured the stone Black was offering.

Solutions to last week's problems

Solution 1A: Black's marked stones have only two liberties. White should play at 1 (or 3) to fill in one of Black's liberties. Then, even if Black threatens to capture White's surrounding stones with a move such as black 2, white 3 (or 1) takes the last liberty to capture Black's four stones.

Solution 1B: If Black captures with 2 in response to white 1, Black reduces the liberties of his group to one.

Solution 1C: Because of this, Black's five stones can be captured if White plays at 3. Notice that White doesn't even have to play at 3 right away as Black cannot escape. White can play there anytime he wishes.

Solution 2: The marked stones are on a collision course. Filling in the opponent's liberties as quickly as possible decides the outcome. White should play at 1, forcing Black to capture with 2. Next, White can play at 3 to reduce Black's liberties to only one. (The order of White's moves can be reversed.) Even if Black plays at A or B, White would take away Black's last liberty by playing at the spot where his stone was captured by black 2.

Solution 3: In this situation, it is again vital to reduce liberties. White 1 is the right move. Even if Black kills two white stones to create two liberties, White can next play at 1 to reduce Black's liberties to one. The Black stones are doomed.

Reference 1: White should not play at 1. Black will capture with 2. Now we arrive at the position as in Reference 2.

Reference 2: White cannot play at A or B to reduce Black's liberties to one. Look at the rule for capturing again: A stone is captured by taking away its last liberty. Neither A nor B achieves this objective. On the other hand, a White move at A or B is problematic, because that stone has no liberties. In other words, it would be suicide to play there, and this is forbidden by the rules.

Next week, I will discuss a little more about the natural consequences of the rule for capturing stones, or you can find out tomorrow at Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba (Tel: 3202-2445 or www.benscafe.com) where the English-speaking go community (Japanese also welcome) congregates every Sunday starting at 11 a.m. You can enjoy free lessons until 1 p.m.

Rob van Zeijst is a four-time European champion and European representative at the Fujitsu World Championship.