Choose your challenge
Three neighbors, three very different games. Pick the opponent who sounds fun today—you can always change the difficulty before starting again.
Easy
Hana learned Gomoku a few days ago and is delighted whenever three stones begin to look like a plan. She notices obvious danger, but a clever attack from two directions can slip past her.
Play Hana when: you are learning the board, practicing your first forks, or simply want a relaxed game.
Friendly tip: build in two directions and let her chase the more obvious line.
Medium
Jun plays a game with coffee most afternoons. Familiar tricks rarely surprise him, but he occasionally becomes attached to a promising-looking line and misses the bigger picture.
Play Jun when: you know the basic threats and want a fair back-and-forth match.
Friendly tip: do not reveal your whole plan at once. A quiet setup can become a sudden fork.
Hard
Ren takes a moment, studies the whole board, and places one stone without ceremony. He is patient, consistent, and very good at turning a rushed move into his own attack.
Play Ren when: you can recognize open threes, fours, and forks before they fully appear.
Friendly tip: play Black, stay near the center, and create more than one problem at a time.
Hana, Jun, and Ren are personalities, not formal ranking scores. Your results will also change depending on whether you play Black or White: Black moves first and usually has the easier attacking game in freestyle Gomoku.
Start with Hana until you can deliberately create a fork. Move to Jun when obvious wins feel easy to spot. Challenge Ren when you enjoy losing a few games while searching for the one position that finally catches him.
See open threes, fours, forks, and early-game ideas before you meet your next opponent.
Read the tactics guideFollow Gomoku from Edo-period books to the competitive game of Renju.
Explore Gomoku's history