Basic shapes thumb|Basic shapes used in pente tactics. From left to right top to bottom: A Pair, a Stretch Two, an Open Tria, a Stretch Tria, and an Open Tessera Certain basic shapes are fundamental to skillful Pente play. The most important are stretch twos, open trias, stretch trias, and open tesseras.
BaSIc shapES ThUmb|BAsic ShapeS used In pEnte tactics. fROm LEfT to rIgHT ToP tO BoTToM: a paiR, A StRetch two, An oPen tRIA, a StretcH Tria, and an oPen tessera CerTAin bAsic shApes are fundamenTAl to SkIllful penTe play. the most imPOrtaNt arE strEtch tWos, OpEn tRIas, stRetcH trias, and oPen tesserAs.