Yose (Mind Loft)

Yose is the Japanese word for the endgame of Go, the part of the game after the big fights when the borders are settled and the last few points are shared out. Mind Loft, a free site of daily browser games, sets one such position each day. Boards change size from day to day: on October 3, 2026 it was 8x8 with 10 open points and a komi of 3.5, and on October 21 it was 7x7 with 8 open points and a komi of minus 7.5, where you had to finish no more than 7 behind. In each case perfect play wins by half a point.

The skill is order. Every open point is worth something, but a move that forces an answer keeps the turn, and the side that keeps the turn takes the next point too. That is why the biggest point on the board is so often the wrong one to play first.

Every board is solved to the last stone, ko included, and on most days exactly one first move keeps the win. White answers every move at once and perfectly. There is no take-back: a restart counts as a loss, and the leaderboard ranks players on how many attempts the win took, then on time. A hint rings three points, one of which wins. You pass when nothing is worth playing, and two passes end the game, which is then counted by area.

A new position goes up at midnight US Eastern Time, and Sundays bring the Sunday Edition, the biggest or hardest board of the week. Mind Loft groups Yose with its other endgame dailies, among them Turn (Othello), Four (Connect Four), Mate and Defend (chess) and Chain (dots and boxes).