Black has two distinct stars with a total net score of 17. Touching [A1], 18 border cells; net score 16 Touching [D1], 3 border cells; net score 1 Black wins by more effectively connecting its stars. For example, if the stone at [D3] were white instead, that would connect its first two stars and the net score would be 6+8-2 = 12 instead of 10. Likewise, this would disconnect the large Black star, which would be split into two stars, contacting 3 and 15 border cells, for a net score of 3+15-4 = 14 instead of 16. Although this single change would not have been sufficient for White to win, it illustrates the reward for connecting stars. Because of the board's geometry, the six corner perimeter cells [A1], [A5], [F1], [F10], [J5], and [J10] each contact 3 border cells and would score one point each with a single occupying stone. Schensted felt this was an unfair advantage and proposed a rule change to make these cells worth two points each instead. This can be accomplished by modifying those corner cells to be five-sided; the removal of the six small partial scoring cells at the corners means the resulting total score of both players is 25 on the 5×6 board. For the example game illustrated here, the revised score is White 11, Black 14 with the modified 2-point corners. Each player occupied three corner cells in this example, so the score is reduced by three points each using the modified board. History Schensted first developed Poly-Y in the 1970s, a more generalized version of Y in that Y is the special case of Poly-Y using a board with three sides and corners. Through experimentation, Schensted discovered that a board with nine sides and corners and seven elements per side was ideal; more corners would mean shorter sides, and players could make a "Y" touching three sides relatively easily. After R. Wayne Schmittberger contacted Schensted in the early 1980s, asking to publish Poly-Y in Games magazine, Schensted dusted off the concept and playtested it with his wife, Irene. During one of their games, they decided to grant a bonus to the player who more effectively linked their groups together to avoid ties, resulting in the rules for Star. References External links Star History of *Star Board games introduced in 1983 Abstract strategy games