Squava for 3 players

Proposed by Craig Duncan on BGG

A high-performance, 3-player implementation of Squava on an 8x8 board, written in Go by Gemini.

The Game

Squava is traditionally a 2-player game. This version expands the rules for 3 players:

• Winning: The first player to get 4-in-a-row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) wins immediately.
• Elimination: If a player creates a 3-in-a-row and does not complete a 4-in-a-row with the same move, they are eliminated from the game. Their pieces remain on the board as obstacles
• Forced Moves: If a player can complete a 4-in-a-row on their current turn, they must take the win. If they cannot win immediately but the next active player has a winning move, the current player is forced to block that move.
• Goal: Be the last player standing or the first to complete 4-in-a-row.