Pieces may only move along the lines on the board. The object of the game is to capture all of the opponent's pieces. If both sides have pieces left but neither can force any further captures, the players may agree to a draw. Each move consists of sliding a piece along one of the lines on the board to an adjacent intersection. The destination intersection must be empty.
Captures occur on moves in one of two ways, either by approach or by withdrawal.
A piece captures by approach if the intersection next to the destination in the direction of movement is occupied by an enemy piece. A piece captures by withdrawal if the intersection next to the source opposite the direction of movement is occupied by an enemy piece. In both cases, all contiguous enemy pieces along the line of movement are captured. The white piece on a1 is not captured by withdrawal because it is not contiguous with the others. In this diagram, the black piece at f has no captures available.