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Hive

Hive is piece mobility and queen pinning. Experts pin the opponent queen with beetles, sacrifice mobility pieces for tempo, and position grasshopper for endgame.

Quick winning principles

  • Pin queen with beetle on top—queen can't move.
  • Grasshopper jumps in straight lines—endgame piece.
  • Spider and ant for mobility; beetle for pinning.
  • One Hive rule: never break the connected group.

Ideal strategy

  1. 1

    Queen pinning: beetle on opponent queen = queen immobile; pin before they expand.

  2. 2

    Mobility sacrifice: trade ant for ant to gain tempo; ant moves 3 spaces, highest mobility.

  3. 3

    Grasshopper endgame: grasshopper jumps over pieces—position for final queen surround.

  4. 4

    Piece value: Queen (mobility) > Beetle (pin) > Spider (3-step) > Ant (3-step) > Grasshopper (jump).

  5. 5

    Opening: spider/ant expansion before queen placement; queen placed turn 3-4.

  6. 6

    Endgame: surround opponent queen with 6 pieces; grasshopper delivers final surround from distance.