Gomoku Openings: First Moves and Named Renju Patterns
Renju names an opening by its first three stones. This page rebuilds six of those starting shapes, three direct and three indirect, from the RenjuNet opening atlas. If you are still choosing move 1 in a casual game, start with the first-move section below. The first diagram in each entry shows the three stones that define its name. A second diagram follows one possible White fourth move and Black fifth move under this site's casual exact-five rules. These continuations are constructed study examples, not a ranking, a proven result, or prescribed Renju tournament moves.
Read the diagrams
Coordinates here use A–O from left to right, including I, and 1–15 from bottom to top. Black plays move 1 at H8. A direct opening places White’s move 2 at H9; an indirect opening places it at I9. Each named pattern below changes only Black’s move 3. The atlas omits the letter I in its printed coordinates, so compare the stone positions rather than its letter labels.
Formal Renju has a color-choice and fifth-stone proposal procedure after the named first three moves. The later moves are not fixed by the opening name. Our browser game instead uses casual exact-five rules and does not enforce formal Renju restrictions. Follow the published RIF rules and your event’s regulations for competitive play.
Choosing a first move in casual play
Formal Renju fixes the opening through its procedure, so move 1 is always the center there. Casual play is different: any empty intersection is legal, and the center is a practical default because it leaves room in every direction. It is not a universal theorem — board size, the rules in use, and your opponent's reply all change what makes sense. The diagrams below compare empty-board geometry only; they are not game evaluations.
On smaller boards the center moves with the board: it is E5 on 9×9 and G7 on 13×13. Smaller boards also make nearby replies and edge constraints arrive sooner, so the useful check is whether your next planned line still has legal extension points after the opponent responds. Common first-move mistakes are opening in a corner without a plan, opening on the edge by habit, and moving off-center without comparing its extension room to the center.
As White (the second player), the reply sets the character of the game. A diagonal offset near the center gives both players room to build; an adjacent move can be useful in some tactical positions; a far-away stone may be slow in a casual opening. Evaluate the threats a reply creates and allows instead of treating any of them as automatically right or wrong. A published first-player-win result for unrestricted 15×15 Gomoku explains why competitive formats add balancing rules — it does not make a center opening a guaranteed win, and it does not settle Renju or every casual variant. See the scope of that result.
Three direct patterns
Direct means that White’s second stone is next to Black’s center stone on the same file. Keep H8 and H9 fixed while you compare Black’s third move.
Direct 1: Kansei
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black H10.
What changes: The third stone is on the same file as Black’s first stone, but White occupies H9 between them. The two Black stones therefore do not form a connected vertical line.
Study question: Trace the horizontal and diagonal lines through H10. Which empty squares could make that stone useful without assuming Black can play through White at H9?
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black H10 · 4 White I10 · 5 Black G10.
White's illustrated response: White 4 I10 occupies the intersection immediately to the right of Black’s H10 stone, limiting a horizontal extension in that direction.
What Black tests next: Black 5 G10 develops on the opposite side of H10. The result is a two-stone row segment with one side blocked by White; it is not yet a threat of five.
When to study this shape: After White’s direct H9 reply, compare Kansei when you want to study how a blocking stone between Black’s H8 and H10 changes the value of a nearby horizontal plan.
Direct 2: Keigetsu
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black I10.
What changes: Black’s third stone sits one file right of Kansei’s H10. H8 and I10 are not adjacent in a winning line, so any useful connection needs further moves.
Study question: Compare H10 and I10 on a board. Which open intersections support each Black stone, and which can White occupy first on move 4?
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black I10 · 4 White H10 · 5 Black I8.
White's illustrated response: White 4 H10 extends White’s H9 stone upward and occupies a point Black might otherwise have used to approach I10.
What Black tests next: Black 5 I8 forms a two-stone horizontal segment with H8. White’s H9 and H10 remain active, so Black must check those lines before treating I8 as an attack.
When to study this shape: After the direct H9 reply, compare Keigetsu with Kansei when you want a third stone off the H-file and are willing to test the opponent’s close vertical response.
Direct 3: Sosei
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black J10.
What changes: The third stone is two files to the right of the center. It reaches farther across the upper half of the board but leaves more space between Black’s stones.
Study question: Ask whether a fourth move near I9 would connect or cut Black’s possible lines. Distance between stones matters only with a concrete follow-up.
