Score Four

Sogo (even below room mill, mill 3D, 3D Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four Professional and other names sold ) is a strategic board game for two people.

  • 3.1 First variation
  • 3.2 Second variation
  • 3.3 Variants of the game board

Introduction

The ultimate goal of Sogo is to bring (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) own four pieces in a row. Game theory it like chess, Go or mill is a game with perfect information.

For the first time the game was released in 1967 in the United States as a score Four. In Germany the game is published by Ravensburger in 1974 as Sogo in the Traveller series. In the same year a similar two -dimensional variant of the game appeared as " Connect Four " at MB games. In the GDR there was produced as a space - mill by the VEB Thüringer jewelry in Walterhausen 1985. Over the past 45 years, this game appeared subsequently in several other publishers under many different names.

Alternative designations

Game material

  • Base plate 16 with vertical bars, which are arranged in a 4 × 4 square. Each bar can accommodate four balls
  • 2 × 32 balls ( or pieces ) in two colors

Game History

First variation

Alternately, put the two players, a ball on a stick. A mill is formed when four same-colored stones stacked vertically, horizontally next to each other, diagonal in a plane or even diagonally upward ( in the diagonal) are set ( a total of 76 options ). Once a player has a mill, he wins. The game ends in a draw if all 64 balls were played without a mill came about.

Second variation

If a fine mill, may the enemy, as in the conventional mill game, a game stone be taken away. The winner is the one who has conquered the enemy the most tokens at the end.

Variants of the game board

In addition to playing on the 4 x 4 board, there are like " Connect Four " different size game boards. So even breadboards of size 3 x and 5 x 5 x 5 ( " Connect Four 3D" ) are sold 3 x 3 ("3 D Tic Tac Toe" ).

Strategy and tactics

Unlike Qubic, in which all open play fields can be occupied at any time, at Sogo only a maximum of 16 positions are besetzbar. Paradoxically, this limitation of the possibilities to additional strategic and tactical motifs.

Prohibited items

One of these motifs is that it is possible to create rows of three in which the free position can not be closed immediately because the position is not yet among them occupied. It is good to build up (holes) as many of these open positions because it can be used for combinations later.

The position below the hole is off limits for opponents, because you can immediately close the series, when he sets there. Thus, each own hole restricts the possible moves of the opponent. The figure shows the free bar is left off limits in the diagonal for Black. Would he get so closes the row above and white wins.

If you manage to build two holes directly above the other, then you have a dilemma. The opponent must use the lower hole, once the position is filled under. Now you can close the upper hole and won the game.

Zugzwang

Towards the end of the game decreases the number of possibilities for train train. This can even lead to Zugzwangssituation: One of the two players go the safe trains, so that he is finally forced to put his ball on a taboo position, and loses. In the figure on the right is Black's course. It focuses on the last available position on the stick in the right row. White then has no choice but to put on one of the two remaining free bars. Black can then close in both cases, a back four and wins.

Notation

A possible notation of the game is to number the individual bars from 0 to F in hexadecimal. This is seen from the white players started at the top left with the count and these are performed from right to left and from top to bottom. To record a game rich from these numbers, as well as the turn order. To describe a mill or even an entire game position, you can attach these rod - numbers nor the height of the stones. A mill the to the highest stone on bar 4 runs diagonally from the lowest stone on bar 0 upwards, accordingly as " mill 01-34 ". The position shown above with forbidden position would be considered " White: 01, 02, 11, 41, 52, 91, D1, F2 Black: 12, 21, 51, 81, C1, D2, F1" are listed.

Another possibility is notation to denote the bars according to the chess notation. The series will be seen from the white players from left to right with A to D and the columns are numbered from bottom to top with 1-4. The above position would be in this notation as " White: A4 -1, A4 -2, A3 -1, B4-1, B3 -2, C3-1, D3 -1, D1 -2 black: A3 -2, A2 - be 1, B3-1, C4 -1, D4 -1, D3 -2, D1 -1 listed ".

Timekeeping

If Sogo played racing by, the time measurement is realized with chess clocks as in other strategy games. This ensures that both players is an equal thinking time available.

Lakeside Milton Bradley Waltershausen Game clock Time control BoardGameGeek
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