Lines of Action Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Rules of Play
• Notes on Rule Variants
• Component Notes

Object of the Game

Lines of Action (LOA) is played on an 8×8 board by two sides, Black and White. Each side has twelve pieces at its disposal. It is a two-person zero-sum game with perfect information. LOA is a connection game, albeit non-typical.

The goal of a player is to form one connected group with all of its pieces. The first player to do so is the winner. Connected pieces are on squares that are adjacent, either orthogonally or diagonally.

Setup

The black pieces are placed in two rows along the top and bottom of the board, while the white pieces are placed in two files at the left and right side of the board.

Rules of Play

At the sixth Computer Olympiad the LOA rules were made immutable for tournament play. They are as stated below in points 1 to 10. Warning: in some books, magazines, or websites, rules 2, 8, 9, and 10 can be different from what is specified here — the Olympiad organisation uses the rules that were used at the MSO World Championship of 2000.

1. The players alternately move, starting with Black.
2. A player to move must move one of its pieces. A move takes place in a straight line (along files, ranks, or diagonals), exactly as many squares as there are pieces of either colour anywhere along the line of movement.
3. A player may jump over its own pieces, but not land on them.
4. A player may not jump over the opponent's pieces, but can capture them by landing on them.
5. The goal of a player is to form one connected group with all of its pieces. The first player to do so is the winner. Connected pieces are on squares that are adjacent, either orthogonally or diagonally.
6. A single piece is a connected group.
7. If a move simultaneously creates a single connected unit for both players, it is a draw.
8. If a player cannot move, this player has to pass.
9. If a position with the same player to move occurs for the third time, the game is drawn.

Notes on Rule Variants

In the second edition of A Gamut of Games (1982), simultaneous connection (rule 7 above) is described as a win for the moving player, but the draw variant is still in force in the main tournaments, such as the Mind Sports Olympiad 2000, and on Richard's PBeM server (e-mail championship). Both rules are widely used, so it is recommended that a group of players agree in advance on which one they will play.

Component Notes

Lines of Action requires only a standard 8×8 checkers board and 24 pieces (12 per side — the same equipment used for checkers/draughts). Commercial editions, including the ABACUSSPIELE printing pictured on the box, supply a dedicated board and a set of pieces marked with a fleur-de-lis motif to distinguish the two sides, but any checkers set is sufficient to play.