A note before I begin.  I like abstracts a lot.  I'm terrible at them, but I enjoy the strategy in the simplicity.  That being said, I've never played any of the three games I'm about to talk about in a face-to-face setting.  I have played them online, and I'l point you to those places.  However, most of what I say will be hearsay.

On with the show.  The first abstract game we'll be covering is part of a larger series of abstract games known as "project GIPF".  This game was the fifth game released, and is called YINSH.


(BGG image by user samoan_jo)

YINSH, a two player abstract game, was published in 2003, designed by a Belgian designer named Kris Burm.  It's published in the US by Rio Grande Games.  As I said, this is part of project GIPF, and was the fifth game published in the series.  I'll talk more about the others at the end of this post.  For now, let's see what YINSH has to offer.


(BGG image by user zombiegod)

With YINSH, you get a game board, five white rings, five black rings, and 51 markers that are white on one side and black on the other.  The goal of the game is to complete three rows of five markers in your color before your opponent does.  How will you accomplish this?  Let's see...


(BGG image by user OldestManOnMySpace)

Each player will alternate placing one of their rings out on the board.  It can go anywhere, as long as it sits on one of the intersections on the board.  Once all ten rings are placed, the first player moves one of his rings from its spot to another along one of the lines in the intersection.  There's no limit to how far you can move it...well, you can't move it off the board, and you can't jump over another ring.  Where your ring just was, leave a marker with your color facing up.

Now the second player moves.  Again, they leave a marker with their color facing up when they move their ring on the board.  Follow the same rules as before.

It is possible for you to jump markers in this game.  You move your ring as normal, and cross over the markers, but must stop as soon as you get across.  There must be an open space on the other side of the markers you're going to jump.  Yes, you can jump multiple markers, and no, they do not all have to be of your opponent's color.  If there's a ring at the other end of the line, you can't jump.  You can only move from one end of the line to the other.  When you jump over the markers, you leave a marker behind and flip over every marker you jumped, even if some of them are your own color.

When you've formed a line of five markers that are all your color, you remove those markers from the board.  You also must take one of your rings off the board.  It can be any of your rings, but this means that your opponent now has more rings on the board than you do.  Play continues, and once one player has removed three rows of five, the game is over.

It's a simple game, but the strategy is unbelievably complex.  There are a few similar strategies to checkers, but I think you'll agree that this one has a lot more thought behind the moves.  It's like checkers movement plus chess strategy.

Read all about YINSH at BGG, then read about the GIPF project.  There are officially six games in the series, of which YINSH is supposed to be the sixth.  The project has a series of potentials that can be added to the games to add extra powers.  It's difficult to understand, and as I only have the most basic knowledge of what's going on, I'd say just read it for yourself.

YINSH will cost around $33 in an FLGS, or you can see the online pricing here.  Also, if you'd like to try out an online implementation, head over to Boardspace.net.  You can register or play as a guest, and can even play the rest of the games in the GIPF series (all except TAMSK).

Next time, we'll talk about an abstract game that can be played with more than two players.  Until then, happy gaming!
-Jesse