Old-Fashioned board game players should try Pente

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If you like to play older, classic games like chess, backgammon, poker, dice, dominoes, card games like gin rummy, bridge, pinocle, cribbage, and canasta, or board games like Yahtzee, you should try Pente, a Hasbro game currently licenced by Winning Moves. The board game Pente celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.  Gary Gabrel is credited with the creation of the game in 1978.  At the time, he was working as a dishwasher in a pizzeria in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The game itself is easy to learn.  Players take turns placing stones on a 19×19 grid.  You win by placing 5 stones in row before your opponent does, or by capturing 5 pairs of your opponent’s stones.  (‘Pente’ is the number 5 in Greek).

Chess players can psych out an opponent by sipping loudly from their Chess Images Liquor Flask. Get yours at Kyle Design.

I bought my Pente set in 1981, and I’ve been casual player ever since.  Sometime in the early 90’s, I started playing 3-4 times a month with my friend Malcolm during lunch, usually at Wang’s Teriyaki to Go in Livermore. It is a tradition that we continue to this day.  The simplicity of the game still allows for normal lunchtime talk.

Are we any good?  It’s hard to say.   Playing the same opponent for 16 years has tended to stunt our growth as Pente players.  On the other hand, our willingness to experiment with strategies has kept the game fairly fresh, even after all this time.

Strategy-wise, a beginning Pente player needs to know two 2 very basic but very important concepts. 

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First, if your opponent has a row of 3 stones that is open at both ends (a structure known as a tria), you must either block or disrupt the tria on your next move.

Second, it is usually a bad idea to build structures of only 2 adjacent stones, since such structures are easily captured.

My nine year old daughter Kayden has recently taken an interest in the game.  Most of the time, I will play my A-game, and then just before I have the game won, we will switch colors.  Sometimes we switch more than once in a single game.  The arrangement keeps us both involved and playing our best throughout the entire match.  She actually beat me once, straight up, with no color switching.   I offer no alibi.  Paulano has a smart kid.

Stamp Dispenser or Stamp Box with Dice Design By Kyle. Click on the picture to see other Dice themed items.

Does Pente have the same entertainment value of computer games offered by companies like Nintendo, Electronic Arts, XBox and Wii. I can’t say, since they don’t appeal to me.  But if you want to unplug for a while, and try something new that’s old, I recommend giving Pente a try.

Fans of classic games, board games and old-fashioned non-electronic games might want to check out the gift items at Kyle Design.  Kyle has hundreds of items with dice images, poker images, card game images, chess piece images, and domino themes, including decorative switch plates for home decor in the game room, business card cases, nightlights, and personal effects like pill boxes and compacts. It is a great one-stop shop for inexpensive, unique items you and your friends.

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