Gonnect
Gonnect Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Gonnect includes:
- a 13x13 Go-like board
- 85 white stones
- 85 black stones
- Carrying case
Rules
Gonnect is played on the intersections of the square grid. The board is initially empty.
Two players, Black and White, alternate turns placing a stone of their colour on an empty intersection, according to the following:
- After the placement, any group of stones that doesn't have at least one orthogonally adjacent empty point is completely captured and removed from the board. These orthogonally adjacent empty points are called the 'liberties' of that group.
- A stone cannot be played so that, after being placed, the group it belongs to has no liberties, unless that move performs a liberating capture. This means that suicidal moves are not allowed.
- Board positions cannot be repeated on the player's next turn.
- Players may not pass.
A 'group' is a set of same-coloured stones such that each stone of the set can be reached from every other by a sequence of orthogonally adjacent steps through the set.
Applying the pie rule is recommended (White can swap colours after Black's first move).
Aim and Game End
A player wins if either:
- A group of his colour connects either pair of opposite sides of the board.
- His opponent has no legal move.
The following figure shows a game won by Black. [Figure: a 13x13 board position in which Black's winning group connects the two opposite sides, with the connecting chain of Black stones traced in red.]