One variant of the game has all edge moves played from the start. Who do you think has the winning strategy in that case on a 5x5? Also, is anyone up for a game? Or is there a simple winning strategy?

It does seem hard for several chains to appear since each chain has to have end-point in rings.

This has proven to be a 11-14 win for p2 I think.

Thanks. Do you recall where you have seen it?

wccanard mentioned it “here”:http://littlegolem.net/jsp/forum/topic2.jsp?forum=110&topic=90 (2008-02-25)

i played that once against a total beginner; i was player 1 and i would have lost if my opponent knew the all-but-two-trick. it's impossible for p1 to accomplish anything really.

That is what I would suspect although the 11-14 suggests it to be more balanced. 7ics, would you mind playing?

Would it be reasonable to play on a larger board (since a lot of moves have already been played and it seems like it would give more room to play around with.