Renju
Renju (Japanese: 連珠) is the professional variant of Gomoku, a board game originated from Japan in Heian Period. It was named Renju by Japanese journalist Ruikou Kuroiwa (黒岩涙香) on December 6, 1899 in a Japanese newspaper Yorozu chouhou (萬朝報) . It is played with black and white stones on a 15x15 intersection Go board. Renju eliminates the "Perfect Win"-situation in Gomoku by adding special conditions for the first player (Black).
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[edit] Rules
Unlike Gomoku, Renju has a unique sequence of opening moves called an "opening rule".
An example of such opening rule (namely "RIF rule" or "old RIF rule") follows.
- The first player places 2 black stones and 1 white stone on the board.
- The second player now chooses whether to play black or white.
- White then places one more stone on the board.
- Black places 2 stones on the board.
- White removes one of the two black stones from the previous move.
- White places a white stone.
After this sequence is complete, Black and White continue to take turns to place their stones.
The Extra General Assembly of Renju International Federation in 2008 created 3 new sets of rules for openings that are to replace the above old sequence of moves[1]: Soosörv, Taraguchi, and Yamaguchi. Also a rejection system for their use was approved.
There are certain moves that Black is not allowed to make:
- Double three - Black cannot place a stone that builds two separate lines with three black stones in unbroken rows (i.e. rows not blocked by white stones).
- Double four - Black cannot place a stone that builds two separate lines with four black stones in a row.
- Overline - six or more black stones in a row.
Black can win the game only by placing five black stones in a row (vertically, horizontally or diagonally).
White can win by either:
- getting five (or more) white stones in a row
- forcing Black to make a forbidden move (see above).
[edit] World championships
World Championships in Renju have occurred every second year, since 1989.[1]
Previous World Championships have taken place in the following places:
- 1989: Kyoto, Japan
- 1991: Moscow, USSR
- 1993: Arjeplog, Sweden
- 1995: Tallinn, Estonia
- 1997: Saint Petersburg, Russia
- 1999: Beijing, China
- 2001: Kyoto, Japan
- 2003: Vadstena, Sweden
- 2005: Tallinn, Estonia
- 2007: Tyumen, Russia
- 2009: Pardubice, Czech Republic
The next World Championship will take place in Huskvarna, Sweden.
[edit] Team World championships
Team World Championships in Renju have occurred every second year, since 1996.[2] The results are following.
| Title year | Hosting city, country | Champion team |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Saint-Petersburg  Russia |
Russia (Ilyin D., Peskov S., Sinyov I., Nikonov K., Kozhin M.) |
| 2000 | Tallinn  Estonia |
Russia (Sinyov I., Klimashin A., Sushkov V., Salnikov P., Kozhin M.) |
| 2002 | Vadstena  Sweden |
Russia (Salnikov P., Klimashin A., Artemyev S., Skouridin A., Semyonov V.) |
| 2004 | Tyumen Russia |
Russia(Sushkov V., Klimashin A., Chingin K., Nikonov K., Sinyov I.) |
| 2006 | Tallinn Estonia |
Russia (Sushkov V., Chingin K., Artemyev S., Savrasova Yu., Vershinin P.) |
| 2008 | Helsinki  Finland |
Estonia (Taimla T., Oll A., Purk A., Soosorv A., Lents J.) |
| 2010 | Tokio  Japan |
 China (Li Yi, Cao Dong, Yin Licheng, Xi Zhengyang) |
| 2012 | Beijing China |
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[edit] Renju World Championships via Correspondence
World Championships in Renju via Correspondence (by paper letters, later by e-mails) is being played every year since 1996 with an exception in 2009, 2010.
The results follows.
| Title year | Champion | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Reims, Aldis |  Latvia |
| 1997 | Tarannikov Yuri | Russia |
| 1998 | Fedorkin Oleg | Russia |
| 1999 | Fedorkin Oleg | Russia |
| 2000 | Reims, Aldis | Latvia |
| 2001 | Nikonov Konstantin | Russia |
| 2002 | Lunkin Vitaly | Russia |
| 2003 | Chen Wei | China |
| 2004 | Sun Chengmin | China |
| 2005 | Barykin Victor | Russia |
| 2006 | No gold awarded | Silver: Epifanov D., bronze: Barykin V. |
| 2007 | Epifanov Dmitry | Russia |
| 2008 | Zhang Jinyu | China |
| 2011 | Balanova Jelena | Latvia |
[edit] See also
[edit] Books
- Five-in-a-Row (Renju) For Beginners to Advanced Players ISBN 4-87187-301-3
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Renju International Federation has complete rules and history of the game
