Basic strategy for Yuego
The rules of Yuego take five minutes to explain, but playing well takes quite a bit longer. Here are a handful of tips that will help from your very first game — no openings to memorize, just a few ideas that come up again and again.
Control the junctions, not the corners
Not every intersection on the Yuego board is worth the same. The points where the outer square connects to the inner one have three possible lines running through them, while the corners of each square only have two. A piece on one of those junctions has more options to move and takes part in more potential mills — all else being equal, prioritize those spots over the corners.
Watch out for the double mill
The most dangerous move you'll run into (and the most profitable one, if you're the one who sets it up) is the double mill: a position where a single piece can swing back and forth between two different mills, capturing a piece every single time either one closes. If your opponent manages to set one up, you're going to lose a piece every turn until none of yours are left unprotected — so the moment you see it coming, breaking it becomes priority number one, even at the cost of your own position.
Don't rush your placement
Forming a mill on your first few moves sounds great, but pay attention to what pieces you're leaving exposed while you do it. During placement, any piece that isn't part of one of your own mills is an easy target for your opponent the moment they complete theirs. If you're about to form a mill early, first check whether the rest of your pieces on the board are reasonably protected.
Threaten two mills at once
When a placement or a move leaves two different mills open for your next turn, your opponent can only block one of them — you're guaranteed to complete the other. Looking for these "double threat" positions is one of the most reliable ways to gain an edge without relying on your opponent making a mistake.
Think about mobility, not just captures
Once the movement phase begins, a piece surrounded by your own pieces or your opponent's, with no free adjacent square, is completely useless until something around it moves. Before you move, check that you're not leaving one of your own pieces stuck — and, if you can, try to make that happen to your opponent's pieces instead.
Hold on until free flying
If you're down to just 3 pieces, it's not over yet: free flying lets you move to any empty square on the board, not just adjacent ones. Plenty of games that looked decided turn completely around at this point — stay calm and look for the mill you can form in a single jump.
The best way to make all of this second nature is by playing. Try these ideas against the AI at a couple of different difficulty levels, and you'll see them start coming naturally.