Truncated Progressive Chess

Basic progressive chess; but giving or releasing check, promoting or capturing
may not be done in a move series, except that the series be voluntarily
shortened to length one. (The subsequent series are unaffected.)

Sample Game:

1. e4
2. d5 e5
3. c4 d4 f4
4. Bg4 f5 Nf6 Nf3
5. a4 b4 h4 g3 Be2
6. h5h4h3 Bf3g2 Qe7
7. g4 g5 b5 Bf3 Ne2 Rg1 Nd1
8. Nb4 a5 b6 Ng4 g6 Bg7 c5 Rc8
9. B:g2
10. Nd3+
11. Kf1 (F)
12. Ne3++

Final Position:

. . r . k . . r
. . . . q . b .
. p . . . . p .
p O p p p p O .
O . O O O O . .
. . . n n . . p
. . . N N . B O
R . B Q . K R .

134*QUIKQUAX

As soon as a diagonal pair appears, it automatically gets a diagonal join.
The moves in each series must be in different quadrants.

Sample Game:
             |                         OO|                XX--
a b c d e f g|h i j k l m n    
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1.  ..  ..  ..  e6     ..  i5  i10 e10
. . . . . . . x . . . . . .  2.  f7  i7  g10 l10    e3  m6  g8  h8
. X x . x . o . . . . . . .  3.  g3  h7  j8  f9     f5  h2  g12 h12
. o . o x x . . x x x . X .  4.  g6  j5  e8  l12    c10 g5  h5  k9
. . . o o x x x x o x o . .  5.  e5  k7  l8  f11    e4+ e12 k5  k11
. . . . o . o . . o o o x .  6.  d4+ l9  k6+ d9     c3  c12 k13 j4++
. . . . . o . o o . o . . .__7.  l13 l5+ d11 b4     b3  m4  d12 m12
. . . . o . x x . o . o . .  8.  OO resigns
. . . o . o . . . . x o . .  9.
. . x . x . o . x . . o . . 10.  
. . . o . o . . . . x . . . 11.  
. . x X x . x x . . . o X . 12.  
. . . . . . . . . . x o . . 13.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.  
a b c d e f g|h i j k l m n      
             |

QUADRATOLL

Quadrex-connection game.
The winner is whoever joins two opposite groups of his own colour.

:   a b c d e f g h i j k l        XX   OO
:   o o o o o o x x x x x x        =======
: x . . . . x x x . . . . . o   1. h2   i5
: x . . . o x o . x . . . . o   2. g5   g7
: x . x o o o o . . . . . . o   3. f7   e7  
: x . x x x . x . . . . . . o   4. h7   h6+  
: x . . o . . . x . o . . . o   5. g8++ f6+
: x x . . . o o o o . . . . o   6. a7+  c9
: o x . . . o x o x . . . . x   7. b8   e9
: o . x . . . x x x . . . . x   8. b10  g10
: o . . o . o . . . . . . . x   9. e2   c3
: o . x . . . . o . . . . . x  10. d4   f2
: o . . . . . . . . . . . . x  11. f1++ c5
: o . . . . . . . . . . . . x  12. b3   d2
:   x x x x x x o o o o o o    13. c4+  e3++
:   a b c d e f g h i j k l    14. f4   resign

TRIANGLE QUADREX

Each turn, the player drops a tile of 2 of his own pieces and one
opponent piece that are not in deadlock position.  Single pieces
are added automatically as per quadrex rules.     If any cell is
unplayable by regular tiles, it may be played with an overlapping
tile, provided previous colours do not change.

