Agon, also sold as Queen's Guard, is a two player abstract strategy game published in London in 1842 and the oldest known board game played on hexagonal cells. Each side commands one queen and six guards on a hexagonal board of 91 hexes arranged in six rings around a central throne. Pieces may only step sideways or inwards, never back out, so every turn brings the race closer to the middle, and the winner is the first to seat their queen on the throne with all six of her guards ringed around her.
Agon Strategy: Tips, Tactics & Openings
Agon, also sold as Queen's Guard, is a two player abstract strategy game published in London in 1842 and the oldest known board game played on hexagonal cells. Each side commands one queen and six guards on a hexagonal board of 91 hexes arranged in six rings around a central throne. Pieces may only step sideways or inwards, never back out, so every turn brings the race closer to the middle, and the winner is the first to seat their queen on the throne with all six of her guards ringed around her.
Every Move Is Spent Forever
No Agon piece can ever step back out, so a step inwards is a decision you cannot revise. Before committing a guard to a ring, ask which of the six inner cells it is heading for and whether it can still reach that cell if the enemy takes the direct line. A guard parked one ring too far in, on the wrong side of the board, is a guard you will spend the rest of the game routing around.
Bring the Queen Home First
Filling all six cells around the throne without your queen on it loses on the spot, so the safe order is queen first, sixth guard last. Keep at least one guard deliberately outside the inner ring until your queen is seated. Strong players go further and use the rule as a weapon, herding an opponent whose queen is still out towards a position where their only legal moves close the ring for them.
Pincer to Send Guards Back
Catching an enemy guard between two of your pieces in a straight line does not remove it, it sends it back to the outer ring and costs its owner a turn to do so. On a board where a guard needs five moves just to reach the inner ring, that single pincer can be worth six tempi. Look for enemy pieces that have already committed deep, since those are the ones a capture hurts most.
Watch Where You Land
You may not move onto a cell that would leave you flanked, which means an enemy pair on a straight line quietly closes a whole cell to you. Use that: a pair of your own pieces two cells apart on a line fences off the cell between them, and a well placed pair can seal the one gap a queen was going to walk through. Read the three straight lines through every cell before you step onto it.
Count the Tempo, Not the Pieces
Nobody is ever captured off the board in Agon, so material never changes and the whole contest is about turns. Add up the steps each side still needs to complete its formation, subtract a turn for every caught piece waiting to be returned, and play the move that shortens your count or lengthens theirs. When the counts are close, a single pincer or one wasted sideways step decides the game.
Every Move Is Spent Forever
No Agon piece can ever step back out, so a step inwards is a decision you cannot revise. Before committing a guard to a ring, ask which of the six inner cells it is heading for and whether it can still reach that cell if the enemy takes the direct line. A guard parked one ring too far in, on the wrong side of the board, is a guard you will spend the rest of the game routing around.
Bring the Queen Home First
Filling all six cells around the throne without your queen on it loses on the spot, so the safe order is queen first, sixth guard last. Keep at least one guard deliberately outside the inner ring until your queen is seated. Strong players go further and use the rule as a weapon, herding an opponent whose queen is still out towards a position where their only legal moves close the ring for them.
Pincer to Send Guards Back
Catching an enemy guard between two of your pieces in a straight line does not remove it, it sends it back to the outer ring and costs its owner a turn to do so. On a board where a guard needs five moves just to reach the inner ring, that single pincer can be worth six tempi. Look for enemy pieces that have already committed deep, since those are the ones a capture hurts most.
Watch Where You Land
You may not move onto a cell that would leave you flanked, which means an enemy pair on a straight line quietly closes a whole cell to you. Use that: a pair of your own pieces two cells apart on a line fences off the cell between them, and a well placed pair can seal the one gap a queen was going to walk through. Read the three straight lines through every cell before you step onto it.
Count the Tempo, Not the Pieces
Nobody is ever captured off the board in Agon, so material never changes and the whole contest is about turns. Add up the steps each side still needs to complete its formation, subtract a turn for every caught piece waiting to be returned, and play the move that shortens your count or lengthens theirs. When the counts are close, a single pincer or one wasted sideways step decides the game.
Learn, Play, and Have Fun!
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