Common Tigadi mistakes, and how to fix them

What it looks like: you block your opponent along the outer north side, and they complete a tigadi from outer north-west through middle north-west to inner north-west instead. You were scanning the squares and the straight spokes.

Why it loses: four of the 20 lines are diagonals, and every one of them runs through three corners — the most valuable points on the board. Missing them means missing the lines that matter most.

Instead: give the diagonals their own check. Before each turn, look at the four corners of the middle square, one at a time. Each sits on exactly one diagonal, so four glances cover all four diagonal lines.

What it looks like: in the moving phase you hold outer north-west and outer north-east with outer north empty, and you feel you have a threat. You do not. Outer north has three neighbours — the two corners you already own, and middle north. Only a piece arriving from middle north can complete that line.

Why it loses: you spend moves building pairs your opponent can safely ignore, while their real threats grow. Once all pieces are placed, a pair is only a threat if one of your other pieces stands next to the gap.

Instead: count feeders, not pairs. For every gap, ask which of your pieces could step into it next turn, without being one of the two already on the line. No feeder, no threat. The same test tells you which enemy pairs you can safely ignore.

What it looks like: your opponent has two lines each one move from closing. You block one, they close the other — often taking your blocker.

Why it loses: one move stops one threat. Once two are on the board you have already lost a piece; the mistake was letting the second appear.

Instead: look one move further ahead. When your opponent has one threat, ask where their next move could create a second, and whether you can deny that point now. And when you are forced to choose, block with a piece that will be protected inside one of your own tigadis afterwards, so the blocker cannot simply be captured. The annotated sample game shows this exact pattern deciding a game.

What it looks like: you complete a tigadi and remove whichever enemy piece is nearest, or the one that just moved. A turn later your opponent closes a line anyway.

Why it loses: the choice of piece matters almost as much as the capture itself. A piece inside a complete enemy tigadi cannot be taken unless every enemy piece is in one, so your options are often fewer than they look.

1. 1First, a piece involved in a live threat — one of a pair with a feeder beside its gap, or the feeder itself. Taking the feeder only helps if no other piece can replace it; taking one of the pair usually ends the threat for longer.
2. 2Next, a piece that is blocking a line of yours, so your own threat reopens.
3. 3Next, a piece with plenty of free neighbours — the one best placed to cause trouble later.
4. 4Last, a piece that is merely in the way. Stranded, immobile pieces are the least urgent target: they are already doing little.

What it looks like: you slide a piece to start a line of your own, and your opponent steps into the point you just left and captures.

Why it loses: many of your pieces do their job by standing still in the gap of an enemy pair. Move one and that pair is a threat again — with your opponent to move.

Instead: before every move, ask what the piece is currently blocking. If the answer is an enemy line with a feeder beside it, that piece stays put unless your move captures straight away. The same goes for breaking your own tigadi: the moment you step out, every piece left in that line loses its protection.

What it looks like: your pieces are tucked into corners and along the outer square, hemmed in by your opponent. You still have one legal move, so you must make it — and it opens a line or breaks your own tigadi.

Why it loses: being completely blocked is not a loss here — you simply pass. But being nearly blocked is often worse, because moving is compulsory: if you have any legal move, you must take one, however bad. An outer or inner point has three neighbours and a middle-ring point has four, so pieces packed on the outer square are the easiest to trap.

Instead: keep two or three pieces with free neighbours at all times, so you always have a harmless move to spend. In the placing phase, do not put every piece on the outer square just because its corners are strong; a few pieces in the middle ring keep your options open later.

What it looks like: players who learned standard nine men’s morris get down to three pieces and leave one on the far side of the board, expecting it to rescue them. In Tigadi it never gains the ability to jump.

Why it loses: every piece moves one step at a time, always. Two points on this board can be up to six steps apart, so a piece on the wrong side may be three or four turns from where it is needed — and a running tigadi can capture once every two of its owner’s moves.

Instead: when you are short of pieces, keep them close together and close to the gaps your opponent wants to use. Count steps before you commit a piece to anything. If you are ahead, the reverse holds: aim at lines your opponent’s stranded pieces cannot reach in time.

What it looks like: you are two or three pieces up, nothing seems urgent, and you move the same piece back and forth. Then the game is declared a draw.

Why it loses — or at least fails to win: the game is drawn when the same position occurs three times with the same player to move, or after 100 turns in a row with no capture. A material lead that never turns into captures is worth nothing.

Instead: use the lead to build a line that can open and close. A running tigadi never repeats a position, because a piece leaves the board every time it closes. The strategy guide explains how to build one.

1. 1Can I complete a tigadi now? If so, which piece is the right one to take?
2. 2Does my opponent have a pair with a feeder beside the gap — including on a diagonal?
3. 3Is the piece I want to move blocking anything?
4. 4After my move, will I still have a harmless move next turn?

Ask those four questions every turn for a few games and most of the mistakes above disappear.