The Game of Go Go is considered the world's most ancient board game, being played virtually the same way today as it was 4,000 years ago. The game was developed in China ( where it is known as "wei chi" ) and spread to Korea ( called there "baduk" ) and then to Japan ( called there "go" or "igo" ) over 1,000 years ago. It is an apparently simple game, but in fact is far more complex than any other game, including Chess. 2 players take turns placing Black and White stones on the intersections of a 19x19 grid ( though many people also play on 9x9 and 13x13 grids ). The point of the game is to control more of the board ( "territory" ) than your opponent, while at the same time trying to "kill" your opponent's stones and keeping your opponent from killing your stones.