Gonnect
Gonnect
- Gonnect*** is a strategy board game for two players invented by João Pedro Neto in 2000. The game is played with standard Go equipment (usually on a 13×13 or 15×15 board) and basically uses the same rules as [[go-(game)|*Go*]], however the goal of the game is to construct a group that connects any two opposite sides.
Seen from a superficial point of view, Gonnect belongs to the family of connection games with relatives *Hex* and Havannah; however, the game mutates into a game of territory (like Go) when played by advanced players.
Game rules All the rules of *Go* apply, except that unlike Go, passing is not allowed. The winning condition is when a player connects opposite edges of the board (either top and bottom, or left and right) with a chain of stones in that player's color. The pie-rule is used to determine who moves first. A player loses if he has no legal move. In common with Go: A connection* is formed between adjacent pieces of the same color that lie along one of the horizontal or vertical game board lines. Diagonally-adjacent pieces are not considered to be connected. A chain* refers to a group of pieces of the same color such that all the pieces are connected through adjacent horizontal or vertical pieces. A stone has liberty* when it is adjacent (horizontally or vertically) to an empty point. If any stone in a chain has liberty, the chain is considered to have liberty. When the chain has no liberty, it is considered to be captured and is removed from the board. * Players are forbidden from playing a stone that creates a chain of that player's color without liberties, unless that completes a capture and creates a liberty ([[go-(game)|suicide rule]]). * Players are forbidden from making a move that would recreate the same board position as after their previous move (ko rule).
Games between skilled players often end up temporarily deadlocked, since the square Go board allows a "four corners" configuration where neither side can strongly connect; however, since players cannot pass, they eventually must start filling in the internal liberties of their groups. The player who has gained the smallest amount of territory usually loses, so building more territory than your opponent is a means of forcing a connection and winning.
Thus, a Gonnect game between similarly skilled-opponents generally unfolds in three stages: and 9×9 boards, although 9×9 and smaller boards give the first player (Black) a strong advantage.