Gomoku

Gomoku is an abstract strategy board game. Gomoku is also called Gobang or Five in a Row. Gomoku is traditionally played with with Go pieces (black and white stones) on a board with 19x19 (or 15x15) intersections.

Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Black was long known to have a big advantage. Clearly Gomoku is much harder than Tic Tac Toe.

The name Gomoku is from the Japanese language, in which it is referred to as 五目並べ. The game is also popular in Korea, where it is called 오목 (五目). Gomoku is said to have originated in China with the name 五子棋. In the nineteenth century, the game was introduced to Britain where it was known as Gobang.