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?