Editing Pente (section)

=== Captures ===
In addition to shapes that provide strong positional advantage, there are several tactics that take advantage of Pente's capture mechanics. Notable among these tactics are the wedge and extension.

'''The wedge''' is the use of a pair to block a stretch two. Players will often place stretch twos near an existing line. If the owner of the original line attempts to block the stretch two by placing a stone in-between, they're forced to create a vulnerable pair to do so. The wedge takes advantage of this common protection tactic and flips it on its head setting up the wedge maneuver so that if the player who created the stretch two attacks the pair, the player who initiated the wedge can place a stone to immediately counter by capturing a different pair elsewhere on the board.<ref name=":6" />

'''Extension'''
[[File:Pente Extension.jpg|thumb|'''Extension''' White has formed a stretch tessera that black must block in order to stop a pente from being formed. Because of the location of their stone to the side of the line, when black places to block, white can immediately capture the pair that is formed.]]
Extension is a tactic used to force captures. Rather than extending a bound tria into a tessera to force the opponent to respond by blocking it, it is sometimes beneficial to "extend" the tria into what's called a "stretch" tessera. A stretch tessera is a line of three stones of one color broken by an empty space followed by another stone of the same color. If the opponent doesn't block or dismantle the stretch tessera, then the player who formed it can create a pente on the next turn. Extension into a stretch tessera is used because of how stones are aligned to the side of the line. If an opponent's stone is lined up so that when another of their stones is placed in the empty space to block, and it forms a pair, this pair can then be captured. Stretch trias can be utilized for this tactic as well so long as they're unbound and threaten to form an open tessera.<ref name=":6" />