What is passing in Go?

Verdict

A player who passes gives the opponent a pass stone, which counts as a prisoner (AGA Rule 7); Pass stones — handed to the opponent when passing — are what keep AGA territory scoring and area scoring in agreement (AGA Rules 7, 12); White must make the last move, an additional pass if necessary, so...

Source: Rule 7, Rule 11 — American Go Association

Why people argue about this

People often assume that passing is just about transferring control of a stone from one player's side of the board to another, but they overlook the crucial part where it counts as a pass stone, which gets captured and affects territory scoring in AGA rules. The confusion arises because passing isn't merely a transfer; it’s a strategic move with significant implications for game outcome.

Send this to your friend — argument over.

4. Gameplay

Making a Move

Players alternate. A move is either placing one stone of your colour on any empty intersection, or passing (AGA Rule 2)
Passing is always legal, even when legal placements exist (AGA Rule 2)
Stones do not move once placed — they are only removed by capture (AGA Rule 5)

Liberties, Strings & Capture

Adjacent stones of the same colour form a string and share their liberties (AGA Rule 5)
A liberty is an empty point orthogonally adjacent to a stone in the string (AGA Rule 5)
A string with no remaining liberties is captured and removed from the board as prisoners (AGA Rule 5)
Suicide is illegal — you may not play a stone that would leave your own string without liberties, unless the play captures first (AGA Rule 5)

The Ko Rule

It is illegal to play so as to recreate a previous board position from the game with the same player to move (AGA Rule 6)
This is a positional superko: it covers the classic single-point ko and also longer repeating cycles (AGA Rule 6)
In practice a player facing a ko must play elsewhere (a ko threat) before recapturing

Passing

A player who passes gives the opponent a pass stone, which counts as a prisoner (AGA Rule 7)
Pass stones — handed to the opponent when passing — are what keep AGA territory scoring and area scoring in agreement (AGA Rules 7, 12)
White must make the last move, an additional pass if necessary, so both players have played or passed an equal number of stones (AGA Rule 11)

4. Gameplay

Making a Move

Players alternate. A move is either placing one stone of your colour on any empty intersection, or passing (AGA Rule 2)

Passing is always legal, even when legal placements exist (AGA Rule 2)

Stones do not move once placed — they are only removed by capture (AGA Rule 5)

Liberties, Strings & Capture

Adjacent stones of the same colour form a string and share their liberties (AGA Rule 5)

A liberty is an empty point orthogonally adjacent to a stone in the string (AGA Rule 5)

A string with no remaining liberties is captured and removed from the board as prisoners (AGA Rule 5)

Suicide is illegal — you may not play a stone that would leave your own string without liberties, unless the play captures first (AGA Rule 5)

The Ko Rule

It is illegal to play so as to recreate a previous board position from the game with the same player to move (AGA Rule 6)

This is a positional superko: it covers the classic single-point ko and also longer repeating cycles (AGA Rule 6)

In practice a player facing a ko must play elsewhere (a ko threat) before recapturing

Passing

A player who passes gives the opponent a pass stone, which counts as a prisoner (AGA Rule 7)

Pass stones — handed to the opponent when passing — are what keep AGA territory scoring and area scoring in agreement (AGA Rules 7, 12)

White must make the last move, an additional pass if necessary, so both players have played or passed an equal number of stones (AGA Rule 11)

Passing