What is Freestyle Gomoku?
Freestyle Gomoku is the simplest form of five in a row. Black and White take turns placing one stone on an empty point of a 15×15 board, and the first player to make an unbroken line of five or more stones of their colour, across, down or diagonally, wins.
The only difference from standard Gomoku is the overline. In standard Gomoku a line must be exactly five stones long, so six or more in a row does not win. In Freestyle any line of at least five wins, so filling the gap between a three and a two to make six is just as good as making five.
Everything else is the same: Black moves first, there are no forbidden moves, and a full board with no winning line is a draw. You can combine Freestyle with the Swap or Swap2 opening in the table setup.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Gomoku | Freestyle Gomoku |
|---|---|---|
| How to win | Standard GomokuMake an unbroken line of exactly five stones. | Freestyle GomokuMake an unbroken line of five or more stones. |
| Six or more in a row | Standard GomokuAllowed, but it does not win. | Freestyle GomokuWins, like any line of five. |
| Draws | Standard GomokuThe board fills up with no winning line. | Freestyle GomokuThe same, though with overlines counting a draw is even rarer. |
History
Five in a row on a Go board was played in Japan by the Edo period, and the oldest book about it that survives dates from 1856. The early game had none of the later restrictions: any row of five won, which is the freestyle game. The Japanese name, gomokunarabe, means "five stones in a row", and the same game is played as wuziqi in China and omok in Korea.
As players got stronger, they found that the first player has a large advantage. Renju added restrictions on Black, and standard Gomoku counts only exactly five. Freestyle stayed the everyday game, played on paper and boards around the world. In 1994 Victor Allis proved with a computer that in Freestyle on an empty 15×15 board the first player can always force a win, which is why tournaments add an opening rule such as Swap2. The Gomocup computer tournament still has a Freestyle division.