The quickest way to improve at gomoku is not playing more games. It is looking back at the games you have already played. A single lost game, examined for five minutes, usually teaches more than five new games played in a hurry. This site makes that easy: sign in with your email and your games are saved, ready to replay move by move whenever you like.
Signing in takes one email
Open the account page and enter your email address. The site sends you a six-digit code. Type it in and you are signed in. There is no password to remember and no profile to fill out. Your email is used only to sign you in; nobody else sees it, and nobody else sees your games.
Once signed in, games you finish against the computer on the home page and against people on the online page are saved automatically.
What if I played before signing in?
If you finish an online game while not signed in, the site keeps it on your device and offers a link to sign in and save it. After you sign in, the pending game is saved to your account. Games that were cancelled before both players moved are not saved, because there is nothing to review.
Replaying a game
Your account page lists your saved games with the result, the date and the number of moves. Open one and you see the final position with buttons to step through it: back to the start, one move back, one move forward, to the end. You can also tap any move in the list to jump straight to it.
Finding the turning point
A game of gomoku usually has one moment that decided it: the move where a double threat first became possible, or the move where a defender spent a stone on something harmless and let the attacker through. Finding that moment is the whole purpose of review.
A simple method:
- Jump to the end and look at the winning line or double threat.
- Step back until the landing point of that double threat was still empty.
- Keep stepping back until the two lines that met there were still small. That is usually where the loser could have acted.
- Ask what the loser played at that moment instead. Very often it was a block of something less important.
Do the same for wins: find where your winning idea began, and check whether the opponent could have stopped it.
What to look for in your own games
When you review several games, patterns emerge. Common ones are:
- Missed diagonals. If many losses end on diagonals, add a separate diagonal check to your routine. See diagonal vision.
- Split threes. If you often miss lines with a gap, count stones within five points, not just touching stones.
- Wasted fours. If your attacks fizzle, you may be spending fours without follow-ups.
- Harmless blocks. If the opponent often gets free moves, you may be blocking closed threes and twos too eagerly. See block early or late.
A worked review
Imagine a lost game as O. You jump to the end: X won with a four-three on the right side of the centre. You step back and see that the landing point, the stone that created both threats, was empty for four moves before X used it. You step back further and find that one of the two lines was a split three on a diagonal, which you had not counted as a three at all. And on the move when that split three appeared, you had blocked a closed three on the left side of the board that was never going to become dangerous.
That review takes two minutes and gives you three lessons: count split threes, check diagonals after every move, and do not spend stones on closed threes while the opponent is building. Write down the one that feels most important and focus on it in your next session.
Using review against the computer
Games against the computer are especially good for review because the computer plays consistently. When it beats you, the turning point is almost always a real mistake rather than bad luck. If the same kind of mistake appears in three reviews in a row, you have found the most valuable thing to practise.
Reviewing with a friend
If you play a friend through an invite link and both of you are signed in, you each have the game saved. Replaying it together over a call or side by side is one of the most enjoyable ways to learn: two people looking at the same moment see more than one.
Rules and review
The saved game keeps the moves; when you replay, remember which rule setting you played under. Under the Vietnamese blocked ends rule, a five that is closed at both ends by the opponent's stones does not win, and the board edge never counts as a block. Under freestyle, any five wins. Some turning points only make sense once you remember which rule was in play.
Keeping your data under control
Your account page also has a button to delete your account. Deleting it removes your saved games and your sign-in permanently. You can also sign out at any time; signing out on one of the sites in the network signs you out everywhere.
Making review a habit
Review works best when it is short and regular. A good rhythm is one quick review after each session: pick the most painful loss of the day, find its turning point, and move on. Once a week, look over several games and note the pattern that repeats. After a month, the list of repeated mistakes will be noticeably shorter.
Review for children
For children, reviewing can turn a disappointing loss into a small discovery. Sit together, step back through the game and ask them to find the moment where the other side's line became dangerous. Keep it light: the goal is to notice patterns, not to judge. Many children enjoy spotting the move where they could have blocked, and the next game shows it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a password to save my gomoku games?
No. You sign in with your email and a six-digit code sent to it.
Are games against the computer saved too?
Yes, when you are signed in and the game has at least a couple of moves.
Can other people see my saved games?
No. Only you can see your email and your games.
What happens to a game I finished before signing in?
For online games, the site keeps it on your device and saves it once you sign in.
Can I delete my account and games?
Yes. The account page has a delete button that removes everything permanently.
