Openings

Openings

The Gomoku Opening as the Second Player: How O Survives the First Ten Moves and Takes Back the Initiative

A practical guide to the opening as O: where to answer, which blocks also build, how to deny X's crossing points, and when to strike back with your own threats.

29/09/2026 5 min read

Openings

Gomoku Opening Principles: Seven Rules for the First Ten Moves That Work in Freestyle and Vietnamese Caro

Seven practical principles for the first ten moves of a gomoku game: centre, compact shape, crossing lines, space and tempo, for both X and O.

28/09/2026 5 min read

Openings

Early Traps in Gomoku: Five Opening Situations Where One Careless Move Loses the Game Before Move Fifteen

Five early gomoku traps that catch beginners again and again: the hidden diagonal, the gap three, the wasted block, the far reply and the early four.

28/09/2026 5 min read

Openings

Direct and Indirect Openings in Gomoku: What the Second Move Decides and How Each Shape Develops

The two basic answers to a centre start — beside it or diagonal to it — how renju names them, and what each one means for the next few moves.

28/09/2026 5 min read

Openings

Why Gomoku Starts in the Centre: The Maths of Potential Fives and What Happens If You Start Elsewhere

Why almost every gomoku game starts on h8: counting potential fives through each point, what off-centre starts cost, and how to answer an unusual first move.

28/09/2026 5 min read

Openings

Building Good Shape Early in Gomoku: Twos, Triangles and Crosses That Turn Into Threats Later

What good early shape looks like in gomoku: useful twos, triangles and crosses, why they produce threats later, and which shapes waste your moves.

28/09/2026 5 min read