Is Gomoku the same as Connect Four?

No. Connect Four is played in a vertical grid where pieces fall to the bottom, so you cannot choose the row. Gomoku lets you place a stone on any empty intersection, which makes the tactics far richer, and needs five in a row rather than four.

Does Black always win in Gomoku?

With perfect play on a 15×15 freestyle board, yes — that was proven in 1993. In real games between humans it matters much less than the proof suggests, and playing White against a strong opponent is excellent training.

What is the difference between Gomoku and Renju?

Renju is competitive Gomoku with handicap rules: Black is forbidden from playing a double-three, a double-four, or a line of six or more. This site implements freestyle Gomoku, where Black has no restrictions.

Does a row of six count as a win?

In freestyle Gomoku, yes — six or more in a row contains five and wins. In Renju, an overline is a forbidden move for Black and loses the game.

How do I get better at Gomoku quickly?

Learn to recognise open threes and forced fours on sight, then practise spotting moves that make two threats at once. Almost all improvement below expert level comes from those two skills, and from checking your opponent’s threats before playing your own.

Play Gomoku Online Free vs AI — Rules, Strategy & Five-in-a-Row Tactics

How to play Gomoku

1Gomoku is played on the intersections of a 15×15 grid. Black plays first, then players alternate placing one stone per turn.
2Stones are placed on empty intersections and never move again once played. There is no capturing.
3The first player to get five of their own stones in an unbroken line — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — wins immediately.
4This site plays freestyle Gomoku: an overline of six or more also counts as a win, and there are no forbidden moves for Black. Tournament Renju adds restrictions on Black to offset the first-move advantage; freestyle is the version most people play casually.
5If every intersection is filled and no one has five in a row, the game is a draw. In practice this almost never happens.
6Because Black moves first, Black holds a real advantage in freestyle. If you want a harder game, take White.

Gomoku strategy guide

Count threats, not stones

A "three" is three stones that can become four; a "four" is four stones with an open end, which forces an immediate block. The entire game is about creating threats faster than your opponent can answer them. A single four is useless on its own — your opponent just blocks it.

The double threat wins games

A move that creates two fours at once, or a four and an open three simultaneously, cannot be answered by one block. Almost every won game of Gomoku ends this way. Look for intersections where two of your lines cross.

Open threes are more dangerous than closed fours

An "open three" — three in a row with empty points at both ends — threatens to become an open four, which is unstoppable. Blocking a closed four is trivial; letting an open three live is often fatal. Treat open threes as emergencies.

Play toward the centre early

A stone near the centre participates in more potential lines than one near the edge. Opening on or near the central intersection and building outward gives your stones more ways to combine. Edge play only makes sense when it blocks something.

Block on the side that helps you

When you must block, you usually have two choices of which end to close. Prefer the end that also extends one of your own lines — defending and building at the same time is how you take over the initiative.

The history of Gomoku

Gomoku descends from a family of line-forming games played across East Asia for well over a thousand years. The Japanese name 五目並べ (gomoku narabe) literally means "five points in a row", and the game was already a common pastime in Japan by the Edo period, played on borrowed Go equipment — a Go board and Go stones, but an entirely different game.

The first-player advantage was recognised early and mathematically confirmed in 1993, when Victor Allis proved that freestyle Gomoku on a 15×15 board is a win for Black with perfect play. The competitive answer was Renju, a regulated variant that forbids Black from making double-threes, double-fours or overlines, restoring the balance for tournament play.

In Korea the game is known as omok (오목) and remains one of the most commonly played pencil-and-paper and board games; in China it is wuziqi (五子棋). Because the rules are so compact, Gomoku has also long been a favourite test bed for game-tree search algorithms — which is exactly what powers the opponent on this page.

Gomoku FAQ

Is Gomoku the same as Connect Four?: No. Connect Four is played in a vertical grid where pieces fall to the bottom, so you cannot choose the row. Gomoku lets you place a stone on any empty intersection, which makes the tactics far richer, and needs five in a row rather than four.
Does Black always win in Gomoku?: With perfect play on a 15×15 freestyle board, yes — that was proven in 1993. In real games between humans it matters much less than the proof suggests, and playing White against a strong opponent is excellent training.
What is the difference between Gomoku and Renju?: Renju is competitive Gomoku with handicap rules: Black is forbidden from playing a double-three, a double-four, or a line of six or more. This site implements freestyle Gomoku, where Black has no restrictions.
Does a row of six count as a win?: In freestyle Gomoku, yes — six or more in a row contains five and wins. In Renju, an overline is a forbidden move for Black and loses the game.
How do I get better at Gomoku quickly?: Learn to recognise open threes and forced fours on sight, then practise spotting moves that make two threats at once. Almost all improvement below expert level comes from those two skills, and from checking your opponent’s threats before playing your own.

Gomoku