I have not really played since the early 70’s but back then we did a few things to TWIXT to make it more interesting.

We used a 36 x 36 board
We allowed three super-moves – one each per game.
1) a 3 x 1 move
2) a 2 x 2 move
3) The replacement move: You can replace one of your opponent’s pegs (dots) with yours as long as it is not part of a line. You cannot replace a replaced peg.

Anybody ever try this? It made for some interesting games.

But the game is nice, with these “super-moves” it begins artificial.

Like Florian Jamain, I find the “super moves” to be too artificial for my tastes. But what about different board sizes? It surprises me that one so rarely sees twixt played on other board sizes.

I like large grid games. On the standard grid, the game seems to be about 80% tactical. You make maybe 5 moves based more on intuition than calculation, and the rest of the game you attempt to tactically justify the plan you are now stuck with. But a larger grid would allow much grander schemes IMO, would require more intuitive thinking, and would last longer. I made a 36x36 set from nine 12x12 panels. I scraped off the unwanted border lines with a razor, and drilled out some formerly corner holes. I have played against just one opponent so far. By and large, the other strong players don't seem to approve of larger grids. Perhaps it's just as well; with so few players compared to more established abstracts, we arguably need to promote a single board size for the sake of unity and building a larger user base. I would personally like to see some larger grid available here.

It is possible to play 36x36 “Twixt”:http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bin/zilligames/submissions.cgi/97428?do=show;id=894 online if both players have purchased the registration key for Zillions of Games. A smaller grid, 18x18 I think, is also available in the package, as well as two versions of “diagonal Twixt”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwixT#Variants but I certainly don't recommend you buy Zillions just to play these variants. For one thing, Zillions is not a server. You have to meet your opponent in some chat room and then one player becomes the host and tells the other his IP address. For another thing, unlike nearly every other Zillions package, the Twixt package does not recognize the game object, and so cannot play against you as a computer opponent. It's just a virtual board for Net play.

I applaud your creativity, but personally believe there would be plenty of variety and interest to the game on a large grid without allowing different linking moves or swapping a peg after the opening. BTW I hope you use the standard swap rule in your play, also known as the “pie rule”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_rule This rule definitely makes the game deeper and more interesting, but it occurs only after the first player places the first peg on the board, if at all.

Back in the early 70's nobody thought of the pie rule. In fact I did not even know it existed until I was caught off guard on my first games here in January. I had not played TwixT since the early 70's

We found that using the three super moves (only one of each per game)could easily upset any long range strategy. But then what did we know. The games was new and pretty much unknown back then.

Rather than the super moves making the game artificial (I don't even know what that means)it made the game more chaotic …. and fun. We played on paper (actually graph paper) since we had no way to increase my game board. I still have the game board.

I would agree with David on two points:

\* 36x36 is probably a better size for playing twixt at a serious level

\* the twixt community is probably too small to make it worth trying an experimental offshoot (and too quiet to obtain a consensus)

I would also agree that if you're playing at a serious level, the pie rule is a necessity

I never said the super moves should replace the standard game. I just gave it as a suggestion that you may want to try just to see how it works out for you. It can be fun!