OPTIONAL TWO-PLAYER FIRST-SESSION AGREEMENT — version 1
This is a proposed house card, not a universal or tournament rulebook.
Players/colours: __________   Date: __________
Set/rulebook consulted: __________   Agreed changes: __________

1. Setup: ten pieces per player in opposite triangles. Identify each start
   and destination on the actual board. Leave the other four points empty
   and usable for movement and ending a turn; keep spare pieces off-board.
2. Movement: one adjacent step OR ordinary hops by one moving piece.
   Every ordinary hop crosses one adjacent piece into the immediate empty
   hole beyond on the same line. Any colour can be a bridge; remove none.
   Continue with the same piece or stop after a legal hop. No long jumps.
3. Own destination: once a piece enters, keep it inside that triangle;
   legal moves within it remain possible. Its earlier entry is not a win.
4. Camps: own start and own destination are allowed areas, even when they
   are also the opponent’s destination/start. The four unused points are
   usable. For three or more players, replace this card and name active-camp
   restrictions explicitly; do not apply a vague blanket ban.
5. Blocking: use our restricted final-entry implementation of the Masters
   anti-spoiling idea. Only when an opponent’s target-area piece prevents
   an otherwise legal final entry that completes all ten may the two pieces
   exchange holes. Check the normal step/hop path except occupied landing.
   Remove none. No general midgame swap or capture is permitted.
6. Passing: our additional house convention permits a pass only after the
   group checks that this player has no legal step or jumping turn under
   these rules. Check every piece and direction, not just forward progress.
   If a complete round passes without any piece moving and nobody has won,
   stop and record an agreed draw. This procedure is our proposal.
7. A disputed move: stop before rearranging the board. Record the moving
   piece, proposed route, relevant rule and current holes. Use this agreed
   card; change rules only by joint agreement, preferably for a new game.

Before starting, both players confirm these choices: __________ / __________
If your set has different instructions, edit and agree the card first.

BLOCKING COUNT EXAMPLE
Fictional state: red 9 in target and 1 outside; blue 1 in red target and 9 elsewhere. The last red piece has an otherwise legal adjacent entry into the occupied target hole. No full position or strategic value is claimed.
Require ten own pieces; no swap exception | Nine red pieces do not fill the target with all ten. | No red win yet; no ordinary step into the occupied hole and no automatic capture.
Ignore holes occupied by the opponent when judging completion | All nine currently available target holes contain red. | The agreed available-hole condition declares red the winner; the tenth red piece remains outside.
Chosen final-entry swap convention | An otherwise legal final entry is blocked by blue; exchange the two pieces’ positions. | Red has ten in the target; blue occupies the old red hole. All twenty pieces remain.

SIX EXPLAINED CASES
1. A player sees no forward jump but can make a legal sideways step. May they pass under the sample card?
Answer: No. The card requires no legal move, not no useful forward move.
Check the other pieces and directions too. A strategic preference does not establish the card’s no-move condition.

2. A red piece has entered its destination. A legal geometric step would take it outside that triangle. Is it allowed under the sample card?
Answer: No. Keep an arrived piece inside its own destination.
Moves within the target can remain legal. This is the selected convention, not a claim that every set uses the same restriction.

3. Halfway through the game, blue occupies a convenient target hole. May red use the sample swap merely to improve the route?
Answer: No. This card restricts the exception to an otherwise legal final entry that completes all ten.
The chosen exception is not a capture or a general occupied-hole move. Ordinary landing rules remain in force outside its stated condition.

4. Red has nine target pieces, one red piece outside and one blue piece in the remaining target hole. Is red automatically the winner?
Answer: No. Apply the blocking and completion convention agreed before play.
The ten-own-piece, available-hole and final-entry-swap choices have different requirements. Counts alone do not establish a legal final entry for a swap.

5. In an opposite-triangle two-player game, red’s starting triangle is also blue’s destination. Does “never stop in another player’s target” automatically forbid red’s own start?
Answer: Do not use that ambiguous blanket wording. Name the areas and exemptions.
The sample card explicitly permits each own start and destination. In a multiplayer game, define any third-player camp restriction on the actual board before playing.

6. A blocked player proposes a new swap rule after the opponent is about to win. Should the group apply it as if it had always been agreed?
Answer: No. Consult the agreed rule first and pause the dispute.
A new convention needs joint agreement and a clear effective point, preferably a new game. Do not silently change an earlier decision to benefit one position.