[kqr]

The rules are simple and clear – their consequences are not.

The game ends when both players have passed in succession. Each player may pass whenever they want. That's it. It's super clear. Figuring out when you can safely pass? That takes years of study. But essentially it is a strategic decision, not part of the rules. You can pass throughout the entire game, it would just be a really dumb strategy.

Regular players make counting points more advanced than it has to be in the interest of speed (similar to how mental maths tricks can be very advanced ways of computing simple sums or products).

The score is determined by the number of pieces you can put down on the board. That's it. (From this follows, of course, that empty intersection your opponent has solidly surrounded is probably not going to count toward your score because your opponent can kill whatever you try to play in there.)