Basics

• Hex is a two-player game: Red vs. Blue. Players in turn put their pieces on empty hexagons of the board.
• First turn is always Red's.
• Red wins when he connects the opposite red sides of the board with a chain of red pieces. Blue wins when she connects the opposite blue sides of the board with a chain of blue pieces.
• The game can never be a draw. One of the players necessarily wins.

• If properly chosen, the first move could give a big advantage to Red. The Swap Rule equalizes chances of both players.
• After Red makes the first move, Blue either makes a regular move by putting a blue piece on an empty hexagon, or swaps. In the second case she removes a red piece from the board and puts a blue piece on the mirror image hexagon.
• It means that instead of making the second move, Blue makes the first move chosen by Red. Blue should swap if she considers that the first move chosen by Red gives an advantage to the first player.