Pinch

PINCH RULES IN BRIEF (full rules with detailed examples are available here) Pinch is played on the intersections of a square grid (13x13 or larger are the recommended sizes). One player plays with black stones, the other with white stones. The borders of two opposing sides of the board are colored black; the remaining two sides have white-colored borders. (If a Go board is used, mark the ownership of sides as follows: place a black stone near one side of the board and then place another black stone near the opposite side; do the same with white stones and the two remaining sides.) A player’s goal is to connect their two same-colored opposite board sides with a group of orthogonally-connected stones of their color. On each turn, a player must place a single own-stone on any empty point. If a previously played own-stone is orthogonally adjacent to an enemy stone, and a player places a new own-stone such that it is (i) orthogonally adjacent to that same enemy stone and (ii) at a right angle to the previously played own-stone, then the enemy stone is captured. (Note that a capturing pair, i.e. the two own-stones at right angles that bring about a capture of an adjacent enemy stone, must contain a newly placed stone, otherwise no capture takes place.) If a player captures an enemy stone, then the capturing player relocates that stone to any empty intersection of their choosing (consistent with the "single status change" rule below). If this placement causes the capture of an own-stone, the same player relocates the captured own-stone, and resolves any new capture, if there is one. This process continues until a relocation causes no new capture. NOTE -- All placements within a turn must obey the “single status change” rule: Once the status of a intersection changes from occupied to unoccupied, or vice versa, it cannot change again that same turn. (If all possible relocations of a captured stone violate the “single status change” rule, then the captured stone is removed from the game.) In order to offset the first player’s advantage, the PIE RULE applies. (After the first stone is placed on the board, the other player decides which color of stones they want to play.) -description from designer