is recorded as , , or . The only legal moves for the second turn would be (to the left), (above), (below), or (to the right). Prior to 1998, an alternative three-character notation system was used. The first two characters consist of a number and a letter, with the letter denoting the column (in order from left to right, A, B, C, ...) and the number denoting the row (in order from top to bottom, 1, 2, 3, ...). The third character is either S (when a straights/cross piece is played), C (when a curved piece is played as the first tile or against two edges), or U/D/L/R (depending on the track which being continued, either Up, Down, Left, or Right, respectively). The sequence of the first two characters are reversed when the tile is played above the tile in the top left corner, so for example A1x is played to the left of the tile in the top-left corner, while 1Ax is played above that tile. Variations "Loop Trax" is a variant where the winning criterion is limited to closed loops only. Other variations include limiting playing board size (to 8×8, as "Limited Tiles" or 3×3, as "Mini Trax"). Originally, the game was limited to an 8×8 board because each set was supplied with 64 tiles; the variant "SuperTrax", which removed the size limits, required the purchase of at least one additional set. With the advent of virtual play, "SuperTrax" has become the dominant variant. Example game This game was played between Donald Bailey (white) and Tom Seigenthaler (black) in early 1994. The cross/straights tile placed during the first move (as ) ended up in the final position of "C7". Reviews Games 1982 Games 100 in Games See also Tantrix, a connection game played with similar tiles but different gameplay Black Path Game References External links Trax puzzle book Bibliography Board games introduced in 1982 Abstract strategy games Tile-based board games Connection games