Editing Pente (section)

=== Invention ===
Gary Gabrel invented Pente while working as a dishwasher at [[Hideaway Pizza]], in [[Stillwater, Oklahoma]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":18" /> He took the job while in college at [[Oklahoma State University]] to pay room and board, and would play games there with his coworkers, such as Go, Checkers, and the Gomoku family of games. The latter in particular stood out to him, and he noted that it had all the qualities necessary to make a great product. Gabrel, taking the features that appealed to him, used them to invent Pente, increasing the board size,{{Explain|date=July 2021|reason=Gomoku is already 19x19.}} reducing the complexity, and speeding up the game to "fit the western lifestyle."<ref name=":18" />

Ninuki-Renju, the variant from the Gomoku family of games most similar to Pente, is played on the intersections of a 15x15 board with black and white stones. It allows captures of pairs like Pente but has [[Renju#Opening rules|complex opening rules]] and [[Renju#Forbidden moves|first player restrictions]], such as requiring exactly five stones in a row to win, and restricting the first player from forming open double threes.<ref name=":20">{{Cite web|title=The Renju International Federation portal - RenjuNet|url=https://renju.net/study/rules.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028134324/https://renju.net/study/rules.php|archive-date=2019-10-28|access-date=2021-02-08|website=renju.net}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Rules of Pente, Keryo-Pente and Ninuki|url=https://renju.nu/pente-rules/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722180425/https://renju.nu/pente-rules/|archive-date=2021-07-22|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Renju|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>OED citations: '''1886''' GUILLEMARD ''Cruise ‘Marchesa’'' I. 267 Some of the games are purely Japanese, as in ''go-ban''. ''Note'', This game is the one lately introduced into England under the misspelled name of Go Bang. '''1888''' ''Pall Mall Gazette'' 1. Nov. 3/1 These young persons played go-bang and cat's cradle.</ref>

Hoping to secure publisher backing, Gabrel sent his new ruleset to ten  different companies but was rejected by all of them. Gabrel describes the experience of approaching prospective partners:

<blockquote>I went to the very few acquaintances I had, but they all rejected my propositions because they didn't understand the premise of the game, and they didn't have any respect for me as a prospective professional. <ref name=":18" /></blockquote>

He continued looking for a partner who had both experience and the funds to launch his product, and found someone listed in the phone book as an "inventor". The man already had a project to which he was committed but agreed to help Gabrel. Together they applied for a [[copyright]] and had two hundred copies of the game made. Looking for a name, they settled on "Pente" (πέντε), from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word for "five", a reference to the win conditions of getting five in a row or making five captures. They avoided an "oriental"-sounding name despite the inspiration from Go and Gomoku, because according to Gabrel, feelings about the [[Vietnam War]] were still "running high."<ref name=":18" />

In 1978, Gabrel, now a manager, intended to quit his job at Hideaway Pizza and devote his time exclusively to Pente, but his partner expressed doubts, saying "the world wasn't ready for Pente."<ref name=":18" /> Gabrel's bank rejected his request for a loan several times. He eventually secured a small loan from a different bank and borrowed money from his family, using it to buy out his partner and make a down payment on a [[GMC (automobile)|GMC]] van to travel around selling copies of the game.

He traveled across the [[Southwest United States | Southwest]], staying a few days each in towns and cities in the area, selling and teaching Pente to gift-store owners, club owners, and reporters. The money gained in each town was usually enough to allow him to continue for a few weeks at a time. Through 1978 and the first half of 1979, Gabrel sold around five thousand Pente sets, with the game being played in several popular clubs in [[Oklahoma City]]. Gabrel himself was featured in newspapers across the state.<ref name=":18" />