Creating an AI for Gomoku (opens in new tab)

Gomoku is a strategy game similar to tic tac toe, but played on a larger board and with the goal of getting 5 in a row rather than 3. Since the game has perfect information and has simple rules, I thought it would be a fun exercise in creating a game AI. In February 2020 I decided to code up Gomoku2049. The game is a demonstration of MiniMax, which is an algorithm for finding the move which minimizes the opponent’s best moves. This article is an overview of the game’s technical highlights.