Sz'Kwa is a two-player abstract strategy game

Abstract strategy game

An abstract strategy game is a strategy game, aiming to minimise luck, and without a theme. Almost all abstract strategy games will conform to the strictest definition of: a board or card game, in which there is no hidden information, no non-deterministic elements , in which two players or teams...

 from Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. It is a Go, Weiqi, or Baduk

Baduk

Baduk may refer to:* Baduk , a 1992 film by director Majid Majidi.* Baduk , the Korean name for the board game Go....

 variant. The Sz'Kwa board is not an n x n square board like Go or Weiqi. Instead, the board is circular in design. The same board is used by Watermelon Chess

Watermelon Chess

Watermelon Chess is a two-player abstract strategy game from China where it is known as Xi Gua Qi. It is also known as The Surround Game and Globe. It is related to the Bear games of the ancient Romans. In fact, the board is exactly the same as one of the Bear Games...

 and one of the ancient Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 Bear games

Bear games

Bear games is a category of board games of which many have historical roots to the Roman empire. They are still played today especially in Italy. They were played in many parts of the Roman empire as far away as Turkey and France. All of the games are two-player abstract strategy board games. ...

.

Equipment

The board is composed of a large circle with an inner middle circle. Four semicircles form a North, South, East, and West arrangement in the interior of the larger circle. The large circle and the smaller middle circle are divided equally into four pie slices. This creates for twenty-one intersection points where the pieces are played upon.

Each player has 20 pieces. One plays the black pieces, and the other plays the white pieces, however, any two colors or distinguishable objects will do.

Game Play and Rules

1. The board is empty in the beginning.

2. Players decide what colors to play, and who starts first.

3. Players drop one of their pieces on any vacant intersection point on the board. Only one piece can be dropped per turn. Players alternate their turns.

4. Enemy piece(s) can be captured as long as the enemy piece(s) are surrounded completely by the player's pieces.

5. The game ends when there are no more vacant intersection points to drop a piece onto, or when one player has exhausted all their pieces.