Each turn, the player drops a mininmum-sized triangle of 2 of his own pieces
and one opponent piece that are not in deadlock position.  Single pieces
are added automatically as per quadrex rules.  If any cell is
unplayable by regular tiles, it may be played with an overlapping
tile, provided previous colours do not change.


| a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o    ___XXX_____OOO___
| x . . . x x . . . . . . . . . 1.  c3  es   b11 es
| o o o o o x o . . . . . . . . 2.  f10 en   h12 ne+
| . . o x o x . . . . . . . . . 3.  c8  se+  e10 nw+  
| . x x x o x . . . . . . X . . 4.  a9  en   b6  se
| o x o o o . . . . x x O O O . 5.  a8  ne+  d6  nw
| x x x x o x . . o x o o x x . 6.  c7  ne   f6  ws+
| x o o . o . . . . x o o o x . 7.  a5  en   a1  se  
| x x . . . . . . . . o x x x o 8.  c4  ..   e1  sw+
| o x o o o o x . . x o o x . . 9.  g2  ws+  f4  en
| . x x x x o x o o o o x x o . 10  l12 nw   n12 nw+
| . x o . . o o o x x x x o o . 11  i12 es   i11 ne++-
| . . o . . . x o o x . o o x . 12  n10 wn+  k5  ne
| . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . 13  i6  es+  j9  en+
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14  l9  ne   m6  sw+
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15  o8  wn+  m4  se+
| a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 16  X resigns

OROUBORUS

Players take turns moving both ends of the slime-worm, each to some
adjacent cell. After each move, each end leaves a stone of that
player's colour. The worm may not move onto a coloured cell.

If at some point before the board is full, a worm-end cannot move normally,
the next player who is able to must split the other end into two heads.

A player wins if he makes a 3 in-a-row with his stones.
If both ends become blocked simultaneously, the last player to move wins.

If, at one end, a player is left with only one move, (either physically
or because all others would lead to instant loss), the opponent who
left this situation must make the single move for his opponent,
and then another move for himself; recursively.

Game sample:

The first move recorded is from the most northerly cell,
and if in same line, most westerly.

B starts  
w.ne  w.nw  w.nw  ne.sw  ne.sw nw.se nw.se  sw.ne  w.e  sw.ne  e.e  ne.se  w.ne  nw.e   e.nw,nw,nw  & B wins

Final position:
|      . b . . .
|     b j j b . B
|    j b b j j B J    
|   . b j j b b j B  
|  . . j b j j b b j
|   . b j j b . j .
|    . . b . . . .
|     . . . . . .
|      . . . . .

GO-6-MOKU with restricted dagger

Rules of 9x9 Go, except that there is no passing and the winner is
whoever gets a 6-in-a-row. Suicide is illegal, except that a 6-row
may be completed in an otherwise liberty-less position. No swap.

Neither dagger move may be used to capture, and they must finish
in different groups.

Sample Game

a b c d e f g h i     _XX____OO_
. . . . . . . . .   1. e5    f6  (O gets dagger)
. . . o o x . . X   2. f4    d6
x . o x x . x x :   3. e6    e7
. o . . . x . . x   4. e3    e2
. . o . x . . . .   5. f2    d2
. . o o x o . . .   6. d3    c3
. . . . o . . . .   7. h3    c5
. . . . . o . . .   8. g3    i3
. . . . . . x . .   9. i4    b4,f8
                   10. a3,g9 c6
                   11. i2:   resigns

FLAT-EARTH DOZER-HEX

Like Hex, but lines of friendly stones may push, abalone-wise, smaller lines of adversary stones by exactly their length difference.

If any stones block the full length of a push, the push stops there. A line may push its own length into empty space. Stones pushed off the edge disappear from the game. No friendly stones may be pushed.  Swap option exists.

Sample Game
  
    OO    XX
 1. p4    p6    
 2. j6    l6    
 3. r6    n6    
 4. q5    o7    
 5. r4    n8    
 6. m9    n8s3  
 7. o5    m7    
 8. m5    s5    
 9. q3    m8    
10. n4    q7    
11. k5    u5
12. q3t6  o7s3  
13. p4v4   u7
14. s7     u5
15. q3     v8
16. p4     k9
17. n4     j10
18. s1     w7
19. n4v4:  s9
20. r8     t6v4:
21. q9     l6v6  
22. Resigns

Final Position:

   abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzAB
 ___________OO_________  
 \ . . . . . . . . . o \            1
  \ . . . . . . . . o o \           2
   \ . . . . . . . o x . \ X        3
    \ . . . . . . o o o x \ X       4
     \ . . . o o o x o x . \        5
     X\ . . o , , x x x o . \       6
      X\ . . . x . x o x x . \      7
        \ . . x . . o . x . . \     8
         \ . x o . o x . . . . \    9  
          \ x . . . . . . . . . \  10
           ----------------------  
                    OO

This game presents an Abalano-like mutator which seems to provide new games. Notice however that this mutator does not use the Abalone rule, since phalanxes can shift more than one cell (based on the difference between the pushed and pushing phalanx).