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White H9 · 3 Black J10 · 4 White I10 · 5 Black J9.
White's illustrated response: White 4 I10 sits immediately left of Black J10 and one diagonal step from White H9. It prevents Black from treating I10 as an open leftward extension from J10.
What Black tests next: Black 5 J9 builds a vertical pair with J10. The pair has possible extension squares, but White’s nearby H9 and I10 stones may affect a later diagonal or horizontal plan.
When to study this shape: After the direct H9 reply, study Sosei when you want to compare a more distant third stone with the compact direct shapes and calculate how White can occupy the intervening space.
Three indirect patterns
Indirect means that White’s second stone is diagonal from H8. With the first two moves held fixed, compare where Black’s third stone leaves a gap or a potential connection.
Indirect 1: Chosei
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J10.
What changes: White’s second stone is diagonal from the center at I9. Black’s third stone at J10 continues that diagonal direction, but White sits between the two Black stones.
Study question: Trace both diagonals through H8 and J10. Which intermediate square is occupied, and which other lines could Black realistically build?
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J10 · 4 White H9 · 5 Black I8.
White's illustrated response: White 4 H9 forms a horizontal pair with I9 and occupies the intersection directly above Black’s center stone.
What Black tests next: Black 5 I8 creates a horizontal pair with H8 rather than trying to play through White’s I9 stone on the diagonal. Neither side has an immediate win.
When to study this shape: After a diagonal I9 reply, compare Chosei when you want to see why two Black stones on the same diagonal may still be disconnected by a White stone.
Indirect 2: Kyogetsu
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J9.
What changes: The third stone shares White’s row and sits immediately to its right. Black’s stones lie at H8 and J9, giving two short diagonal or horizontal development routes.
Study question: Compare I8 and J8 as possible future points. Do not label either a winning move until you account for White’s reply and the chosen rule set.
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J9 · 4 White I8 · 5 Black J8.
White's illustrated response: White 4 I8 forms a vertical pair with I9 and takes the square between Black’s H8 and the J-file.
What Black tests next: Black 5 J8 creates a vertical pair with J9. Both players have adjacent stones, but there is no forced sequence without analyzing White’s sixth move.
When to study this shape: After the diagonal I9 reply, study Kyogetsu when you want to compare how placing Black’s third stone beside White’s second can invite an immediate contest at I8.
Indirect 3: Kosei
Defining stones: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J8.
What changes: The third stone stays on the center row, two files from H8. I8 is empty between Black’s two stones, while White’s I9 stone sits directly above that gap.
Study question: The empty I8 intersection is an obvious candidate, so test what changes if White occupies it first. Record both possible fourth moves before judging the shape.
One possible five-move practice line: 1 Black H8 · 2 White I9 · 3 Black J8 · 4 White H9 · 5 Black I8.
White's illustrated response: White 4 H9 forms a horizontal pair with I9 but leaves I8 empty between Black’s H8 and J8 stones.
What Black tests next: Black 5 I8 fills that gap and makes a three from H8 through J8. G8 and K8 are possible extensions, but White gets the next turn.
When to study this shape: After the diagonal I9 reply, study Kosei when you want to compare a White move that fills I8 with one that leaves the gap for Black. The two branches below show the difference.
One named start, two different replies
Use Kosei's defining first three stones—Black H8, White I9, Black J8—to see why an opening name is only a starting position. The next two diagrams are illustrative casual exact-five practice branches. They are not prescribed Renju fourth moves or official fifth-stone proposals.
White's I8 reply removes Black's direct row-8 connection. Black can still build from J8 in another direction, so this picture shows a changed plan, not a verdict on the position.
Here Black fills I8 instead. The resulting three has two possible extensions, G8 and K8, but it is not yet an open four or a forced win. White's sixth move matters.
Replay both branches with the local board and compare White's best sixth move in branch B. If you study formal Renju, return to the current event procedure before treating either casual continuation as a legal tournament proposal.
A ten-minute comparison drill
- Rebuild Kansei, Keigetsu, and Sosei on the local board in two-player mode.
- For each position, propose two legal White fourth moves. Write down the Black response you expect to each.
- Repeat for Chosei, Kyogetsu, and Kosei. Note which empty intersections appear in more than one useful line.
- Compare your notes. If you cannot name White’s best reply, do not call the Black plan forced.