Gomoku

Setup

• Players: two: you and a bot. One plays black and the other white.
• Board: a grid of 15 by 15 points, with five dots as guides.
• Stones: black and white, one placed on an empty point each turn.
• Opening: Classic uses Swap2, described in the steps below.

How to play

1. 1The first player sets three stones. Black, then white, then black, on any empty points. Pick points that make the position fair.
2. 2The second player chooses. Play black, play white (and place the next stone), or set two more stones, one black then one white.
3. 3If two more stones were set. The first player then chooses black or white, and black moves next.
4. 4Then take turns. The colours alternate, one stone a turn. Stones never move and are never captured.
5. 5Make exactly five. Five of your colour in a straight line wins. In Classic, six or more in a line does not.
6. 6Answer every four. If the other colour makes four with an open end, place there at once, or they win.

Winning

Be the first to line up exactly five of your colour, across, down or on a diagonal. If the board fills first, the game is a draw.

Scoring

Classic: a line of exactly five wins, and six or more does not. Freestyle: five or more wins. A line only counts if it is straight, across, down or on a diagonal, and all five stones are yours.

Key terms

Five in a row:

Five stones of one colour in a straight line. It wins.

Four:

Four stones in a line with an open point to make five.

Open three:

Three in a line with room at both ends. It can become an open four.

Open four:

Four in a line with both ends open. It can’t be stopped.

Overline:

Six or more in a line. It does not win in Classic.

Swap2:

The opening where the second player may choose a colour or add two stones.

Freestyle:

The mode where five or more in a line wins.