I am very frustrated that we are STILL discussing a 13X13 board. There is no such game! you say

"Dmitri...Official rules or not? Is Keryo supposed to be played on 19x19 board? the game is complicated enough on the 13x13 board!....the edge can be used, which has a advantage and a disadvantage...."

The 19X19 board (the CORRECT ONE) does not make the game any more complicated, it just makes the game function better. Running out of room is NOT supposed to be part of the game, that just isn't what it is about!

As for your stats.. I had a bit of trouble following what you were saying. Were those your IYT stats? I have to disagree with your assessment that the advantage of going first is slim. It is huge! player 1 has an extra stone! it only takes three stones to take the iniattive if not defensded, whereas two stones cannot provide a serious threat. So, after 5 stones, player 2 is defending the 3 stones player 1 has, and then player 1 places a 4th stone, andp layer 2 is trying to stay alive, etc.

As for Pro pente, the advantage of player 1 is huge. at IYT, I was something like 160-6 as player 1 in my last 166 games. $ of those 6 llosses were careless screwups of the misclick variety in games where I had a winning line worked out but carelessly misplayed it. My win% as player 2 is nowhere near that 96 or 97% percent that it is wiht player 1. when top players meet, they often split, as has happened in the October Main IYT tournament. but for mid level and lower level players, the advantage is not as great.