Abalone WC

Description

The popular two-player strategy game Abalone was invented by two Frenchmen, M. Lalet and L. Levi in 1988. The game is played on a hexagonal board composed of 61 cells in a regular pattern. Each player (White/Black) has 14 marbles in their own colour. You move (push) your own men, either singly or as a line, in any direction. The object is to push six of your opponent’s balls off the board.

A player can push their opponent′s marbles which are in an adjacent space to their own with an in-line move only. They can only push if the pushing line has more marbles than the pushed line (three can push two or one; two can push one). Marbles must be pushed into an open space (i.e. not blocked by a marble of either colour) or off the board. The winner is the first player to push six of the opponent’s marbles off of the edge of the board.

Tournament Format for the Abalone World Championship
Players Per Table – 2
Swiss Pairings over 6 rounds
Clock Settings – 12 mins per player
Belgian Daisy opening position