Ending the Game

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In Go, games normally end in two ways. Either one player decides the game is hopeless and resigns, in which case the opponent is immediately the winner, or the players pass when they feel all necessary moves have been played, and then the game is scored using the predecided scoring method (see our scoring section for more details).

As this is a turn based server, it is also common to have wins by a third method, timeout. When a player's clock runs out of time, their opponent has the option to "claim" the win by timeout, which in effect gives the same instant victory that a timeout would. It is very important that you only start or join games that you feel you have the time to commit to, as it is very frustrating for the opponent when the game ends by timeout, especially when a number of moves have been made by that point.

Once the life and death status of all the groups is settled the game enters its final phase - called the "Endgame". During this phase the players must seal the boundaries of all their territories to allow the score to be calculated correctly. When all the boundaries are sealed there is no point in making further moves and so both players will pass their moves - signalling the end of the game. It is vital to make sure that all the boundaries are sealed and all Ko situations resolved before passing as otherwise the score will be wrong. During the endgame there is limited scope to increase the size of your own territories or reduce those of your opponent. However if the game is close the outcome is often decided at this stage. When the game is not close experienced players will be aware of the fact since they will have been estimating the score every few moves. In this situation it is usual for the losing player to resign rather than complete the game.

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