Tournament and match rules deal with factors that may influence the game but are not part of the actual rules of play. Such rules may differ between events. Rules that influence the game include: the setting of compensation points (komi), handicap strategies, and time control parameters. Rules that do not generally influence the game are: the tournament system, pairing strategies, and placement criteria.

Common tournament systems used in Go include the McMahon system, Swiss system, league systems and the knockout system. Tournaments may combine multiple systems; many professional Go tournaments use a combination of the league and knockout systems.

Tournament rules may also set the following:

- compensation points, called komi, which compensate the second player for the first move advantage of his opponent; tournaments commonly use a compensation in the range of 5?8 points, generally including a half-point to prevent draws;
- compensation stones placed on the board before alternate play, allowing players of different strengths to play competitively (see Go handicap for more information); and
- superko: Although the basic ko rule described above covers more than 95% of all cycles occurring in games, there are some complex situations?triple ko, eternal life, etc.?that are not covered by it but would allow the game to cycle indefinitely. To prevent this, the ko rule is sometimes extended to disallow the repetition of any previous position. This extension is called superko.