Tips pente

For the rules of pente, see GameHelpPente

Opening Strategy

Opening proposals for Swap and Swap2 pente should consider the following principles:

1. White has the advantage of playing first and is therefore the first player capable of making five in a row.

2. Stones which are all located near the center of the board generally favor white, because they allow room to expand in any direction. Stones placed strategically close to an edge or corner of the board can reduce white's first player advantage by limiting the directions in which white is able to build.

3. If white's stones are placed too far apart from each other and black's stone(s), black can often build potentials and shapes as though s(he) were white, because white will end up with at least one stranded stone which won't affect the game. As an extreme case, consider two white stones in opposite corners of the board with one black stone in the center. White's stones are both useless for defending against black, and black is essentially the first player with two moves in the center before white can defend.

4. If either player's stones are placed next to each other, they form a pair which can be threatened with a capture, which generally weakens the position for that player.

5. Diagonally aligned stones are generally weaker than horizontally and vertically aligned stones because there are fewer stone placements which create strong shapes available with a diagonal alignment.

6. Any opening proposal will favor one side or the other, so the goal is to find a reasonably balanced position which one is comfortable playing from either side of the board.

General Strategy

Fig. 1 Unless there is a specific reason (such as a capture, capture threat or an open 3) to block an open 3 on the side opposite a capture (g5), it's better to block on the side of the three where one will be captured (c5).

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If white plays to g5, black can play to b5 and force white to play to c5 anyway. Once black captures white's pair at b6, black has two aligned stones with b5 and b6.

What can happen if white doesn't immediately play into the capture at c5 in the illustration on the right (Fig. 1) is well illustrated by the demonstration of how the pawnbroker shape can be used in Pente at https://web.archive.org/web/20040131001542/www.playpente.com/pawnbroker.html

Pente for dummies thread at pente.org:

https://pente.org/gameServer/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=27&threadID=4553&tstart=0

Differences in Strategies Between Gomoku and Pente

Due to overlines not winning in gomoku, there are certain board positions which would be a win for one player in gomoku, but the other player would win in Pente. However, a far more common scenario which results in a position which is a win for one player in gomoku and the other player in Pente is the threat to capture a double keystone pair in combination with making a 3 (see Fig. 2). Ignoring the stone count on the board and just looking at the position after black's move to E6 in Fig 2, we can see that in gomoku white would win the game, but in Pente black has the win. For an example of how a position like this can arise in a Pente game, see https://web.archive.org/web/20040131001542/www.playpente.com/pawnbroker.html Boards illustrating these differences in who wins the game can also be found at https://pente.org/gameServer/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=27&threadID=232764

There are no draws in Pente unlike in gomoku, so a balanced opening proposal isn't possible for Pente.

Fig. 2 White would win in this position in gomoku by playing to b5, but in Pente black is able to threaten a double keystone pair (d5,c4) capture by moving to e6 and at the same time black is creating a 3. White is unable to address both threats.

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If white plays to b5 (winning on the next move in gomoku), black can capture at b3, breaking white's open line of 4 and simultaneously opening up 2 fours. If white protects the double keystone pair (d5,c4) by playing at b3 to prevent the capture, then black can play to d7 and win on the next move.

Due to the potential for a pair to be captured (or threatened with capture) in Pente, it is frequently the case in Pente that forming an x_x with two stones is a better option than creating an xx pair of stones. However, there are some cases where the creation of a pair of stones is correct in Pente; in general, Pente openings for white where white's best third move involves creating a pair will lead the game towards pair exchanges until white arrives at a favorable stone position after the pair exchanges.

For board/game examples and more tips regarding the differences between Pente and gomoku, see also https://pente.org/gameServer/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=27&threadID=232770

Fig. 3 This is an example of a somewhat rare situation where one color of stone would win in gomoku and the other color would win in Pente due to six in a row not being a winning formation in gomoku.

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In gomoku, white plays to a4, forcing black to play to b4. This effectively neutralizes one of black's open three threats (e7,f8,g9) because if black creates a four by playing to d6, the stone at b4 creates a non winning six in a row for black if black plays to c5 after white blocks the four at h10. Once black plays to b4, white can safely block black's other open three threat (e9,f8,g7) at h6, which creates a winning threat for white (white plays to g6 and creates two open 3 threats after black blocks white's first open three threat (h6,i7,k9).