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title: "Gomoku Variants: Renju Rules"
description: "--- English. Gomoku variants differ at the edges, not on the board: which shapes count as a win, which are forbidden, and whether sides can be swapped after the opening."
tags: ["gomoku", "variants", "renju", "rules"]
canonical_url: https://yiboardgame.com/blog/gomoku-variants-renju-rules
English. Gomoku variants differ at the edges, not on the board: which shapes count as a win, which are forbidden, and whether sides can be swapped after the opening. Freestyle gomoku is the loosest set, renju adds forbidden moves for black, and protocols such as Swap2 stack a swap on top.
Freestyle gomoku: the loosest set. Freestyle runs on three rules: black moves first, players alternate, and five in a row in any direction wins. Black may play double threes and double fours, and an overline of six or more still counts.
Renju rules explained: three bans on black. Renju restricts black only, and white keeps every option. Black loses on the spot for a double three (two open threes from one stone), a double four (two fours from one stone), or an overline of six or more.
Gomoku vs renju: what changes in your play. The sharpest freestyle move is one stone with two meanings, usually a double three where the defender can only cover one side. Renju makes that shape an immediate loss, so black has to stack threats one layer at a time.
The part worth keeping: Practise gomoku variants on yiboardgame.com
Related reading: defence first, double threes and double fours, evaluation functions, inside the search. Full write-up is on the source blog.
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