Spoke Sami

He made the mobility concrete, because beginners under-valued it.

"A piece on a corner can go two places; a piece on a prime point can go four. That means a prime piece can join more mills, dodge more traps, and swing more freely. In the sliding phase, when every turn is one small step, having twice the directions is enormous — it's the difference between a piece that's always useful and a piece that's usually stuck. Take the prime points early in placement, before your opponent does, because there are only four of them and they never come back."

Sami had learned their worth by giving them away once.

"When I was new I placed my first pieces on corners — they felt safe, tucked away. And I handed my opponent all four prime points without a fight. By the sliding phase her pieces flowed everywhere, opening and closing mills at will, while mine shuffled in their little two-neighbour corners like they were stuck in mud. I hadn't lost a piece. I'd lost the map. She owned every crossroads, so she owned every route."

The older students heard the subtext: that the most valuable positions are the ones connected to the most others — and that giving them up early, for the comfort of a safe corner, can quietly cost you the whole game.

The Elder tested him: two prime points still open, one piece to place, and an opponent one move from taking a prime point too.

"Which prime, and why that one?" the Elder asked.

Sami didn't just grab the nearest. "This one," he said, placing his piece, "because it sits on the two mill-lines where I've already got pieces — so it's a crossroad AND it advances two of my lines at once. The other open prime is strong too, but it connects to lines I've got nothing on yet. Same mobility, less overlap with my plan. When two crossroads are equally free, take the one that also grows what you're already building." He set the stone down. "And I take it now, before she does — a prime point you don't claim is a prime point your opponent claims."