Jadongcha Gonu
Also called Jajeongeo Gonu (bicycle gonu) or Nebakwi Gonu (four-wheel gonu). Pieces normally move one point at a time, but a piece that comes around a corner wheel runs any distance. It is the fastest-moving game in the gonu family.
Who moves first? Two players take turns on one device. Each side has 4 pieces.
Rules (as written in the source)
- Usually on a board of four lines, each side uses four pieces and moves one point at a time.
- To capture an opponent's piece, a piece must go around one of the round wheels at the four corners and then capture the first piece it runs into; at that moment it runs straight ahead any number of points.
- When going around a wheel, none of your own pieces may be blocking the path of the turning piece.
The rule sentences follow the entry "Gonu" in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. The source says the board may also have five or six lines; here we use the basic four-line form, and the wheel gonu in the Ministry of Culture diagrams is a five-line variant whose line count differs from our board. Three things the source does not say are our reading: each side starts on its own back line, the wheel move is used only to capture, and you win by capturing all of the opponent's pieces or leaving them unable to move.
Notes from playing (our reading, not the source)
The notes below follow from the rules and are our own summary. They are not in the source text.
- You capture only by going around a wheel. Simply running into a piece does not capture it. That makes the four corners the attacking points, and the farther from them, the safer.
- Your own piece in the way stops the turn. If one of your pieces stands on the path around the wheel, that move is dead. Clear your own pieces first when preparing an attack.
- After the wheel, a piece goes far. Around the wheel it runs straight on and captures the first piece it meets. One move can cross the board, so do not line up your pieces on the path the opponent would take.
- Guarding the corners is the defense. Block the approach to a wheel with your own piece and the opponent has nowhere to come around.
How it differs from the other gonu games
Jadongcha Gonu has an unusual way of capturing. You can capture only by going around one of the four corner wheels, and after the wheel a piece runs straight any distance. Of the five games, a single move travels the farthest here.
Neojul Gonu captures whenever pieces stand in a row, and Cham Gonu captures by making three in a line. Hobak Gonu has no capture at all.
Because the attacking points are fixed at the corners, you can see where the board is dangerous. The rules are involved, but the play is clear. If you are new, start with Umul Gonu.