Bracket and flip: rules and printable materials

Place a disk to bracket an unbroken opposing line, flip it and finish with more disks.

Players

2

Plan for

15–25 minutes

Bring

Six-by-six board, 36 double-sided paper disks, scissors

Set the centre

Two players use a six-by-six board. Columns are A–F and rows 1–6. Put O at C3 and D4, X at D3 and C4; all other cells are empty. X starts. Prepare 36 paper disks with X on one side and O on the other. Print the disk page, cut with suitable help and mark the reverse yourself; no duplex alignment is required.

Make a legal move

Place your symbol in an empty cell only if at least one straight horizontal, vertical or diagonal ray immediately enters one or more opposing disks and then reaches your own disk without an empty cell. Flip every opposing disk bracketed this way, in every valid direction. Your new disk is the first endpoint. A gap breaks a line; your existing disks cannot jump over gaps.

Worked opening

From the printed starting position, X may play B3. The ray B3–C3–D3 contains the new X, an O and an existing X, so C3 becomes X. No other disks change. O then plays a legal move of its own. Unlike dots and boxes, capturing does not give another turn. Review all eight directions before handing the board over.

Pass and end

If no legal move exists, announce a pass and let the opponent move. You may not pass when a legal move exists. Two consecutive passes end the game, even with empty cells. A full board also ends it. Count current disks, not flips accumulated during play. More disks wins; equal counts tie. Mark each pass on the log so a pause is not mistaken for a voluntary move.

Support a careful game

Allow an unscored practice opening and undo a mistaken flip before the next move starts. For the scored game, agree to check legality together; no speed limit is needed. A helper may turn disks on the player’s instructions. Use letters as well as shapes so color is not required. The kit is manual: it has no online opponent or move checker.

Printable materials

Preview at 100% scale, with browser headers and footers off. Cut with suitable help. Keep host keys separate. This is a manual tabletop kit, not an online opponent, automatic judge or solver.