ORIGIN OF RENJU Renju is a game that evolved out of Gomoku during the course of the 20th Century because Gomoku, though lots of fun, is not a fair game for expert players. When two top players play each other, the one who plays first should win every single time. This led to the establishment of fouls, which apply only to Black, the first player, and never to White. Fouls are the distinguishing feature of Renju.

VOCABULARY
Fork — a play that creates two attacking lines at the same time
Foul — a forbidden fork, forbidden for Black but never for White
Five — an unbroken horizontal, vertical or diagonal string of five stones of the same colour
Overline — an unbroken string of six or more stones of the same colour
Four — a string of four stones that can become a five on the following turn
Double four, 4×4 fork — a fork consisting of two fours
Open four — a four that is open at both ends and has no gaps in the middle
Half-open four — a four that is not open (blocked at one end or with a one-point gap)

Open three — a string of three stones that can become an open four on the following turn
Double three, 3×3 fork — a fork consisting of two open threes
Closed three — a three that is not open
4×3 fork — a fork consisting of one four and one open three


FOULS The idea of the foul is that if Black makes a play that constitutes one, either accidentally or deliberately, he or she loses the game immediately. It may seem unfair that fouls apply only to Black but never to White. This unfairness, however, is meant to offset the unfairness of Black’s otherwise decisive advantage in playing first. GoldToken’s standard game of Renju, also called Basic Renju, corresponds to this early development of the game, which is essentially Gomoku plus fouls.

The double four, double three and overline are all fouls for Black that cause automatic loss of game. White has no fouls. The 4×3 fork is never a foul for either player. Black's unfair disadvantage, the fouls, is meant to offset the unfair and decisive advantage Black would enjoy by playing first without any fouls. The consistent and sustained effort to make Five-in-a-Row a completely fair game is what distinguishes Renju from all other Five-in-a-Row variants.

OPENING CONVENTIONS In the course of time, it was discovered that the rule about fouls was not enough to make Renju a fair game. This led to the creation of various opening conventions that govern the placement of the first five stones on the board. From 1966 to just recently in the present decade, the sole officially recognised convention was the variant that we are calling Classic Renju. In the end, though, some limitations have been discovered in Classic Renju, and five other opening conventions as well are now being used on an experimental basis.

NEW TO RENJU? If you are new to this fine game of Renju, it is recommended that you limit yourself initially to playing Basic Renju. Once you are comfortable though, after a few games, with the concept of fouls, then start checking out the different variants that we offer. What you will discover is a very tense and exciting game, one of the finest that human beings have ever developed. You will surely enjoy playing it.

Happy_Playing!