Lotus
Lotus commences with the board vacant of counters.
Alternate Names
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
A Lotus board and seventy two reversible counters, usually called stones, are required for play. Alternatively, if reversible counters are not available, each player could play with thirty-six counters of their own color, but reversible counters are much more efficient for this game's play mechanism.
History
Lotus was invented by Christiaan Freeling in 1981.
Objective
The objective is to have more points than your opponent at the end of the game. For the most part, points are gained by having stones on the board showing your color and encircling territory, as in the game of Go.
Play
The game commences with the board vacant of counters. Alternate turns entail the placement of a single counter on the board. Referring to the two players as black and white, players always place a stone with their color facing up. Once placed, a stone is never moved or removed from the board. As it is a reversible counter, however, its color may change during the course of the game.
Incomplete
After both players agree that no more territory can be gained by either the player, the game is over and both players tally their score. A player gets one point for each stone of their color they have on the board and one point for each intersection within their territory. In addition, the player who went second at the start of the game gets three additional points to add to their score. Also, a player gets an additional point every time it is their turn and they pass instead of playing. The conventional rules suggest using a marked track at the side of the board to keep track of the komi, or handicap, of the second player and subsequent passing. I think it works just as well to keep a stash of counters for each point earned in either of these ways, to be added to you score at the end of the game. Note that seki, or shared territory of both players, can occur and intersections that are considered liberties of both players count for neither's points at the end of the game.
Sources
Schmittberger, R. Wayne. New Rules for Classic Games. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1992. ISBN 0-471-53621-0