mirror go

A.k.a. mane-go, imitation go. When one side, White or, after first playing on the centre point of the board, Black, copies the moves of the other by playing symmetrically opposite the preceding move. Mirror go is perfectly legal although perhaps not in the spirit of fair play! It can be defeated by instigating any symmetrically centred circular capturing sequence or any sequence that captures the board's centre point stone as in the example shown in the diagram. However, when playing such a sequence, care must be taken not to cause the capture of one's own stones and not to give, at any point, an advantage to the opponent such that he can profitably break off the mirror play.