Diamond (game)

Diamond is a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Larry Back. The invention was inspired by the game Kensington, which uses a similar board pattern and game objective. Rules for Diamond were conceived in 1985 and finalized in 1994. Diamond introduces a new board geometry and neutral pieces, with the aim of enhancing the game dynamic and lowering the potential for draws. 
Diamond was featured in the February 2013 issue of "Games" magazine.
Overview.
The Diamond gameboard consists of interlocking squares and triangles. White and Black each control 12 game pieces of their own color. "Neutral" pieces (red-colored in the diagrams) enter the game via captures. The pieces are played on the line intersections (called , as in Go). White and black (but not red) pieces can move along straight lines to adjacent unoccupied points. A player wins by being the first to occupy all four corners (points) of a board square with their pieces.
Game rules.
The game begins with an empty Diamond board. Black moves first, then turns alternate. (To offset any advantage Black has in moving first, the pie rule is used: White can choose to switch sides after Black's first move, playing from then on as Black. White has this option only after Black's first move.) a turn is not permitted. 
The game is executed in two phases:
Captures and neutral pieces.
Capturing moves are possible in the Movement phase. If the points of a triangle contain exactly one white and one black piece, either player can capture the opponent piece by occupying the remaining open point ("cornering" the enemy piece on the triangle). The captured piece can be cornered on one triangle (see Example 1), or simultaneously cornered on two different triangles (Example 4). The captured piece is immediately removed from the game and replaced on its point by a neutral piece. 
If a move simultaneously corners "two" opponent pieces on two different triangles, then neither enemy piece is captured (Examples 2 and 3). A piece can move safely to a triangle point even if the other two points of the triangle are occupied by enemy pieces (Example 5).
Draws.
The game is drawn if any of the following occurs:
Notation conventions.
Examples of recorded moves: