How to play Abalone?
Abalone is an award-winning strategy game designed in France in 1988, played on a 61-point hexagonal board. Each player's 14 marbles start in the standard formation at their end of the board. In one move, you move 1 to 3 adjacent marbles in the same direction; If this direction is the same as the order of the marbles and your opponent has consecutive marbles that are in a MINORITY in NUMBER, you can knock them off the board by pushing (sumito).
- Each player's 14 marbles start in the standard formation at their end of the hexagonal board (2 solid rows + middle of the 3rd row).
- In one move, you select 1, 2 or 3 adjacent marbles in a straight line and move them to an adjacent direction.
- While moving "longitudinally" (in the direction the marbles are lined up), you can push the opponent's marbles as long as you are in NUMBER of them: 3 tiles can push 1 or 2 opponent tiles, 2 tiles can push 1 opponent piece.
- Pushing only happens if there is space or a board edge immediately behind the pushed pieces; You cannot push an equal number or more opponent pieces than yourself.
- Moving "laterally" (perpendicular to the direction you line up) can never push — target squares must be empty.
- The player who knocks all 6 of his opponent's marbles off the board wins.
