Breakthrough is an abstract strategy game invented by Dan Troyka in 2000. It won the 2001 8x8 Game Design Competition, even though originally played on a 7x7 board.

Rules

The starting position is shown in the diagram above with White to play first.

Each player starts with 16 pieces which cover the first two rows of their side, and take it in turns to move one piece.

Each piece may move one space straight or diagonally forward if the target square is empty. A piece may move into a square containing an opponent's piece (capture) if and only if that square is one step diagonally forward, in this case that piece is captured and taken off the board. Capturing is not compulsory and a player cannot capture their own pieces.

The first player to reach the opponent's home row - the one farthest from the player - is the winner. A draw is impossible because pieces can only move forward and/or be captured. A player loses if they run out of moves, i.e. they have no pieces left as they have all been captured.