If Dark is determined to occupy the position labeled A in the preceding diagrams, she still has options.

To prepare the board so that she may play into position A, Dark plays a peg at B.

Light plays anywhere else – I have shown Light at C.

 Now Dark plays a peg at A.  This looks like a suicide move except that Dark is capturing a Light peg.

Dark’s turn is not over until she removes the captured peg at D

With the removal of the peg at D, Dark is no longer surrounded and her move is not a suicide.  BUT…

There is another problem with the above strategy and it has to do with the second prohibited move described in the Ticgotac rules.  It is a three part rule and is the basis for much of the confusion that has been noted:

(Part 1) You may not play into an area surrounded by an opponent if such a move completely fills the area resulting in your immediate capture (part 2) unless doing so captures a piece, or pieces, breaking the opponent’s surround (part 3) and is done is such a way that the opponent cannot immediately respond with a single move restoring the previous capture area

Part 1 describes what we have called the suicide move.  That is clearly a no-no because it could be repeated endlessly until the suicidal player ran out of pegs and had to stop doing that.  Part 2 allows that move only if it breaks the opponent’s surround, thereby removing the threat of suicide.  But then Part 3 slams the door again by saying that if your opponent can, in one simple move, restore the board to the way it was before your move, then you have made a prohibited move.  So, look again at the previous diagrams.  The first picture shows two light pegs and two dark pegs on the board.  Dark plays a peg at A capturing the light peg at D.  But now, Light can play a peg at D, capturing Light’s peg at A and this sequence can be repeated and repeated.  For that reason, Dark’s peg at A capturing the light peg at D is a prohibited move even though it is not a suicide.

The above discussion points out the need to revise the rules, or at least the wording of the rules.  How would you say it?

Prohibited moves

Earlier I said, “Players take turns placing either a peg or a block almost anywhere on the board.”  There are a few prohibited moves.  One of them is the center position at the first move of the game.  This is because on small boards playing the first piece to the center position gives that player an unfair advantage over his oponent.  Another prohibited  move is illustrated here.

 This is the board as it was left after the last post.  Light has just played, capturing Dark’s peg and removing it from the board.

Dark hopes to repair the damage of Light’s last move by playing a dark peg back into position A.  This would be a prohibited move because…

the dark peg is immediately considered captured and removed from the board.  This is often called the suicide move since Dark loses a peg without any action from Light.

If the suicide move were not prohibited, the board would look like this.  Light has gained one captured peg and it is still his turn.  (There is an exception to this situation.  Stay tuned.)

Another Look at the Rules

There is some confusion about Ticgotac's rules so I will try to clarify them.

First, I have been thinking of Ticgotac as a blindingly simple game but the more I play it the more I think that I am the one who is blinded.  So let’s start by reviewing the rules of play:

First, the goal is to construct an unbroken line of either pegs or blocks from one side of the board to the opposite side.  That line can go horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Players take turns placing either a peg or a block almost anywhere on the board.  Almost is the key word here.

But before I talk about that “almost” there are two other things to be said.  First, if  putting pegs and blocks on the board was all there was to it, the first player would have a huge advantage and might win every time.  Second, Ticgotac allows you to capture and remove from the board pegs or blocks your opponent has already played.  That tends to even things out and make the game more interesting.

Here is how captures are done.

A dark and a light peg are on the board.  It is Dark’s turn and she places a peg at 

position A

                                           

  Light plays a peg at position B thereby surrounding Dark’s peg at A

 By surrounding Dark’s peg, light has captured it.  Light removes it from the board.

Light’s turn is complete.  The dot to the right of the board represents the dark peg captured by Light.