Board color
How Cham-gonu works
- Each player has 12 pieces. Take turns placing one at a time on any empty point of the 24-point board — placement is the first half of the game. The very first placement of the game is restricted to one of the outermost square's 4 corners.
- Line up 3 of your pieces in a row (straight, along the drawn lines) to form a "mill" — then remove one enemy piece. A point used in a capture is marked and locked for the rest of placement.
- Once all 24 pieces are placed, the second half begins: slide one piece per turn to an adjacent empty point, still forming mills to capture.
- Win by reducing your opponent to 2 pieces, or leaving them with no legal move.
- Deciding who goes first (쟁두): traditionally, two players play rock-paper-scissors, and the loser gets to move first.
What is Gonu?
A family of Korean folk board games, centuries old — Cham-gonu is the deep one, same family as the Western "Nine Men's Morris." New to Gonu? Try Jul-gonu first to learn the basics.