Eighteen sheep enter the field first
On the board with five horizontal and five vertical lines, there are 25 'win on a discard' diagonal lines. At the start, two tigers are stacked in the center, and eighteen sheep have not yet entered; The sheep side moves first, placing one sheep on an empty spot each turn. After all the sheep are placed on the board, the sheep side can move the existing sheep.
The entry phase is the easiest to mistakenly think the sheep can immediately move the piece. First, place the sheep into an open spot that needs to be guarded, while leaving space for companions to fill the gap; If you only pile the sheep on one side, the other side may allow the tiger to break through from a long distance.
Tiger Leaping requires one sheep and one empty order to eat
Each turn, the tiger moves one piece and can walk along the same unobstructed board straight line to the empty point. When capturing a sheep, the tiger must first encounter an adjacent sheep in the same direction. The point immediately following the sheep must be empty before the tiger can cross the sheep to land on that empty spot and capture it.
If there is no landing spot, you cannot jump to capture; If there are two sheep or a piece already placed at the landing point, this is also not allowed. You may jump to capture only one sheep per turn; you cannot jump repeatedly after landing. When placing pieces, the sheep side should pay special attention to the "empty point behind the sheep," while the tiger side should look for such a one-sheep-one-empty point route.
How does the sheep side complete the blockade?
Sheep cannot capture the tiger or jump stones. After all eighteen sheep enter, each move along the board line to the adjacent empty point. To win, both tigers must not make a legal move or jump to capture a route; blocking only one is not enough.
- First, see if the tiger can walk straight to a distant empty spot, not just block the adjacent square.
- Then check each sheep for an open spot behind to prevent the tiger from leaping and opening a gap.
- Both tigers need to be checked, especially paying attention to their different routes after separating from the center.
When will the tiger side win?
If the tiger side has captured nine sheep in total, they win immediately and do not need to consume all eighteen. The tiger side should also watch carefully to prevent the sheep side from having any legal moves. If both sides fail to capture pieces or the position recurs repeatedly, the game may be a draw; do not just move back and forth on the same route.