How to Play Gomoku: A Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide

This guide takes you through a game of Gomoku from the empty board to the final stone. It is practical rather than complete: for every rule and variant, keep the Gomoku rules open in another tab.

1. Gomoku in 30 seconds

Two players take turns placing one stone on any empty point. The first to make five of their own stones in an unbroken line — across, down or diagonally — wins. Stones never move and are never captured.

2. What you need

• A board. Traditional Gomoku uses a 15×15 board and places stones on the intersections. Squared paper works just as well — play in the squares.
• Two sets of markers. Black and white stones, or simply X and O drawn with a pen.
• An opponent. A friend, or a computer opponent if you want to practise alone.

Online, all you need is a browser. Practising against a computer is the quickest way to get your first few games in, because it punishes missed threats immediately and never gets bored of rematches.

3. Setting up the board

There is nothing to set up: the board starts empty. Decide who plays first. Traditionally Black moves first; with pen and paper, agree who is X. Swap for the next game, because moving first is an advantage.

4. Understanding turn order

Turns alternate strictly: one stone, then the other player's stone, then yours. You cannot move a stone later or take it back. That is why the most useful habit in Gomoku is pausing for two seconds before every move to look at what your opponent's last stone did.

5. Placing the first stone

Start in or near the centre. A stone in the middle of the board can become part of lines in every direction, while a stone near an edge has fewer options. If you move second, place your first stone right next to your opponent's — touching it orthogonally or diagonally — so you stay in the fight and start limiting their lines from move one.

6. Building toward five

Five in a row is built in steps: two, then three, then four, then five. Some tips:

• Keep stones close. Stones that are next to each other, or one point apart, share lines and support each other.
• Grow in more than one direction. A stone that extends two of your lines at once is worth more than one that extends a single line.
• Leave space at both ends. A line with room on both sides can grow either way, so it is much harder to stop.

7. Watching opponent threats

After every opponent move, scan the four directions through their new stone. Two shapes need your attention immediately:

• A four — four of their stones in a line with an empty point that would complete five. If you do not block it now, you lose next move.
• An open three — three in a row with empty points at both ends. If you ignore it, they make an open four next turn, which cannot be blocked at both ends.

Diagonal threats are the easiest to miss. Make a habit of checking them last, deliberately, before you play.

8. Blocking dangerous moves

When you block, you choose where. An open three gives you two candidate points, one at each end:

Two rules of thumb:

1. Block at the end that also builds. If one of the two points sits on one of your own lines, play there. A block that also attacks wins you back the tempo.
2. Block close, not far. Placing a stone further away from the three usually leaves your opponent a way to make a four anyway.

9. Creating your own threats

Defending is half the game. To win, you need moves that force your opponent to respond:

• Make an open three: they must answer it.
• Make a four: they must block the completion point immediately.
• Best of all, make a move that creates two threats at once. They can only block one.

Threat moves are powerful because they choose your opponent's next move for them. While they are busy answering, they cannot build their own lines. Our Gomoku tactics guide explains each threat shape with diagrams.

10. Finishing a game

A game ends the moment one player completes five in a row. If the board fills up with no five, it is a draw — very rare on a full-size board. In online play, a game can also end by resignation, an agreed draw or a player running out of time.

11. Example beginner game

Here is a short game showing how a beginner loses without ever "missing" a single threat. Numbers show the order of moves: blue numbers are X, red numbers are O.

1. X opens in the centre.
2. O plays directly above, touching it.
3. X makes a pair to the right.
4. O blocks the pair at once. Not a mistake, but the pair was not yet a threat.
5. X starts a second line diagonally below and to the left of move 1.
6. O blocks that diagonal.
7. X places a stone that lines up with move 5 on a new diagonal.
8. O fills the gap between moves 1 and 7, a sensible central move.
9. X extends the row to three. The right end is already blocked by move 4, so it is only a closed three and does not demand an answer.
10. O extends its own stones upward, but that column is capped by X's move 3, so it threatens nothing.
11. X extends the row to four and turns the diagonal into an open three — with one stone.

Now O has to block the four at a, or lose immediately. X then plays b (or c), making an open four on the diagonal. O can block only one end, and X completes five at the other.

What went wrong for O? Each of O's moves was reasonable on its own. But O treated X's lines one at a time, and never asked which empty point two of X's lines shared. Move 10 was the real loss: it gave X a free move when that point — where the row and diagonal meet — was the one O needed to take.

12. Common mistakes

• Blocking only when the threat is already four. By then you are usually forced into a losing sequence. Start paying attention at open threes.
• Playing far from the action. Moves away from the existing stones rarely attack and rarely defend.
• Following one line at a time. Look for points where two of your lines — or two of your opponent's — cross.
• Ignoring diagonals. Check them on every move.
• Blocking automatically. Before you block, check whether you have a four of your own. A four must be answered first, so it can win the race.

13. What to learn next

Once you can finish a game without losing to a threat you did not see, you are ready for ideas rather than rules:

• Gomoku strategy — the principles behind strong moves.
• Gomoku tactics — open threes, fours and double threats, with diagrams.

On 5Row: you play X in practice games against the computer, which has Easy, Normal and Hard levels. The board is 19 columns by 15 rows, and the two-end rule is on by default — see the 5Row rules for what it changes.

When you are ready, play a practice game or find an opponent.

14. FAQ

Who should go first in my first game?

Let the less experienced player go first. Moving first is an advantage, and it helps a beginner learn how attacks are built.

Do I have to place my stone next to another stone?

No, any empty point is legal. In practice, nearly all good moves are within two or three points of existing stones.

What is the most important beginner skill?

Seeing threats. Before every move, check whether your opponent has a four or an open three, and whether you have one.

How do I practise without an opponent?

Play against a computer at an easy level, then raise the difficulty when you start winning. After each loss, find the move where your opponent made two threats at once.