By Yangqing
White wins on move 12 9×9 board · exact-five rules · 12 moves
A complete 12-move game on a 9x9 board under exact-five rules. It is a constructed teaching game, not a record of named professionals.
This is the most common losing mistake in casual play, in both directions: answering your opponent's threat when you could have finished five yourself. Black spends the middle of the game building an open four on the A-file. White spends it building a four on row 7. When both threats are ready, move order decides — and it is White's turn.
Move by move
- 1. Black E5 Black opens at the center.
- 2. White F4 White replies diagonally offset, a practical way to contest the center.
- 3. Black A3 Black starts a quiet ladder on the A-file. Nothing about it threatens yet.
- 4. White C7 White starts the row-7 project at C7.
- 5. Black A4 A4. Three A-file stones will be a ladder, not a threat, for several moves.
- 6. White D7 D7. Two White stones in a row.
- 7. Black A5 A5. Black's A-file run grows while White builds on row 7.
- 8. White E7 E7. Three in a row, but B7 is Black's next target.
- 9. Black B7 Black blocks the row-7 three at B7 — sound defense, and it leaves the A-file three open.
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After 9...B7: Black has blocked White's three correctly. The A-file three (A3-A5) is still open, but a three is not yet a threat. - 10. White F7 F7. White now has a four with one open end: the only winning point is G7.
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After 10...F7: White's four. Exactly one winning point, G7 — this is the move Black had to answer. - 11. Black A6 A6. Black completes an open four on the A-file with two winning points, A2 and A7 — but ignores White's threat at G7.
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After 11.A6: Black's open four with two winning points, A2 and A7. Strong — if Black got another turn. - 12. White G7 G7. White completes five on row 7: C7, D7, E7, F7, G7. The game ends before Black's open four matters.
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After 12.G7: White's five on row 7. Blocking A2 or A7 here would have been pointless — Black plays the other end and wins.
What to take away
- Before every move, ask two questions in order: can I complete five right now, and can my opponent complete five on their next move? If the first answer is yes, play it.
- After White's 10...F7 there was exactly one saving move for Black: block at G7. Building a counter-threat instead loses at once, because White moves next.
- Black's A-file open four at move 11 really was unstoppable — two winning points, one reply. It simply never got a turn. Threat counting includes whose move it is.
- Notice what Black's move 9 did right: blocking the three at B7 was correct defense. The loss came one move later, from attacking when the position required a block.
How this review was checked. Every move above was replayed through the
site's exact-five engine: the moves are all legal, no five is completed before move 12, and the
winning line at move 12 is exactly five. The threat counts quoted in the notes — how many winning
points each side had after the key moves — are computed by the same engine and asserted by an automated test, so a
wrong number cannot ship. The positions are constructed for teaching; they are not records of named players.
Practice the habit
This game is exercise 9 on the practice page: the same position before White's winning move, with you deciding whether to block or to win. The two-question check — can I complete five, can my opponent complete five — takes about five seconds and prevents most beginner losses.
If you want the defensive side of the same coin, beginner strategy covers what to block and when, and the rules page explains why "exactly five" changes some of these calculations.
Read the other review
Gomoku Game Review: A Double Three Turns Into a Fork: a 17-move game where two threes become two fours with a single move.
Gomoku Game Review: A Double Three Turns Into a Fork →