Bōku
Strategy board game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bōku is an abstract strategy board game[1] played with marbles on a perforated hexagonal board with 80 spaces. The object of the game is to arrange five marbles in a row. The game has also been sold under the name Bollox, and later Bolix[2] and won a Mensa Select award in 1999.[3]
Invented by Rob Nelson,[2] the former Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher and creator of Big League Chew bubblegum. The idea for the game came to Nelson in 1991 when he was in London pitching for the Enfield Spartans. Along with good friend and owner of the Spartans Malcolm Needs they developed and marketed the game. Distributed by the London Games Company in Europe and Cadaco Toys in North America,[2] for a time it enjoyed the position of being the best selling two player strategy games in both Harrods and Hamleys. The game was awarded a Mensa International Gold Star.
Rules
Bōku belongs to the class of connection games ("n-in-a-row" games) similar to Gomoku or Connect Four. It has two main rules:
- the game is won by putting five marbles into a row
- if a player traps two of the opponent's marbles between two of their own, the player may remove one of the sandwiched marbles (and the opponent may not put a marble back into the same place on the next move).[4]
World championships
The official Boku world championships have been held as part of the Mind Sports Olympiad since 2000[5] in England. David M. Pearce (England) and Andres Kuusk (Estonia) have been World Champions six times. Martin Hõbemägi (Estonia) has won the title five times.
| Year | World Champion | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | David Glaude | Belgium |
| 2001 | Jan Palmgren | Sweden |
| 2002 | Ben Pridmore | England |
| 2003 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2004 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2005 | Joey Ho | Hong Kong |
| 2006 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2007 | James Heppell | England |
| 2008 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2009 | [Did not play] | [Did not play] |
| 2010 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2011 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |
| 2012 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |
| 2013 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |
| 2014 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |
| 2015 | Martin Hõbemägi | Estonia |
| 2016 | Alain Dekker | South Africa |
| 2017 | Martin Hõbemägi | Estonia |
| 2018 | Martin Hõbemägi | Estonia |
| 2019 | Martin Hõbemägi | Estonia |
| 2020 | [Did not play] | [Did not play] |
| 2021 | [Did not play] | [Did not play] |
| 2022 | Martin Hõbemägi | Estonia |
| 2023 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |
| 2024 | David M. Pearce | England |
| 2025 | Andres Kuusk | Estonia |