Teeko

Teeko is an abstract strategy game invented by John Scarne in 1937 and rereleased in refined form in 1952 and again in the 1960s. Teeko was marketed by Scarne's company, John Scarne Games Inc.; its quirky name, he said, borrowed letters from Tic-tac-toe, Chess, Checkers, and Bingo.^[1]

Standard Teeko

Equipment

The Teeko board consists of twenty-five spaces arranged in a five-by-five grid. There are eight markers in a Teeko game, four black and four red. One player, "Black" plays the black markers, and the other, "Red", plays the red.^[2]^: 513

Gameplay

Black moves first and places one marker on any space on the board.
Red then places a marker on any unoccupied space.
Players continue to take turns placing markers on empty spaces until all eight markers are on the board.
Once all eight pieces are on the board, if neither player has won after this initial "drop" placement phase, then they move their pieces one at a time, with Black playing first.
A piece may be moved only to an adjacent space.

The object of the game is for either player to win by having all four of their markers in a straight line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) or on a square of four adjacent spaces. (Adjacency is horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, but does not wrap around the edges of the board.)

The rules, as summarized above, are very simple, but the strategy is complicated enough to fill a book, Scarne on Teeko (1955).^[3] Nonetheless, Guy L. Steele Jr. solved the game (i.e., showed what must occur if both players play perfectly) via computer in 1998 and found neither player can force a win.^[4] Steele also showed that the Advanced Teeko variant is a win for Black (again, assuming perfect play), as is one other variant, but the other fourteen variants are draws.^[4]

Variations

There are sixteen variations of Teeko, such as Advanced Teeko, which have slightly different rules. All sixteen are outlined in Scarne on Teeko; the rules above are for "Standard Teeko" (or "Teeko"). Steele showed that Advanced Teeko is a win for Black (assuming, again, that both players play perfectly), as is one other variation, but the other fourteen are draws.^[3]

References

^ Eskin, Blake (July 15, 2001). "A world of games: Cards and gambling authority John Scarne claimed to have invented one of the greatest board games of all time. Was he bluffing?". Washington Post. p. W18. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.
^ Scarne, John (1973). "25: Chess, Checkers, and Teeko". Scarne's encyclopedia of games. Harper & Row. pp. 498–521. LCCN 72-79691. SBN 06-013813-0.
^ ^a ^b Scarne, John (1955). Scarne on Teeko. New York: Crown Publishers.
^ ^a ^b Epstein, Richard A. (2012). The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic (2 ed.). Academic Press. p. 341.

External links

Browser-based version of the game
Scarne, John (1973). "25: Chess, Checkers, and Teeko". Scarne's encyclopedia of games. Harper & Row. pp. 498–521. LCCN 72-79691. SBN 06-013813-0.

[Eskin-1] Eskin, Blake (July 15, 2001). "A world of games: Cards and gambling authority John Scarne claimed to have invented one of the greatest board games of all time. Was he bluffing?". Washington Post. p. W18. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.

[2] Scarne, John (1973). "25: Chess, Checkers, and Teeko". Scarne's encyclopedia of games. Harper & Row. pp. 498–521. LCCN 72-79691. SBN 06-013813-0.

[Scarne-3] Scarne, John (1955). Scarne on Teeko. New York: Crown Publishers.

[Epstein-4] Epstein, Richard A. (2012). The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic (2 ed.). Academic Press. p. 341.

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