Gipf is a two person strategy game, played on this hexagonal board, shown in the starting position.
There are two players, white and black. In the "basic" version of the game, each player has 15 counters; 3 are placed on the starting board as shown, leaving 12 spare. The object of the game is to run your opponent out of pieces. On your turn, you place a counter on the outside perimeter of the board (one of the black dots), and push it one step along one of the lines; if any other counters of either color are in the way along that line, they are pushed along too.
If four counters of one color are now in a row, you take them, along with any other counters in that row touching the four. Counters of your own color are re-usable; your opponent's counters are lost to him.
If you manage to achieve more than one separate row of 4, you take all the rows. If you achieve intersecting rows you must choose one of them to remove. If after your turn, your opponent is left with a row of 4 of his own color, he must remove the row before playing his turn.
In the "standard" version of the game, some pieces are called Gipf pieces, which do not have to be captured. There are a family of extended versions of the game, for example Tamsk, which has a time element, and Zertz, where the board size can change.
Links:
Click to go to the Hall of Hexagons.
Comments and discussion always welcome -
David King last update 19Nov01