Freestyle
The best-known gomoku rule. Either color wins by connecting five or more in any direction — no forbidden moves, and an overline of six still counts.
Gomoku · Swap2 — your opponent picks a color after three stones
Swap2 is often called the fairest opening in gomoku: whoever places the first three stones cannot build a shape that clearly favors either color — the opponent takes the better one.
The opening
One player freely places three stones: black, white, black. The other then chooses — take White and play on, take Black and hand the turn over, or add two more stones and pass the choice back.
If two stones were added, the first player picks a color from the five-stone shape. After that the game proceeds normally, alternating turns.
Judged as exact five
Swap2 uses the exact-five win condition: a line of six or more is not a win for either color, and there are no forbidden moves.
Because the opening itself balances the game, the rules need no asymmetric restrictions — Black may play double-threes freely; only the overline does not count.
A different philosophy from renju
Renju balances the game by taxing Black with forbidden moves; Swap2 keeps the rules simple and balances the opening instead — easy to learn while staying tournament-fair.
Common questions
What does adding two stones mean?
If the three-stone shape is ambiguous, the opponent may add two stones (making black-white-black-white-black) and pass the color choice back to the player who started.
Does an overline win?
No. Swap2 counts exactly five only — six or more wins for nobody.
Which tournaments use it?
The Gomoku World Championship adopted Swap2, making it the other major tournament rule alongside RIF renju.
See the other rules
Exact five
Exactly five in a row wins; a line of six or more does not. A simple compromise that weakens Black's overline attacks without forbidden moves.
Caro · cờ caro
The Vietnamese gomoku rule. Exactly five in a row wins — unless the opponent has sealed both ends of the line.
Renju
The official RIF rule. Forbidden moves — double-three, double-four and overline — apply to Black alone to erase the first-move advantage. White is unrestricted.
Renju · official opening
Renju forbidden moves plus the RIF opening: first move on the center, second inside 3×3, third inside 5×5, then White may swap colors and Black offers two fifth moves.