Domino Five and Block Five: playing the queue駒の考え方

Read the queue before the board

Both players get the same run of pieces, and the next three are shown. So you know what your opponent will have to lay, and they know yours. A white-white domino in black's hand is not a disaster if black lays it where white's stones cannot use it: on the far side of the board, or into a line black has already blocked.

Plan two pieces ahead. If the piece after next is good for you, place the current one to make room for it where it will count.

Every piece cuts both ways

• A piece carrying the opponent's colour can complete the opponent's five, and then the opponent wins whoever laid it. Before you lay, check every cell of the piece against the opponent's lines, not only your own.
• A piece carrying both colours can be laid so that your stone extends your line while the opponent's stone lands on a dead point: next to the edge, or on a line already blocked.
• In Block Five, singles are the scarce resource. A single fills the one gap a four needs, or blocks the one gap the opponent's four needs. Spend them on decisions, never on tempo.

When nothing fits

Late in the game the board runs out of room for the larger shapes and the turn passes. Two passes in a row end it as a draw. If you are ahead on the board, keep it tidy so your pieces still fit; if you are behind, a crowded board and a draw may be the best result available.