Gomoku
Gomoku, also called "Five in a Row", is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with Go pieces (black and white stones) on a Go board, using 15×15 of the 19×19 grid intersections. Because pieces are not moved or removed from the board, Gomoku may also be played as a paper-and-pencil game. The game is known in several countries under different names.
History of Go
In 1954 a complete Go board made out of stone was found in a tomb dating to the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) in Wangdu County, Hebei Province. This board has a 17 × 17 grid, which confirms the statement by the 3rd century author Handan Chun in the "Classic of Arts" that Go was at this time played on a 17 × 17 grid:
The go board has 17 lines along its length and breadth, making 289 points in all. The black and white stones each number 150.
The earliest board with a 19 × 19 grid to have been found is a ceramic board dating to the Sui dynasty (581-618) that was excavated from Anyang in Henan Province, so sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries a change in grid size must have taken place. However, the 17 × 17 board has survived in the version of Go played in Tibet.