Gobang

/ɡoʊˈbæŋ/ noun

Definition

A game played on a goban-like board where players try to be the first to get five stones in a row, similar to Go but with simpler rules.

Etymology

From Japanese 'gobang' (五目並べ), combining 'go' (五, five) + 'ban' (盤, board) + 'narabe' (並べ, arranging). The name literally means 'five in a row' and describes the winning condition.

Kelly Says

Gobang is Go's simpler cousin and was the basis for the modern game Gomoku—it's become hugely popular in AI training because it's complex enough to be interesting but simple enough for computers to solve, making it a perfect testing ground for machine learning!

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