Does the first piece in a standard blokus game have to have a square on a corner cell?

Question

When a player plays his first piece, does it have to cover the corner square? For example, can one play his X piece as first piece?

Standard rules would prohibit playing X first. If all players agree, you can use any non-standard rules you like, including playing X first or starting away from the corner, for example. — T G, Mar 06 '23 at 02:50

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 08 '14 at 15:14

8

According to the rues, "The first piece played by each player must cover a corner square." They show an example of an illegal first move, as a piece that "surrounds" the corner without touching it, like an X would. This does mean that the X cannot ever be the first piece.

http://www.mindware.com/Blobs/22021_inst_blokus.pdf

answered Feb 08 '14 at 15:14

GendoIkari

74,922
4
167
293

How can an X be the first piece? Any way you turn it, there's no way you can fit it in a corner. – bigblind Feb 08 '14 at 17:40
I said that it CAN'T ever be the first piece. – GendoIkari Feb 09 '14 at 20:43
oh, sorry. I misread. – bigblind Feb 10 '14 at 07:39

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 08 '14 at 17:03

The X is the only piece which cannot be played first.

There is also a smaller (14x14 board) version of the game for 2 colors, called Duo, or sometimes Travel Blokus, and the starting point for that is 5 squares in from the corner on the diagonal.

In that game any piece can be played first, and the X is often chosen.

Does the first piece in a standard blokus game have to have a square on a corner cell?

2 Answers2