TECHNIQUE 1 OF 4
Bracketing: follow each uninterrupted capture line
A legal move needs more than contact with an enemy disc. Follow the ray until it reaches your own disc, an empty square or the edge, then decide whether anything is captured.
The rule and its limit
Starting next to the proposed square, a capture ray must contain one or more opposing discs followed immediately by a friendly disc. A friendly neighbour with no opponent between does not qualify, and an empty square breaks the ray. Check all eight directions; a single placement may flip several independent lines.
A common mistake
Stopping at the first opponent without checking the far endpoint accepts illegal moves. Flipping only one bracketed direction misses captures that the rules require.
PLAYABLE EXAMPLE 1
Bracket before counting
Violet to move. Find a legal square, then identify every bracketed line it flips. Which available move flips the most discs in this position? This is a counting exercise, not a recommendation.
Loading playable study…
Select a legal empty square. Violet (V) and Cream (C) are the two players. You control both sides here. Bracketed discs flip automatically; a player without a move passes automatically.
Keyboard: Tab to an enabled control, then press Enter or Space. The study starts from the diagram shown; reload can restore your own saved moves.
Try the task before inspecting the answer.
Compare the starting moves
The maximum immediate capture is 1 disc, available at R2C3, R3C2, R4C5, R5C4. Only contiguous opposing discs bounded by your disc flip; an empty square breaks a ray.
| First move | Immediate effect | Checked consequence |
|---|---|---|
| R2C3 | Flips 1: R3C3. | Opponent has 3 legal replies. |
| R3C2 | Flips 1: R3C3. | Opponent has 3 legal replies. |
| R4C5 | Flips 1: R4C4. | Opponent has 3 legal replies. |
| R5C4 | Flips 1: R4C4. | Opponent has 3 legal replies. |
PLAYABLE EXAMPLE 2
Count every captured line
Violet to move. Find a legal square, then identify every bracketed line it flips. Which available move flips the most discs in this position? This is a counting exercise, not a recommendation.
Loading playable study…
Select a legal empty square. Violet (V) and Cream (C) are the two players. You control both sides here. Bracketed discs flip automatically; a player without a move passes automatically.
Keyboard: Tab to an enabled control, then press Enter or Space. The study starts from the diagram shown; reload can restore your own saved moves.
Try the task before inspecting the answer.
Compare the starting moves
The maximum immediate capture is 3 discs, available at R3C5. Only contiguous opposing discs bounded by your disc flip; an empty square breaks a ray.
| First move | Immediate effect | Checked consequence |
|---|---|---|
| R2C3 | Flips 1: R3C3. | Opponent has 6 legal replies. |
| R2C5 | Flips 1: R3C4. | Opponent has 7 legal replies. |
| R3C1 | Flips 1: R4C2. | Opponent has 5 legal replies. |
| R3C5 | Flips 3: R3C4, R3C3, R4C4. | Opponent has 5 legal replies. |
| R4C1 | Flips 1: R4C2. | Opponent has 5 legal replies. |
| R4C5 | Flips 1: R4C4. | Opponent has 9 legal replies. |
| R5C2 | Flips 1: R4C2. | Opponent has 6 legal replies, including corner R6C1. |
An empty gap breaks the bracket
R3C1 is empty, R3C2 is Cream, R3C3 is empty and R3C4 is Violet. No other ray from R3C1 would bracket an opposing disc.
The tempting move
Place Violet at R3C1 and flip R3C2 because another Violet disc is farther along the row.
Why it fails
R3C3 interrupts the line before the friendly endpoint. The Cream run is not directly followed by Violet, and there is no other capturing direction.
What you can conclude
R3C1 is not a legal Violet move in this stated position. A distant friendly disc beyond an empty square cannot complete the bracket.
Try the idea in another position
Violet considers R3C3. To its right are Cream at R3C4 and Violet at R3C5; below are Cream at R4C3 and Violet at R5C3. Assume no other direction brackets discs. Which discs flip?
Check your reasoning
Cream at R3C4 and R4C3 both flip to Violet. Each lies on its own uninterrupted opposing run ending at a friendly disc. The new Violet disc also occupies R3C3.