I posted this on a few of the big forums last october but none really seemed to take to it.


Omok is the Korean version of an ancient game called Gomoku. It is commonly played on a Go Board using black and white stones. Players take turns placing pieces in attempt to line up 5 pieces of their own color in a row. Once this is accomplished that player wins the game.


I have looked for Omok tutorials online without any success. Even after learning the game is most commonly called Gomoku (or in English “Connect 5”) I am still am unable to find suitable tutorials. About the only suggestion I was able to find was “play diagonal because its harder to see”. Although this is true I felt it was an insult to suggest a playing strategy that could be countered by tilting ones head. Therefore because I want a better guide to exist and I wish to further my own knowledge I have created this guide.


These are some simple rules to keep in mind while playing.
1) Don’t get caught up in what your doing, make sure you always watch the opponent.
2) Play offensively
3) Don’t try to win by expecting your opponent to not see simple moves. Another words don’t make threats that do not benefit you.
4) Carefully watch closed lines of 3 and potential sequences using those lines.


The three and three rule may be hard to understand at first. Simply put three and three rule disallows a player to move in a space that simultaneously forms two open rows of three. A row of three is a line that if left alone only requires one more piece to join 4 pieces with open ends on both sides. (a for sure win for that player).

Spoiler:

In the picture examples one and two are open rows of 3.
Example three however is a closed row of three.

Here is an example of moves that violate the 3 and 3 rule.

Spoiler:

The Overline Rule

The Overline rule is something many Omok Players do not know about. If a row of more than 5 is formed then the player forming that row will not win. This means if you get 6 in a row that does not mean you will win. This is an important rule to keep this in mind.

Threats

There are two kind of threats, immediate threats and delayed threats.

An immediate threat, is a row of four pieces. The threat must be blocked immediately or the other player can complete a row of five to win the next turn.

Spoiler:

A delayed threat is an open row of 3, or any other threat that if not blocked this turn will result in a loss in two turns or more.

Because a delayed threat requires at least 2 turns a player may chose to temporarily ignore a delayed threat if he/she is able to form an immediate threat. Doing this may allow the player to maneuver his/her pieces in a better position or win using a sequence of immediate threats only.

Attack/Defense

Whenever a player makes a sequence of threatening move he goes on the attack. These moves leave the defending player with little choices in where to go. Sometimes even if you don’t know a winning sequence it is good to continue making threats to gain a valuable position.

Defense should only be done out of necessity. You will have a very difficult time winning if the only thing you do is try to prevent the other person from winning.

Attack: players who concentrate on offence have a better chance of winning. If you make a continuous sequence of threats the other player may never have a chance to win. However this can be dangerous, Even though your on attack, you must continue to pay close attention to the opponent’s formations. If you’re not careful your opponent will form a line using only defensive moves. You need to learn to see this, and in some cases expect it.

Control

An attacking player has control of the game. That player dictates where all the pieces are being places and has strong influence on where the focus of the game is. When the attacking player fails to make a threat. Then control is passed to the other player, when they can start there own attack sequence. Also Control can be passed if the opponent counters a delayed threat with an immediate threat or if their defensive move forms a threat simultaneously while blocking.
Passing control is very dangerous, because many times it results in a loss. You should keep control as much as you can but do not exhaust all your options in order to keep control. The longer you have control, the more pieces your opponent will have to build off of.

Unstoppable Sequences

2 and 3: The 2 and 3 sequence is where you simultaneously make a closed row of 4 and a open row of 3 at the same time.

Spoiler:

There are many variations of the 2 and 3 sequences and it is the most common way of landing a win that doesn’t require your opponent to make a blunder (stupid mistake).
If you have a closed line of 3 think of ways you can make it into a 2 and 3 sequence while making other threats.

Spoiler:

this looks pretty simple but beware that the opponent may have multiple ways of responding like they do in this example. There responses might require you to abandon your sequence to defend another threat. However this said it is always helpful to have a game plan.

Dual Immediate Threats.
A dual immediate threat isn’t really a sequence at all. It is simply forming two immediate threats at the same time that require different spots to be blocked.

Spoiler:

Immediate Combo:
This is similar to the 2 and 3 sequence, except instead of using just 1 immediate threat it uses the pieces from multiple immediate threats to form a line. Doing this requires you to think several moves ahead but this shouldn’t be too hard since the threats are immediate, there are very few ways to respond.

Spoiler:

Conclusion

If you wish to get better at Omok think about what I have said in this guide and your own strategy. Also play people that are better than you. You cannot get better by playing people who don’t even know how to play the game. You must find better players to improve your own skills.

Feel free to mention stuff I left out or things you would like to hear about.

Lastly don’t use this guide against me (jk).

Wow... You are really dedicated at omok!

Hey Dan, I think you have a fellow "Shuffle Board" player now! :D

Neat! =D

Wow did you do all that? Nice scripts, nice works. After reading your post, I know I shouldnt challenge you.

I have ALWAYS wondered about Omok. Geez you put together a Guide like something fierce. Read Art of War much?
I have tons of omok pieces. I should mule over my Islander's Slime/Mush pieces. I've always wanted to have a board, but have always been scerd of playin. I suck at puzzles to begin with. I tried playing the Match Cards game with Cris a couple times and got slaughtered.

I was saying it isn't a puzzle too. :)

Thanks for the belarida link, I've played people from bellardia when I can. I normally miss the interesting threads like the one about an omok tournament a few months ago.

Chess omok go shogi and several other games are way easy(did I mention I obtained dan ranks in go???) but yeah it's really fun to play all of them but they get addicting after about 12000000000000000 games (random number) but if anyone wants to play any of them at anytime just give me a message and I will beat you(unless if you play omok then i will lose)

And now its time for MIKES STRATEGY GUIDE TO WINNING OMOK:

STEP 1.........DON"T PLAY NEAL

thatis all

Yeah he ridged his board. And if you use your board, he will type something like: Yo dakdaskhdsahlkalfksdjflksdjflkdsjf, so he can hacked your board too. Best advice, stay away from Neal.

lol. nah he just mastered the art of omok, he a geek after all. ;P

rumors say that my sister lasted 5 minutes with Neal last friday night