PRIME PICKINGS

With 1 2 2 2.. modifier, each player picks 2 numbers from the available
number list, crossing them off afterwards.  He may place these numbers
anywhere in his board lists, at most 3 per list, or in an opponent list,
at most one per list.  Once 24 numbers have been entered, scoring is done
as follows:-  the row totals are added for each player, but only
the LARGEST PRIME FACTOR of this is entered as the row total.
The player of the 8th number may not make a tied contest there.

Whoever wins the majority of the three pile contests, wins the game.
........................
USEFUL PRIMES: 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 57 59 61 67 71 73 79 83
........................

Sample Game:

J starts:
25, 24 23, 22 21, 20 19, 18 17, 16 15, 12 1, 14 6, 7 3,
11 13, 5 10, 9 4 & B wins (it was the player's only option)

                             primed
              player   oppt   score  winner
Board A:  B: 24 23  6    7      5
""""""":  J: 25 12  5   13     11      J

Board B:  B: 20 19 14    3      7      B
""""""":  J: 22 21 ..    9        

Board C:  B: 16 15 11    1     43      B    
""""""":  J: 18 17 10    4      7

Available numbers: 8  2

This is a very interesting number game. The last moves may become very demanding because each player must search a winning combination in a set of options big enough to be explored.

3/2 HEX

On a unlimited stip of hexagons of height 7, one player (here X) tries to connect the two board edges while his adversary (here O) tries to prevent it.

The connecter plays two stones on each turn, provided that they do not belong to the same group of pieces. The preventer playes three stones on each turn with the same restriction.

If the connecter is unable to achieve his goal in 20 turns, he loses the game.

Game sample:

        __XX_________OO___
      1. H3 H5    G6 K6 I4
      2. D5 G4    E4 C6 I6
      3. D3 E6    C4 D7 L5
      4. F5 A6    G2 z7 F7
      5. B5 x7    K2 F3 y6
      6. B7 y4    y2 J1 A4
      7. v3 H1    I2 t1 w2
      8. z3 L3    A2 D1 J3
      9. E2 K4    J5 B1 w3
     10. w6 x3    u2 u4 z5
     11. t3 x5    r1 r3 o2
     12. N3 N5    O4 Q6 N7
     13. resign

Final Position

   mnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV
1   . . o o . . . o o . x o . . . . . .
2  . o . . o o o o . x o o . . . . . .
3   . . o x x x x . x o x o x x . . . .
4  . . . . o o x o o o x o x . o . . .
5   . . . . . x o x x x x o o x . . . .
6  . . . . . x o x o x o o o . . o . .
7   . . . . . x o x o o . . . o . . . .
   mnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV

This is a hex variant of different goals and powers, but which is quite balanced.

OROUBORUS

Players take turns moving both ends of the slime-worm, each to some
adjacent cell.  After each move, each end leaves a stone of that
player's colour.  The worm may not move onto a coloured cell.

If at some point before the board is full, a worm-end cannot move normally,
the next player who is able to must split the other end into two heads.

A player wins if he makes a 3 in-a-row with his stones.
If both ends become blocked simultaneously, the last player to move wins.

Game sample:

J starts  
nw.e  w.se  w.ne ne.e   e.sw  nw.se
w.w sw.sw sw.w  se.w  se.ne   e.w  
B wins

Final Position:

       . . . . .
      j b . . . .
     b b j . . . .
    j j b j . . . .
   . b . .[b]j j b .
    . J B . . b j .
     . . B J . j b
      . . b j b .
       . . . . .

Y-MOKU

The winner is whoever first makes
(i)  a line of 5 (or more) adjacent stones of his own colour; or
(ii) a standard Y-connection of his own colour.
Swap option exists.

