• A board with 8 x 8 spaces
• 52 black and 52 white stones

Two players sit down side by side at the same edge of a table. The board is placed on the table in such a way that both players see it as a rhombus: one corner of the board (SOUTH) points to the gap between the players. The opposite corner (NORTH) points away from both players. The other corners point to the left (WEST) and right (EAST) of the players.

The player at the board edge SOUTH-WEST gets the black stones ("Black").

The player at the board edge SOUTH-EAST gets the white stones ("White").

A "Line" is defined as a row of spaces running in east-west direction touching at their corners.

Examples for Lines

• * The eight spaces lying between corner WEST and EAST form the longest Line.
• * The single space in corner SOUTH forms a Line and...
• * ...the two spaces north of it form another Line.

Turn after turn both players will place some of their stones on the board - one stone per space thus building structures to gain points (see "Scoring"). Black wins if he scores more points than White - else White wins.

A Turn

A turn consists of two phases:

1. Both players put 1 to 4 stones in their right hand and reveal them simultaneously.
2. One player after the other places his revealed stones on the board.

If both players reveal the same number of stones, the same player goes first who went first in the last turn.

If both players reveal the same number of stones in the first turn, Black goes first.

Each and every time a player places a stone on the board he has to obey these three rules:

• If there are no stones on the board yet, the (first) stone must be placed on any space lying at an edge of the board. This also selects one of the 15 Lines of the board - this Line is called the "Current Line".
• If the Current Line is not yet filled, the stone must be placed in the Current Line - on the space next to the last stone placed in this Line.
• If the Current Line is filled, the stone must be placed on any free space lying at an edge of the board - thus starting the next Current Line.

After a stone is placed on the last free space the game ends immediately.

Scoring

By filling up the board each player has build "Towers" with his stones. A "Black Tower" is a sequence of black stones lying adjacent in a row running from south-west to north-east and bordered (at top and bottom) by white stones or an edge of the board. A "White Tower" is a sequence of white stones lying adjacent in a row running from south-east to north-west and bordered (at top and bottom) by black stones or an edge of the board. The number of stones in a Tower is it's "Height". The minimum Height is 1 (one stone) and the maximum Height is 8 (running from edge to edge).

When the game ends, each player takes his Towers off the board and builds as many and as valuable combinations as possible with them. Each Tower may only be used in one of these combinations:

• Tower Height 1 + Tower Height 2 + Tower Height 3 + Tower Height 4 = 16 POINTS
• Tower Height 1 + Tower Height 2 + Tower Height 3 = 9 POINTS
• Tower Height 1 + Tower Height 2 = 4 POINTS
• Tower Height 1 = 1 POINT

Towers not usable in one of these four Combinations score one negative point per stone the Tower consists of:

• Towers of Height 5 or higher are not usable at all (-5 to -8 points)
• Without a Tower of Height 1 any Tower of Height 2 or higher is not usable, because it is not possible to build a Combination containing it
• A Tower of Hight 3 or 4 is not usable, if the player does not have left a Tower of Height 1 AND a Tower of Height 2
• A Tower of Hight 4 is not usable, if the player does not have left a Tower of Height 1 AND a Tower of Height 2 AND a Tower of Height 3

Example

BLACK TOWERS: 12x Height 1, 5x Height 2, 1x Height 3

BLACK COMBINATIONS:

• 1x ( Height 1 + Height 2 + Height 3 ) = 1x 9 points = 9 points
• 4x ( Height 1 + Height 2 ) = 4x 4 points = 16 points
• 7x ( Height 1 ) = 7x 1 point = 7 points

BLACK scores 32 points (all Black Towers used in Combinations)

WHITE TOWERS: 12x Height 1, 3x Height 2, 4x Height 3, 1x Height 4, 1x Height 5

WHITE COMBINATIONS:

• 1x ( Height 1 + Height 2 + Height 3 + Height 4 ) = 1x 16 points = 16 points
• 2x ( Height 1 + Height 2 + Height 3 ) = 2x 9 points = 18 points
• 9x ( Height 1 ) = 9x 1 point = 9 points

UNUSABLE WHITE TOWERS:

• 1x Height 5 = -5 points
• 1x Height 3 = -3 points

WHITE scores 35 points (= 43 - 8)

This game © copyright 2003 Heinrich Glumpler.