Top 5 Gomoku Openings for a Strong Start

Why do openings matter?

The opening decides how many directions you will have to develop. Stones placed near each other and near the centre offer more attacking choices than stones scattered around the edge. A good opening does not win on the spot, but it makes it harder for your opponent to build anything of their own. If your first few stones are disconnected, every later move has to repair that weakness instead of creating a threat.

1. The centre opening

Place your first stone near the centre, then expand in a square or cross shape around it. This is the safest approach for a beginner because every direction is still open: you can grow up, down, left, right or diagonally without running into the edge of the board. It also keeps your stones within reach of one another, which makes it easier to switch from one line to another when a threat appears.

2. The diagonal opening

Develop along two nearby diagonals instead of a single straight line. A diagonal opening creates several potential threats at once, and it can turn into a double attack quickly when your opponent only blocks one direction. The stones look spread out at first, but the diagonal links give them more ways to meet than a flat line would.

3. The parallel opening

Keep two rows or two columns running parallel with a single empty square between them. That gap is the point: it lets you join both shapes into one five-stone line when your opponent stops paying attention. Parallel play is also useful defensively, because a block on one row does not destroy the other. Just be careful not to leave the gap open for too long without a concrete plan.

4. The two-wing opening

Develop on both sides of the centre rather than committing everything to one flank. This forces your opponent to watch a wider area, and it makes any defensive gap easier to expose. When the computer or a human player focuses on the cluster nearest to them, the second wing can quietly grow into the winning line. The trade-off is that your stones are less connected at first, so you need to keep both groups alive.

5. The flexible defensive opening

If your opponent moves first and takes the centre, place a stone symmetrically or block their strongest direction of growth. The goal is not to win immediately but to keep the position balanced until they overextend. A player who stretches a shape too far usually leaves a gap behind it, and that gap is where your counterattack starts. Stay patient and keep your own stones close enough to support each other.

General principles

• Keep stones within one or two squares of each other so they can connect.
• Do not put every stone into a single row.
• Always look at both ends of every line.
• Avoid openings that sit too far from the centre.
• After each move, ask yourself: where could my opponent make an open four?

How should you practise openings?

Play three games with the same opening, then review them using the Undo button to see where the shape went wrong. In the next game, change the direction of development and compare the result. Repeating an opening this way teaches you what the stones are actually doing, rather than memorising a sequence that falls apart as soon as your opponent replies differently.

Learn the rules before you practise openings: Gomoku rules →

See the full guide: The complete gomoku guide →

Read next in the guide

Defending after the opening: Blocking and turning the game around →

Practise against the computer: How to beat the gomoku AI →

The whole guide: The complete gomoku guide →