a line of XOOX the two O stones are removed from play and counted towards capture, leaving X_ _ X. All other rules are the same as in Pente. Boat Boat Pente is a variant of Pente invented by Jay E. Hoff in the 1980s. It differs from regular Pente in how it deals with win conditions involving the creation of a pente (5 stones of one color in a row). If a pente is made, the game continues if the opponent is able to capture a pair across the pente. This allows the defending player to either win through capture or by forming their own pente. However, if the defender does not win through their capture, then the attacking player can recreate the pente and win unless another capture across the pente is made. All other rules are the same as in Pente. Ninuki-Renju Ninuki Renju is a predecessor to Pente and one of Gabrel's inspirations for Pente. The winner is the player either to make a perfect five in a row, or to capture five pairs of the opponent's stones. As in Pente, a pair of stones of the same color may be captured by the opponent with custodial capture (sandwiching a line of two stones lengthwise). It differs from Pente in black moving first and its use of a 15x15 board and rule restrictions on the first player, such as the rule of three and three or winning through overlines. The rule of three and three forbids the creation of two lines of three stones at the same time without an opponent's stone blocking on one side of either line. An overline refers to lines longer than five in a row. In Pente this is counted as a win, while in Ninuki-Renju it is not. Finally, Ninuki-Renju also allows the game to continue after a player has formed a row of five stones if their opponent can capture a pair across the line, the same as in Boat Pente. Multi-player Multi-Player Pente can be played with pairs of two players acting as partners, or with multiple independent players each controlling different colored stones. When capturing, the pairs "sandwiched" between two stones can be of any color, but the capturing stones must be the same color. Tournament rules Pro is currently the most widely used tournament rule. It restricts the first and second move of the first player