Spaiji Rules

  • designed by Néstor Romeral Andrés
  • 2 players

Spaiji is the Shibumi version of Taiji, which involves the placement of pieces of both colours per turn.

Start

The board starts empty.

Play

Players take turns adding a white ball and a black ball each turn, in any order, at any playable points, provided that both balls touch.

End

The game ends when the pyramid is complete, or when a player cannot play two balls that touch. The owner of the largest visibly connected group wins.

If tied, the second player (Black) wins.

Consider White’s final move in the following game. There are two possible ways to fill the final two points, as shown.

White loss White win

The first option loses 7 to 13 but the second one wins 10 to 9. White should take the second option.

Every game will involve exactly 15 moves. The opening player (White) also gets the last move, which suggests a strong first player advantage.