Teeko is an

abstract strategy game Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information. ...

invented by

John Scarne John Scarne (; March 4, 1903 – July 7, 1985) was an American magician and author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, g ...

in 1937 and rereleased in refined form in 1952 and again in the 1960s. Teeko was marketed by Scarne's company,

John Scarne Games Inc. John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

; its quirky name, he said, borrowed letters from Tic-tac-toe, Chess, Checkers, and Bingo.

Gameplay

The Teeko board consists of twenty-five spaces arranged in a five-by-five grid. There are eight markers in a Teeko game, four black and four red. One player, "Black" plays the black markers, and the other, "Red", plays the red. Black moves first and places one marker on any space on the board. Red then places a marker on any unoccupied space; black does the same; and so on until all eight markers are on the board. The object of the game is for either player to win by having all four of his markers in a straight line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) or on a square of four adjacent spaces. (Adjacency is horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, but does not wrap around the edges of the board.) If neither player has won after the "drop" (when all eight pieces are on the board), then they move their pieces one at a time, with Black playing first. A piece may be moved only to an adjacent space. The rules, as summarized above, are very simple, but the strategy is complicated enough to fill a book, ''Scarne on Teeko'', by Scarne (1955).Scarne, John (1955). ''Scarne on Teeko''. New York: Crown Publishers. Nonetheless,

Guy L. Steele Jr. Guy Lewis Steele Jr. (; born October 2, 1954) is an American computer scientist who has played an important role in designing and documenting several computer programming languages and technical standards. Biography Steele was born in Missouri ...

solved the game (i.e., showed what must occur if both players play perfectly) via

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

in 1998: he found that neither player can force a win.Epstein, Richard A. (2012) ''The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, 2nd ed.'' Academic Press, p. 341.

Variations

There are sixteen variations of Teeko, such as Advanced Teeko, which have slightly different rules. All sixteen are outlined in ''Scarne on Teeko''; the rules above are for "Standard Teeko" (or "Teeko"). Steele showed that Advanced Teeko is a win for Black (assuming, again, that both players play perfectly), as is one other variation, but the other fourteen are draws.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Browser-based version of the game
Board games introduced in 1937 Abstract strategy games Solved games

Gameplay

Variations

See also

References

External links