I know there is plenty of info out there about calculating the score at the end of the game, and I've read it all. However, I'm playing with the smartgo app on ipad, and when the game ends, the computer is saying it wins and I'm just not understanding. I think if I upload a screen shot of the most recent game and someone can explain to me how the score was calculated, it would help a lot.

Smartgo thinks all your white stones in the bottom right are dead. Apparently it isn't doing a good job of marking that.

One of the tricky wrinkles for new players is that if both players believe stones are dead, they are removed from the board without any moves being played.

Here's a diagram to make it a bit easier to discuss:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X X X X X |
$$ | . O O O X X O O O |
$$ | . . O O O X X X O |
$$ | . . O X O X O O O |
$$ | . . O X X X X O O |
$$ | . . O X X X X X O |
$$ | . O O O X O O O O |
$$ | O . O X X X O . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

If I were black in this position I would play here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X X X X X |
$$ | . O O O X X O O O |
$$ | . . O O O X X X O |
$$ | . . O X O X O O O |
$$ | . . O X X X X O O |
$$ | . . O X X X X X O |
$$ | . O O O X O O O O |
$$ | O . O X X X O 1 . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

How would you respond?

And SmartGo is correct, Dustin, your group is dead -- just to make it clear to you.

Hi Dww0057,
In order to count the score, we would need to know the rule used, if there were handicap stones and how many, and the value of the komi.

Let's assume you played Japanese rules.

First, there are 27 black stones visible on the board and 32 white stones. Thus, during the game, white must have captured 5 stones more than black.

Second, the white group at right side is dead, as it has only one internal eye, and the surrounding black stones are all alive. Therefore the whole right side counts for black: 15 captures + 15 points of territory beneath the captured stones + 2 extra points of territory = 32.

Black has 5 points additional territory at upper right; thus in total black has 37 points.

White has only territory at the left side, which amounts 15 points. We can now add 5 points for considering the difference in captured stones. Additionally, white gets 6.5 points of komi in compensation for black getting the first move. In total this amounts 26.5 points for white.

In summary, black won this game by 10.5 points - as indicated by the go app.

Wow- what a healthy, helpful community! Thank you so much, everyone. I don't know where this game has been all my life, but I'm hooked!

Welcome!

_________________
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At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

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Everything with love. Stay safe.

In addition, it is important to understand that if you just consider the number of intersections that belongs to each player (with stones on them, or surrounded by stones), among the 9x9 = 81 intersections of the board, White has 32 ones, while Black has 49 ones. If you add the komi to this number, you get White = 38.5 points, Black = 49 points, which is 10.5 more that White.

These two points of view, empty intersections + prisoners versus occupied intersections + empty intersection, are nearly equivalent.
The first one is the official reference in japanese and korean rules.
The second one is the official reference in chinese, Ing and AGA rules, to cite the main ones.

Depending on the situation, it can be more convenient to use one or the other to evaluate the situation during the game. If you want a rough estimation, try to guess who's getting the largest part of the board, and forget prisoners. If you want an accurate estimation, try to guess how many empty intersections will be surrounded, and add the dead stones.