I have noticed that a lot of beginner Pai Sho players do not understand the basics of openings. The opening stage of the game, in my opinion, is the most important stage. If you can start strong, you’ll have a good chance of winning the game. But if your opening is weak, it’s very hard to come back. That is why I have decided to write this article on the basic principles of openings.

In order to follow along with this article, it is recommended to have Skud Pai Sho opened up in sandbox mode in another window

Openings is a very difficult subject to talk about in Pai Sho, simply because of how this game works. Unlike chess, you don’t have all the pieces already on the board, you choose what you want to play and how you want to play them. For Pai Sho, there a 5 basic principles to form a solid opening:

Get tiles on the board Advance your tiles Don’t move tiles more than twice Harmonise Flexibility

Get Tiles On The Board

Despite how simple it might sound, I’ve seen too many beginners lose games because they only had 2 or 3 tiles on the board. It is important to get all four required tiles to form a harmony ring as soon as possible and put on the pressure. For instance, this is a bad opening for the guest:

0G. W3 SG

1G. W3 SG-(1, -6)

2G. W3 (1, -6)-(2, -4)

3G. W3 (2, -4)-(2, -2)

In the time that it took the guest to play this opening, the host could have developed 3 of the 4 required tiles they need to form a harmony ring and so far you’ve only developed 1. It is important to remember that you need to get all your tiles on the board and gain control.

Develop Your Tiles

Developing your tiles to where they have more influence is another crucial aspect of openings. Positional play (understanding how much influence a tile has) is a big topic and I plan to write a full article on it in the future, but for now, I’ll explain it simply.

Here’s a quick guide for better positional play:

Develop tiles towards their colored quadrant. Generally speaking, developing a white tile into the white quadrant is considered better because the tile will have more flexibility and more options when trying to form harmonies.

Develop tiles towards positions where they have the best chance of creating harmonies. Although this rule seems simple, I see a lot of beginners moving their pieces either to the very edge of the board or way too close to the centre point where they are able to get trapped and are not easily accessible to form harmonies.

Form harmonies across centre lines. Creating harmonies that cross centre lines are better because they advance your position towards forming a harmony ring.

Avoid forming harmonies on centre lines. Because the harmonies ring has to go around the centre point and can’t go through it, forming harmonies on the centre lines can be counter-productive.

Don’t Move Tiles More Than Twice

Moving the same tile around the board too much during the opening can slow down your play a lot. In your opening, you want to quickly get the tiles you need on the board and start applying the pressure. Moving the same tile around more than twice is too slow and will cause you to fall behind.

Harmonise

Planting all your flowers individually takes up too much time during your opening, it’s important to quickly get that first harmony and try to chain your harmonies together to get more tiles on the board. For example, let’s look at this opening:

0G. W5 SG

1G. R3 WG

2G. W5 SG-(2, -5)

3G. W5 (2, -5)(2, -2)

4G. R3 WG-(-7, -2) + W5 WG

5G. W5 WG-(-7, 3) + R3 EG

This series of moves are completely ignoring what the host might respond with, but it gives a good example of the above principles. The guest doesn’t waste any time to get that first harmony, getting it on the fourth turn and getting their third tile on the board. Then on the fifth turn, the guest creates another harmony getting their fourth required tile on the board and now can work towards forming a harmony ring.

Flexibility

The opening demonstrated above is a very solid opening, but you also have to remember that you’ve got an opponent and have to be able to react to what they’re doing. You have to be flexible with your openings, you can’t assume your opponent is going to let you get the harmony you want or move your tile to a certain position. It’s important to acknowledge what your opponent is doing, think about how that might affect your goal, then choose what moves to play accordingly while keeping in mind the above principles.

White Lotus And Orchid

Both the White Lotus and Orchid are very powerful tiles when played correctly, but playing them too early can have a big negative impact. The goal of the opening is to quickly get all required tiles on the board and develop them to put pressure on your opponent and work towards a harmony ring. But using a harmony bonus to bring out a White Lotus or Orchid out during your opening can slow you down too much. I understand why beginners think it’s a good idea, it slows down the opponent and may stop them from achieving a harmony ring early in the game. But in order to bring out the Orchid, you use up a harmony bonus and have to spend one more turn moving it out of a gate. During this time, your opponent may have developed their pieces further increasing their advantage.

I hope this article has helped and you’ll be able to use the advice I’ve given to improve your Pai Sho play. If you want me to write an article about a certain topic, please leave a comment or contact me directly and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.