SakataGo

SakataGo – Play Go offline with KataGo

Bring one of the world’s strongest Go AI engines, KataGo, directly to your iPhone or iPad — fully offline, no internet or servers required. Play, analyze, and improve your Go game anywhere, against AI opponents ranging from advanced beginner to professional and superhuman levels.


Key Highlights:

- Fully offline KataGo AI – play anywhere, anytime!
- Adjustable AI strength: from 10‑kyu to full KataGo strength
- Realistic board and stones: Hyuga Kaya boards with slate and clam shell stones
- Game analysis and hints: review moves, estimate territory, and check win rates
- SGF support: open, share, and store Go game files easily

Please note: The hardware of the iPad 7th generation from 2019/2020 (A10 Fusion chip) is not compatible with the human imitation modes in SakataGo. The app will have a weaker performance on these old devices.


Play & Learn

SakataGo combines the KataGo engine with powerful analysis tools:

- Step through games forward and backward, get AI hints, and see territory and win rate estimates
- See color indications for move quality when reviewing games (green, yellow, orange, red, and purple according to point loss)
- Store up to twenty positions in a review stack and cycle through them
- Continue playing from any review position, keeping the reviewed game stored or in the clipboard
- Choose between human imitation levels (10‑kyu to 9‑dan amateur) or full KataGo strength, based on current neural network models (2025/2026)
- Switch opponent strength, AI player and think times during a game to test different reactions


Main User Settings:

- AI Player (white, black, none, or both (self-play))
- Board size (9 x 9, 13 x 13, 19 x 19)
- Handicap and Komi adjustments
- Choice of Japanese or Chinese rules
- AI think time and hint calculation time
- Optional on-screen win rate and score display
- Select between two KataGo neural net models (small and large)
- Switch sound on or off


Realistic Design

- Enjoy a beautiful, natural board and stone setup, with slight imperfections for a realistic feel.
- SakataGo’s easy-to-use interface focuses on essentials so you can focus on playing and improving your game.


Game Sharing & SGF Support

- Open SGF files from the Files app, from the clipboard or via Share Extension
- Share games or positions via clipboard or compatible apps, or save to file
- Note: variants in SGF files are not supported; SakataGo’s main focus is offline AI gameplay and review. However, by using SakataGo's review stack and clipboard functionalities, you can easily play out variants and return to former positions.


Why "SakataGo"?

The app name was chosen both in honor of Eio Sakata (坂田 栄男, 1920-2010) and KataGo (*2019), combining the names of one of the leading professionals of the 20th century with today's leading Go playing AI.