A Māori game of pure position — get stuck and you lose.
Nine spots: eight points of a star plus the centre. Slide a piece to an adjacent empty spot, and win by leaving your opponent with no legal move. Only a piece touching an enemy piece may move into the centre.
A traditional game of the Māori of New Zealand. Nineteenth-century settlers left records complaining they could never beat Māori players. The board is shaped like the eight-petalled puarangi flower. Rare among games in having no luck and no handicap at all.
Control the centre. Occupy the pūtahi or stay ready to take it. Trap two enemy pieces in the valleys between the points and the win comes into view. Never surrender the centre carelessly in the opening.
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