First phase: Placing pieces

Starting with white, the players place pieces alternatingly on the board, one at a time: 3 red DVONN pieces, 23 white pieces and 23 black pieces

They start with the DVONN pieces and continue with their own color.

A piece may be put on any vacant space, without restriction.

Random setup: On BGA the game can also be played with a semi randomly filled board. With this option selected the game starts directly with the second phase.

Second phase: Stacking pieces

Starting with white, the players alternatingly move one piece or stack of their own color.

The color of the topmost piece determines who owns a stack, and thus who may move it.

A piece or stack must always be moved as a whole and moves as many spaces as there are pieces in the stack. They can be moved in any direction, but only along straight lines.

A move may never end in an empty space, but it is allowed to move across one or more empty spaces.

A piece or stack that is surrounded on all 6 sides may not be moved.

Single DVONN pieces can not be moved, but stacks containing a DVONN piece can.

Losing pieces

Pieces and stacks must somehow stay in contact with at least one DVONN piece to remain in play.

In contact means that there must always be a link (directly or through a chain of other pieces) with at least one DVONN piece. Otherwise the pieces are removed from the board at once.

All 3 DVONN pieces remain in play until the end of the game, even if one of them becomes isolated.

Game end

The players must play for as long as they can. If one player can’t make a move any more, the other player must still continue if possible.

The winner is the player who controls the most pieces in stacks with a piece of his color on top. All pieces in the stack are counted independent of their color.