 Renju is played on a 15×15 gridded board. The playing pieces, called stones, are played on the grid line intersections. | |
| Genres | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Setup time | Minimal |
| Playing time | Casual games: 5 to 30 minutes; tournament games: from 10 minutes (renju blitz) to 5 hours or longer |
| Chance | None |
| Skills | Strategy, tactics |
Renju (Japanese: 連珠) is a professional variant of gomoku. It was named renju by Japanese journalist Ruikou Kuroiwa (黒岩涙香) on December 6, 1899, in a Japanese newspaper Yorozu chouhou (萬朝報). The name "renju" means "connected pearls" in Japanese. The game is played with black and white stones on a 15×15 gridded go board.
The rule of renju weakens the advantages for the first player (Black) in gomoku by adding special restrictions for Black.