Breakthrough
Two rows of pieces, a single goal: break through the enemy lines.
A modern duel of deceptive simplicity: advance, capture diagonally and be the first to reach the opposite edge. At the Master level, the AI calculates breakthroughs long before you do.
- Players
- 1 or 2 players
- Length
- 10 min
- Against the AI
- Two players on one device
15 days of full access, no account · No download
How to play
Goal
Be the first to bring a piece to the opponent’s back row, or capture all of your opponent’s pieces.
How it works
- Each player starts with sixteen pieces on their first two rows. White plays first.
- On your turn, advance one piece one square, straight ahead or diagonally, toward your opponent, provided the square is empty.
- Capture: a piece captures an opposing piece diagonally, forward, taking its place. You never capture straight ahead. Capturing is not compulsory.
- The first piece to reach the last row wins the game. A player left with no pieces or no moves loses.
- Tap a piece then its destination, or drag it. A halo marks a piece that is ready to break through.
About the AI
Negamax search with alpha-beta and a null window, iterative deepening, a Zobrist transposition table, killer moves and history, extended by a quiescence search on captures. Forced breakthroughs are detected at every node, and the evaluation weighs material, advancement, defence of the back row, threatened or supported pieces and unstoppable runners. The lower levels reduce the depth and add inaccuracies.
AI levels
- BeginnerAdvances at random and lets your pieces slip through.
- AmateurTakes what it is offered, with no overall vision.
- IntermediateCalculates three plies and defends its back row.
- ExpertSeven plies ahead: every opening is punished.
- MasterDeep search within a time limit: spots unstoppable breakthroughs very early.
