Go Moku | Territory Games

Players take turns in marking squares on a grid. The first player to get five squares in a row wins.

Description

The game is played on a large piece of squared paper, at least 15 x 15. The players take turns in marking a square with their symbol (eg O and X). The first player to get five squares in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, wins.

Variations

The game can also be played with black and white counters on a large board, such as a Go board.
In the basic game the first player has an advantage, so a number of rules have been introduced to reduce this:

• Overlines rule: Only a row of exactly five squares wins; rows of six of more, called overlines, do not count.
• Three and Three rule: A move must not simultaneously create two open rows of three squares (rows not blocked at either end by an opponent's square).
• Four and Four rule: A move must not simultaneously create two rows of four squares, whether blocked or not.
• These restrictions are sometimes only applied to the first player.

History

The game has been known under a number of different names, including Five in a Row, Go Bang, and Pegit.
Go-Moku is from the Japanese "go moku narabe", meaning "five piece line-up". It was introduced into Britain in the 19th century as Go Bang, probably a corruption of Go Ban, the name of the table used for playing Go.

Example

The following example shows a typical game won by the first player

Tags: Pencil and Paper games,Territory Games