Game Example:
                              _XX_   _OO_(was swapped)
            .              1. m11     m9
           . .             2. p10     j10
          . . .            3. o9      n8
         . . . .           4. p8      n10  
        . . . . .          5. o11     o7
       . . . . . .         6. l10     k9
      . . . . o . .        7. k11     i11
     . . . x o x . .       8. s11     q11
    . . . o o x . . .      9. l8      h12
   . . . o x o x . . .    10. g13     f12
  . . . o x x x o x . .   11. resign
 . . o o . . . . . . . .  12.
. . . x . . . . . . . . . 13.  
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy

Damello

[A game between checkers and Othello sent by Giuseppe Acciaro]

The game is played on a 9x9 square board, where both players have 18 stones placed initially on their first two rows. There are four special red squares at D5/D8/B6/G6 (these are the coord given by the author, but they do seem too asymmetric).

Soldiers move vertically and diagonally. They capture with jump vertically and diagonally forwards. Capture is mandatory.

A Soldier that reaches the last row becomes a King, moving like in International Checkers except that it must land in the first square after each jump/capture.

When exactly one piece is between two enemy soldiers (orthogonally or diagonally), it changes color. If the piece is between at least one enemy King, then it is removed from board.

If any piece lands on a red square (either by move or capture) it is captured and removed from the board.

A player wins if the adversary cannot make a valid move.

A Progressive moku

Played on a Go board. Black drops one stone, White then drops two stones, Black drops three, and so on...

A player wins if he makes a 5 in-a-row but he must just drop one stone in his last turn.

CHERRY

Cherry is a Alak variant. First the rules of Alak:

This game is played on a 1-D line. Black and white alternate in placing single stones on a line of n points. If placing a stone thereby removes all the go-liberties of any group of stones of the opposite color, those stones are immediately removed. It is illegal to place a stone where one was just removed. Placing is compulsory if legal, and the game ends when the player having the move cannot legally place anywhere. The winner is the player with the most stones on the board at game end.

Cherry (invented by Bill Taylor, 2008) is played on a semi-infinite line segment where the first cell is marked (*):

* . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Wins the player the occupies the first cell with a friendly piece that cannot be captured by the adversary in the next move.

A sample game:


* . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
* . x . . . . . . . . . . . ...
* o x . . . . . . . . . . . ...
x . x . . . . . . . . . . . ...

X wins because O cannot drop into the 2nd cell right now.


PUSH WOOD

(by Richard Nowakowski, 2003)

Play on a line of N dots (this is an 1D game) each player has M pieces on the line extremes. For e.g., if N=9 and M=3:

x x x . . . o o o

On each turn, each player may:
* move forward a friendly stone to any empty cell or move out of the board (jumps are allowed).
* push a friendly stone backwards if it is backward adjacent to an enemy stone. Every stone in that group is pushed backwards any number of cells until it finds another stone. If there are no more stones, the player may even push out the group or part of the group over the line extreme.
* There is a KO rule: a player cannot repeat the previous position (variant: the player cannot push back any stone that was pushed back in the previous move).

Wins the last player that has a legal move.

A sample:


x x x . . . o o o
x x . x . . o o o
x x . x o . . o o
. x x x o . . o o
. x x x o . o . o
. x x . o x o . o
. x x . . o x o o
. x x . o x . o o
. x x . o x o . o
. x . . o x o x o
. x . . . . . . o
. . x . . . . . o
. . x . . . . o .
. . . x . . . o .
. . . x . . o . .
. . . . x . o . .
. . . . x o . . .

x resigns


Trabsact Sagme Diaries

A game, when moved, usually travels with its own social context. For e.g., a game from the Trok planet, in the island of Mag, is played only by children with lemur-like and duck-like animals. Some centuries ago, the game went to a neighbor island, Dag, and, even if the rules changed a bit, the ducks and lemurs are also thrown by the Dag children. [T.Sagme, Travels]

GO-6-MOKU

Rules of 9x9 Go, except that there is no passing and the winner is
whoever gets a 6-in-a-row. Suicide is illegal, except that a 6-row
may be completed in an otherwise liberty-less position. 1st-move swap.

