There is an abundance of go software available to support players of the game of Go. This includes

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

programs that play Go themselves, programs that can be used to view and/or edit game records and diagrams, programs that allow the user to search for patterns in the games of strong players and programs that allow users to play against each other over the Internet.

Go playing programs

With the advent of

AlphaGo AlphaGo is a computer program that plays the board game Go. It was developed by DeepMind Technologies a subsidiary of Google (now Alphabet Inc.). Subsequent versions of AlphaGo became increasingly powerful, including a version that competed u ...

in 2016, computer programs can beat top professional players on the standard 19x19 board. A more in depth look into Go playing programs and the research behind them can be found in the article on

computer Go Computer Go is the field of artificial intelligence (AI) dedicated to creating a computer program that plays the traditional board game Go. The field is sharply divided into two eras. Before 2015, the programs of the era were weak. The best ...

Recording

There are several file formats used to store game records, the most popular of which is the Smart Game Format (SGF). Programs used for editing game records allow the user to record not just the moves, but also variations, commentary and further information on the game.

Databases

Electronic databases can be used to study life and death situations, '' joseki'', ''

fuseki ''Fuseki'' (Japanese: ; ) is the whole board opening in the game of Go. Characteristics Less systematic Since each move is typically isolated and unforced (i.e. not a sente move), patterns for play on the whole board have seen much less sy ...

'' and games by a particular player. Available programs give players pattern searching options, which allows a player to research positions by searching for high level games in which similar situations occur. Such software will generally list common follow up moves that have been played by professionals, and give statistics on win–loss ratio in opening situations.

Internet servers and clients

Many Internet-based Go servers allow access to competition with players all over the world. Such servers also allow easy access to

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

teaching, with both teaching games and interactive game review being possible. The first Go server that started operating is the Internet Go Server (IGS), which began service in 1992Jim Z. Yu ''A Brief History of IGS, the Early Years''
1992
&

Retrieved on 2007-12-11 and is still active today. Several other servers, all with the same basic server-client architecture, followed. Such servers required players to download a client program, and many such programs were therefore developed for a wide range of platforms. Around 2000, Kiseido publishing started the Kiseido Go Server (KGS), which allowed players to play without downloading a client by utilizing a

Java applet Java applets were small applications written in the Java programming language, or another programming language that compiles to Java bytecode, and delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. The user launched the Java applet from a ...

in the

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

. This server quickly became popular and still is today. IGS and KGS were the most popular real-time go servers for the English speaking audience. Online Go Server (OGS) and Dragon Go Server (DGS) Dragon Go Server
/ref> were the most popular turn-based go servers.

Notes

External links