diff --git a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/Board.java b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/Board.java
index 10dc4062b..8239be7ff 100644
--- a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/Board.java
+++ b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/Board.java
@@ -519,9 +519,12 @@ public void place(int x, int y, Stone color, boolean newBranch, boolean changeMo
       Stone[] stones = history.getStones().clone();
       Zobrist zobrist = history.getZobrist();
       Optional<int[]> lastMove = Optional.of(new int[] {x, y});
+      boolean isNewSubBranch =
+          newBranch && (history.getCurrentHistoryNode().numberOfChildren() > 0);
+      boolean isMissingMoveMNNumber = history.getMoveMNNumber() < 0;
       int moveNumber = history.getMoveNumber() + 1;
       int moveMNNumber =
-          !newBranch || history.getData().firstBranch ? history.getMoveMNNumber() + 1 : 1;
+          isNewSubBranch ? 1 : isMissingMoveMNNumber ? -1 : history.getMoveMNNumber() + 1;
       int[] moveNumberList =
           newBranch && history.getNext(true).isPresent()
               ? new int[Board.boardWidth * Board.boardHeight]
diff --git a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/BoardData.java b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/BoardData.java
index f26e065fc..668f5bcac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/BoardData.java
+++ b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/BoardData.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ public class BoardData {
   public boolean verify;
 
   public double winrate;
-  public boolean firstBranch;
   private int playouts;
   public int engineIndex;
   public double komi;
diff --git a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/SGFParser.java b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/SGFParser.java
index 46a42acb0..aea2e7c63 100644
--- a/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/SGFParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/featurecat/lizzie/rules/SGFParser.java
@@ -168,7 +168,6 @@ private static BoardHistoryList parseValue(
     String blackPlayer = "", whitePlayer = "";
     String blackPlayerRank = "", whitePlayerRank = "";
 
-    int previousDepth = -1;
     // Support unicode characters (UTF-8)
     for (int i = 0; i < value.length(); i++) {
       char c = value.charAt(i);
@@ -184,8 +183,6 @@ private static BoardHistoryList parseValue(
           if (!inTag) {
             subTreeDepth += 1;
             // Initialize the step count
-            Lizzie.board.getData().firstBranch = previousDepth < subTreeDepth;
-            previousDepth = subTreeDepth;
             subTreeStepMap.put(subTreeDepth, 0);
             addPassForMove = true;
             pendingProps = new HashMap<String, String>();