Czuch Czuckers: Any of the usual mathematical definitions of "group" and "connected" will imply that one single piece is a connected group.

Pioneer54: I heard of it as "Scrambled Eggs LOA". Certainly it would be very easy to program !

I just found out that I had three good articles by Kerry Handscomb in old issues of "Abstract Games Magazine". Here are the basic strategy tips given :

- Material is definitely good. Having more men gives more moves, hence better flexibility for both attack and defence. Material gain is disregarded though when it would move a man away from the action, or when it captures a very remote piece of the opponent, sometimes allowing him a direct connecting combination. For instance, the captures which are possible at the start of the game, like c8xa6, are regarded as neutral (they rather hurt your position, which compensates for winning a man).
- The best winning strategy is to aim for a compact group, that is a group where any piece removal still leaves the group connected, and then patiently connect the isolated men into this group, trying to use them for distant threats.
- The exact center is not the best place to build such a compact group because it can be too easily attacked. Of course the side is not best either, as will be seen later.
- However, moving a piece to the center (up to d3-e3) when it can't be taken is generally a good move (but is impossible in the start position).
- Building a loosely connected group is dangerous because the opponent will attack its weak link(s). In the worst case, the opponent will manage to capture a weak link in the middle of the group and cut it in two equal pieces, leaving you needing an astronomic number of moves to bring them together again.
- The two most obvious opening strategies are bad : trying to connect the two groups of the start position is very bad, because such a connection will be loose and you will be likely to be cut in two. Running with one of the start groups to the other (damn, I have tried to use that!) is remotely better, but will lose to the strategy explained in the next point.
- The best you can achieve from the opening is to build a wall on a second rank, leaving the unmoved pieces from the opponent behind. This wall can be used as the target area for building a compact group, and the opponent will lose a lot of time extricating his pieces. If he tries to leave his pieces in place and connect the other to them, it will be easy for you to capture one of the middle pieces, leaving this group cut in two parts in a desperate position. (My addition) Indeed, it is so easy to achieve that you can wait until he is close to connect, it will hurt even more.

Any additions are welcome !

Rectification : the board of the Abacus edition is chequered too. But I have seen a picture of some unchequered deluxe edition.

As pieces can move diagonally, a chequered board would probably be a good help in seeing the possible moves. I am less sure about the aesthetic effect though.
Although the board used in the commercial game is not chequered, I saw that the available programs and viewers generally used chequered boards. What do you think about it ?