a b c d e f g h i      _oo__xx_
. . . . . . . . .   1.  b2  d4
. o o o . O . . .   2.  d3  e4
. . x o o x . . .   3.  e3  f3
. x . x x o o . .   4.  c4  c5
. . x . x x . . .   5.  f4  c3
. . . . . . . . .   6.  c2  b4:
. . . . . . . . .   7.  d2  f5
. . . . . . . . .   8.  g4  e5
. . . . . . . . .   9.  f2  resign

FREE Y

Swap option exists.
Winner is whoever makes a connected group that either
   (a) includes two nearly-opposite edge-points; or
   (b) includes three edge-points whose inter-point distances
                     are all less than half the circumference.

abcdefghijklmnopqrs     _oo_ _xx_  (after swap)
    . . o x . .      1.  g3   j6
   . . o x . . .     2.  k5   l6
  . . o x . . . .    3.  m5   n6
 . . . . . . . . .   4.  o5   p6
. . . o x o o o . .  5.  h6   i5
 . . . o x x x x .   6.  g5   i3
  . . . o . . . .    7.  i7   l8
   . . . . x . .     8.  h2   j2
    . . O . . .      9.  i1   k1?
     . . . . .      10.  i9   resign
abcdefghijklmnopqrs

Card Chess

photo by Alexander Dzhantimirov

Imagination solves almost all
(the coordinates are wrong, but who needs perfection?)

PROGRESSIVE FENCES

Cul-de-sac with L-shaped walls allowed.
Walls may be placed along edges, but not beyond them.
Win by crossing over the target edge.

The turns are progressively 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6... moves, with a move being
one orthogonal step by the player's stone, or one length of 2-wall placement.
A player may distribute his available moves as he pleases (so placing a wall
costs two moves), subject to not being permitted to completely wall off
his opponent from his target.

Sample game (notation: Xy* means that a wall was placed at coordinate Xy with a certain shape given by symbol *. If * is 1,2,3 or 4 it means a L-shaped wall on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th quadrants; if * is - means a horizontal wall with center Xy; and if * is | means a vertical wall with center Xy):

1. S (Bottom)                   1        
2. NN                           2        
3. SS                           2        
4. N Fi-                        3        
5. Fh4 Hh3                      4        
6. Fd| Ge2                      4        
7. NES Hj2                      5        
8. He2 Hc| Fb3                  6        
9. Fj4 Ej| Gb2                  6        
10 Ib| Jc| Id- E                7        
11. NNNESSEN                    8
12. Kb3 Kd4 Je- Hk|             8
13. NEESSWSWW                   9
14. If2 Gf- Ef1 Ed| Dc1        10
15. SWWWNNNWNW                 10
16. SWWSSWN Bk- Dk-            11
17. SSSSSE Bg- Dg- Dj-         12
18. WWNNNEEE Fg1 Hg4           12
19. Eh1 E2E Df-  Bf1 Bd- Ce1   13
20. Bb| Cc- NWWW Jg2 Kg3 Ki-   14
21. Bottom resigns

Final Position
                    Top's goal
   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L
 a + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
   :   |                   |       |           |
 b :   |   +   +   +---.---'   +   |   +---.   :
   :   |       |       |       |   |   |   |   :
 c :   +-------`---+   +   +   |   +   |   +   :
   :               |   |       |       |       :
 d :-------+   +   |   |   +   +-------+   ,---:
   :       |       |   |   |   |           |   :
 e :   +   +---+   +   +---'---'   +-------+   :
   :   |           |               |           :
 f :   +---+-------`---+-------+---'   +   +   :
   :     T             |               |       :
 g :-------+-------+   `---+   ,---+---'---.   :
   :               |         B |           |   :
 h :   +   +   +   +---,---+---.   +   +   +   :
   :                   |       |               :
 i :   +   +   +   +-------+   +   +   +-------:
   :               |           |               :
 j :   +   +-------|   ,---+---'   +   +   +   :
   :               |   |       |               :
 k :-------+-------+   +   +   |   +   +   +   :
   :                           |               :
 l + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L
                   Bottom's goal

QUADRAPHAGES

Startup:

a b c d e f g h i  
. . O . . . . . .  1.  
. . . . . . . . .  2.  
. . . . . . . . X  3.
. . . . . . . . .  4.
. . . . . . . . .  5.  
. . . . . . . . .  6.  
X . . . . . . . .  7.  
. . . . . . . . .  8.
. . . . . . O . .  9.

