Gomoku: five stones in a row

📝 Special Statement

Gomoku: Five Stones in a Row—The Ancient Art of Strategic Alignment ♟️🧠

Prepare to delve into a deceptively simple yet profoundly challenging game of ancient strategy! Gomoku: Five Stones in a Row is a pure, classic board logic game for two players that has captivated thinkers for over two millennia. Often considered a simpler cousin to the game of Go, Gomoku (also known as Renju in some variations) is a battle of foresight where the goal is clear: dominate the board with a perfect alignment.

The Fundamentals: Stones, Board, and Victory

The game is played on a square board marked with intersecting points, not squares, where the pieces are placed.

• The Board Size: You can play on the large traditional version with a size of $19 \times 19$ points, or the quicker, more focused modern sports version of $15 \times 15$ points.
• The Play: Players alternately place stones of two colors (typically black and white).
• The Goal: The winner is the one who is the first to build a continuous row of five stones of his color—achieved either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

A Game of Ancient Origin and Modern Competition

Gomoku is believed to have been invented in China more than two thousand years ago, making it one of the oldest known board games in history. Its enduring popularity speaks to the perfect balance of accessibility and complexity.

While the core rule is simple (get five in a row), the game's depth comes from the endless possibilities of the open board and the necessity of both offense and defense. A key aspect of high-level play is blocking your opponent's "threes" and "fours" while simultaneously setting up your own winning threats.

The game is now known all over the world, and sporting competitions are held based on it, often using specific rulesets (like Renju's restrictions for the first player) to balance the game.

Rule Variations and Strategic Depth

The beauty of Gomoku is that it has many options, differing in individual details of the rules. These variations are often introduced to eliminate the strong advantage the first player typically has on an open board:

• Free Gomoku: The most basic version where the first player's advantage is strongest.
• Renju: Introduces restrictions like forbidding the first player from creating "three-three" (two open lines of three stones) or "four-four" (two open lines of four stones) and "overlines" (more than five stones in a row).

Are you ready to test your foresight and become the master of the five-stone line?

📋 Instructions