OUTWIT

Copyright (c) 1978 ?? - Publisher Parker Brothers

The game is played on the following 10x9 board with the following setup:
   

BASES - Each player has nine special cells (denoted by the dots), called their bases. SOLDIER  - Each soldier move into any orthogonal direction without jumping any piece, for as many cells possible, until they find an obstacle. A soldier cannot move into the enemy's base. After moving into its own base, the soldier cannot move out. KING - Move like the Chess Queen, i.e., any number of cells on any direction (orthogonal or diagonal) without jumping. A King cannot move into the enemy's base. After moving into its own base, the King cannot move out. GOAL - Wins the player that first places all his pieces inside his base.

 

An example First player moved f4-f1. Second player moved the King directly into his base. This is a bad move, since the King should be used to block the player's own running soldiers.

For more information regarding Outwit, you can also check Mark Thompson's website. The game was also named L'Africa in France.

I do find a structural problem in Outwit. A player can force a draw, by surrounding the enemy base with his own stones. For e.g., the moves i1-d1, h2-d2, g3-d3, a9-a4, b8-b4, c7-c4 cannot be easily defended by the second player, which will be able only to enter his own King on his base.

Several possibilities to avoid this problem can be used. Two of them might be:

1. Adjacent enemy stones, may jump each other, to the opposite cell.
2. Lines of adjacent stones may push adjacent enemy lines of stones, like in Abalone. If this would force an enemy stone to enter the player's base, the player could pick that stone and place it on any empty cell.