In each turn a player (a) moves his stones rookwise, the previous # of cells;
                      (b) announces a new number (between 1 and 8);
                      (c) moves his stones the new number of cells.

When a stone leaves a cell, it marks it with its own colour.
A stone may not land on a marked or occupied cell, or leave the board.
Given a number, stone must move if it can; if not, it remains stationary.
If possible, a player must choose a number that allows at least one stone
to move.

Intervening own-pieces or marks of either type do not block a move,
but opponent pieces do.  The first turn begins with operation (b) & (c) only.


The game stops when all four stones in succession fail to move; then...
the winner is whoever has the most marked cells.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Game Sample
               _xx_                         _oo_
1.  ....  ....  1  a7a8  i3i2    c1c2  g9g8  3  c2f2  g8d8
2.  a8a5  i2i5  3  a5a2  i5i8    f2f5  d2d5  2  d5b5  f5f7
3.  a2a4  i8i6  7  i6b6  a4h4    ----  ----  3  b5e5  f7f4
4.  i6i9  a4a1  8  a1i1  i9a9    ----  ----  4  e5e1  f4f8
5.  ----  a9e9  6  i1i7  e9e3    ----  ----  3  e1h1  f8c8
6.  e3h3  i7i4  1  i4h4  h3h2    h1g1  c8c7  5  c7h7  g1b1
7.  ----  h4c4  4  h2h6  c4g4    h7d7  b1f1  5  f1f6  d7d2
8.  ----  g4b4  1  h6g6  b4b3    d2d3  f6e6  2  d3f3  e6c6
9.  ----  ----  4  g6g2  b3b7    ----  ----  3  f3c3  c6c9
10. g2g5  b7e7  1  e7e8  g5h5    c9d9  ----  2  c3a3  d9f9
11. ----  ----  6  ----  e8e2    a3g3  ----  4  g3g7  f9b9
12. ----  h5h9  2  ----  e2e4    ----  ----  1  b9b8  ----
13. h9h8  e4d4  3  ----  d4d6  and wins 40-39

Final Position:

a b c d e f g h i  
x o o . o o o o x  1.  
x . o o x o x x x  2.  
o x o o x o o x x  3.
x x x x x o x x x  4.
x o . o o o x x x  5.  
. . o X o o x x x  6.  
x x o o x o O o x  7.  
x O o o x o o X x  8.
x o o o x o o x x  9.    

This game can also be played on a hex-board. It has less
possible directions, so it's easier for a player to control
where the adversary may go, when the board starts to get full.

HEXAPHAGE
========= (numbers up to 6)  Rules as for quadraphage.

               _oo_                         _xx_
1.  ....  ....     ....  ....    ....  ....  1  j5h5  d3e4
2.  g2f3  g6f5  1  f5d5  f3g4    h5i4  e4c4  3  c4f1  i4f7
3.  ----  g4m4  4  d5l5  m4j1    f7b3  f1b5  4  ----  b3j3
4.  ----  ----  3  j1d1  ----    ----  b5e2  1  e2c2  j3k4
5.  ----  l5k6  3  k6e6  d1a4    k4h1  c2i2  5  ----  h1c6
6.  ----  ----  2  ----  e6i6    ----  ----  1  c6d7  i2k2
7.  resign

Final Position:

 abcdefghijklm  
    o x x o    1
   x x o x X   2
  x x o . x .  3
 O x x o x x o 4
  x o o x x o  5
   x o o O o   6
    X x . .    7
 abcdefghijklm

AbGamers

When we talk about abstract board gamers there is a relevant distinction. On one hand, there are people that don't mind giving lots of time and attention to abgames and, on the other, people that try an abgame or two from time to time. The first ones are hard to find and the net, like in r.g.a, is a perfect way for these guys (well, we) to meet and discuss and play abgames. It's difficult, if not impossible, to replace the net in this.

