NENUKI RENJU



1. WHAT IS NENUKI RENJU?

"Nenuki Renju" is a GREAT board game played with a "Go" set.

This consists of a square board with a grid, and black and white

stones.  Traditionally you place stones on intersections of lines,

but in the Furcadian version you place them on squares.  A Go

board is usually 19 X 19 or 17 X 17.  For Nenuki Renju, though,

you really only need an 11 X 11.



2. HOW DO WE PLAY?

Players take turns placing pieces on the board.  This game is

from Asia; traditionally, in an Oriental game, Black goes first.

When you teach someone how to play, it's polite to make them go

first, because making the first move gives a noticeable advantage.



3. HOW DO WE WIN?

The object of the game is to place 5 stones of your color in a row.

In Nenuki Renju, you count diagonals as well as horizontals and

verticals.



4. "ATARI" AND THE "CAPTURE" RULE

If a stone is -placed- to "bookend" two adjacent enemy stones, 

then the enemy stones are captured and removed.  If you play

without the Capture Rule, then you're playing `Gomoku.' (I like

to call *that* `Tic Tac Go'.) It's considered polite and honorable to

give your opponent warning by saying "Atari" whenever you place a

stone that lets you capture on the next turn.  It's *extra*

honorable not to capture if you forgot or overlooked saying "Atari"

on your last turn.  (This is a rule borrowed from the more

complicated of `Go'.)



5.  THE "SWITCH" RULE

This is a special Furcadian custom, to make the game more fair than

its original incarnation.  Both players type     roll d6    to see

who gets Black (and places the first stone).  Both players take

turns until each has placed three stones.  THEN, the White player

is offered the chance to trade sides!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



6.  COMMON RULES QUESTIONS

"How is this game different from Go?"  `Go' is a game in which

   you take turns placing stones to surround territory.  Go's

   capture rule relies on stones losing all their "liberties", 

   that is, spaces open next to them.  Adjacent stones of the same

   color "share" liberties as if they were armies belonging to

   allies, sharing lines of supply.  The rules for playing Go are

   easy, but knowing when the game is really over, and tallying up

   the final score are much more sophisticated, harder.

   It takes six minutes to learn Nenuki Renju; it takes at least

   a few hours to learn to play Go.  `Go' teaches you principles

   of armies and warfare, but Nenuki Renju teaches you principles

   of espionage.

"Can I place two stones in between two of my opponent's?" Yes.

   -Placing- a stone is doesn't "cause" you to be captured. (You

   might think of these guys as "infiltrators".)

"Can I capture one stone by itself?" "Can I capture 3 in a row?"

   No, it has to be exactly two.  (A single spy vanishes into the

   woodwork pretty easily, while an established network is too

   strong to disassemble.)



7.  TIPS

* Four in a row, with both ends open, is as good as a win.

* Try to place a stone that gives you the best future options *and*

     at the same time cuts off places favorable to your opponent.