Introduction

The FlipFlop was invented by Masahiro Nakajima, the Curator of 'The Museum of Abstract Strategy Games', in 2009.

Setup

FlipFlop is played between two opponents. There are two versions of the game: One is played on 3x3 board and another is on 5x5 square board.

3x3 Board

5x5 Board

Pieces

Each player has 3 (5 for 5 x 5 boards) pieces, which have two faces: The Bishop and the Rook.

Rules

Goal

You win when any of your pieces is placed in the middle square in the last row, your goal square (i.e., the third row center file for white, and the first row center file for black when played on 3x3 boards) for two consecutive turns, or when there is no legitimate moves left for your opponent.

The game ends in a draw if the identical position appears on the board for three times.

Movements

All pieces start as Rook, arranged at the first row on each end. As in normal chess games, Rooks move in a straight line, horizontally or vertically and Bishops move in a straight diagonal line, as far as they want.

The player with the white pieces commences the game.

After each move, pieces are 'flipped' and promoted from Rook to Bishop, then from Bishop to Rook.

Pieces cannot be captured, except when they are either in your or opponent's goal square.

Playing Tips

Even with the 3x3 small board one, you'd better think ahead, because the game is not as simple as you think ;-).

Equipment

You can play with "Paper Board and Pieces", for your convinience. You can use two sets of coins as the pieces, such as "dime head/tail" for "white Rook/Bishop" and "penny head/tail" for "black Rook/Bishop".

Sample Games

R R R          R R R
1. Rook b1 x b3 = Bishop R B R          R    R	1. Rook a3 x b3 = Bishop    B R          R    R
2. Rook a1 - a3 = Bishop B B R                R	2. Rook c3 - c2 = Bishop B B          B       R
3. Bishop a3 - b2 = Rook    B       R B       R	3. Bishop b3 - a2 = Rook          R R B       R
4. Rook c1 - a1 = Bishop          R R B B	4. Bishop c2 - b1 = Rook          R R    B R
5. Rook b2 x b1 = Bishop          R       B B	5. Rook a2 - b2 = Bishop             B    B B
6. Bishop b1 - c2 = Rook             B B B	6. Bishop b2 - a3 = Rook R             B B
7. Bishop a1 - b2 = Rook R          R B	7. Rook a3 - b3 = Bishop    B       R B
8. Rook b2 x b3 = Bishop    B          B