The second ones are much more common. There are thousands and thousands that like to play abgames. I live in Portugal, a country with no social history of abgames except for Chess and Checkers. From my experience, me and some local friends were able to promote abgames events alongside with hundreds of schools, where the finals alone gathered 500+ young people (we are preparing the 4th edition). We also made a set of 10 small books, discussing historical puzzles and games, that sold thousands for each copy. And Portugal only has a population of 10 million. I guess that from all these tens of thousands, some got interested and started reading and playing a bit more than before (I know that that happened at least in some cases). This is another way to contribute to the abgames future community.

[this blog has been too quiet, just like the main website, the World of Abstract Games. In these last months I didn't had much time to process new games (but I'm still collecting them) so be patient and check or recheck the 500+ pure abstract games already posted]

Sagme's Diaries

With falling stones
many battles rage, but
the game is one.
[From Sagme's Haiku]

1222 UNRESTRICTED 6-MOKU

Sample Game:
     XXXX        OOOO
00. --- o25     n24 n26
01. p24 p25     p26 o23
02. m25 n25     q25 l11
03. o26 o27     q24 p27
04. o28 q26     n23 o29
05. l23 m24     k22 p23
06. q23 r22     s21 o22
07. m22 m23     m20 m26
08. n21 o20     p19 k24
09. j23 k23     i23 n19
10. l21 j24     o19 q19
11. m19 r19     p18 r20  
12. o17 t22     q17 n20
13. r16 j22?    p16 p17  
14. resign

Final Position:

g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
. . . . . . . . . O . x . . . 16
. . . . . . . . x O o . . . . 17
. . . . . . . . . o . . . . . 18
. . . . . . x o o o o x . . . 19
. . . . . . o o x . . o . . . 20
. . . . . x . x . . . . o . . 21
. . . x o . x . o . . x . x . 22
. . o x x x x o o o x . . . . 23
. . . x o . x o . x o . . . . 24
. . . . . o x x x x o . . . . 25
. . . . . . o o x o x . . . . 26
. . . . . . . . x o . . . . . 27
. . . . . . . . x . . . . . . 28
. . . . . . . . o . . . . . . 29
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

HIXT

Rules:
* On his turn a player drop a friendly stones in an empty cell, and
connects it, via a bridge, with any friendly stone (at diamond's distance)
* Stones connect via adjacency or using a bridge
* PIE rule for the second player's first move
* The player connecting two opposite edges or making a Y connecting
three non-adjacent edges, wins the game

Sample Game:

XXX === OOO
j13     o8
h7      i10
l9      o10
l11     l7
k8      o12
j5      i6
g6      f7
d7      l5
m4      s4
q4      p3
p5      s6
p15     o14
m14     r15
c10     i12
g12     b9
c8      f9
d11     m2
g2      i4
j3      j1
h1

1-0

Final position:

|a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z A B C
|              x   o__ .   .   .   .   .   .                 1
|                     \__
|            x__ .   .   o__ .   .   .   .   .               2
|               \__         \__
|          .   .   x__ .   .   o__ .   .   .   .             3
|                     \__         \__
|        .   .   o   . __x__ .   x   o   .   .   .           4
|                   __/     \__      |
|      .   .   . __x __o   .   x   . | .   .   .   .         5
|             __/ __/                |
|    .   . __x __o__ .   .   .   .   o   .   .   .   .       6
|       __/ __/     \__
|  .   x   o   x__ .   o__ .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .     7
|          |      \__     \__
|.   x   . | .   .   x   .   o   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   8
|    |     |                 |
|  o | .   o__ .   .   x   . | .   .   .   .   .   .   .     9
|    |        \__      |     |
|    x   .   .   o   . | .   o   .   .   .   .   .   .      10
|                |     |     |
|      x__ .   . | .   x   . | .   .   .   .   .   .        11
|         \__    |           |
|        .   x__ o   .   .   o   .   .   .   .   .          12
|               \__          |
|          .   .   x__ .   . | .   .   .   .   .            13
|                     \__    |
|            .   .   .   x__ o__ .   .   .   .              14
|                           \__ \__
|              .   .   .   .   x   o   .   .                15
|a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z A B C

Hixt is a hex variant of Twixt with some different connenction criteria. The board should be large enough so that the drama of a single bad move could not determine the match outcome. Probably, a hex board with edges of size 10 should already provide a nice battle.