Tempo in Walls Explained. Make Every Turn Count

What tempo means

Tempo is about what you get from each turn. In Walls you can move your pawn or place a wall. If you choose the wall, your pawn stays where it is and your opponent gets the next turn.

So a wall needs to earn its place. Looking inconvenient is not enough. What matters is how much longer the wall makes their journey, and whether it makes yours longer too.

To compare ideas, we use one example position. Gold has five steps left to the finish, and Dark has four. Gold moves next, but Dark has no walls remaining. We follow the shortest available routes.

First, just walking

Try simply walking. Gold advances, then Dark advances, and so on. Keep alternating, and Dark reaches the finish first. Gold started one step farther away, and walking alone did not fix that.

• Gold needs 5 steps and Dark needs 4. Gold moves first.
• Both just walk. Dark arrives first.

A weak wall. One extra step

Now go back to the start with Gold to move. This time Gold places a wall directly in front of Dark. It looks like a problem, but unfortunately the way around it is very short.

Dark now needs five steps instead of four. But Gold still needs five, because placing the wall used the turn. And whose move is next? Dark starts this five step race. If both pawns now keep walking, Dark still arrives first.

• Dark needs 5 steps. Gold still needs 5.
• Dark moves next. Dark wins the race anyway.

We added one step to their journey, but we spent one turn doing it. You spent a turn, they lost a turn, and there was no gain in the race. The wall made an entrance. It did not change the result.

A strong wall. Three extra steps

Rewind again. Look at the wall that is already on the board. Instead of placing a separate obstacle, Gold extends that barrier toward the edge. Now watch the entire route change. Dark cannot slip around the near end anymore, and the nearest opening is farther across the board.

Dark's shortest route grows from four steps to seven, while Gold still needs five. Gold spent one turn to add three steps to Dark, without adding any to its own route. In this example that buys two turns compared with simply advancing.

• Dark needs 7 steps. Gold still needs 5.
• Dark takes the shortest detour and Gold keeps moving toward its goal.
• Gold reaches the finish first. The same starting position, and a different wall changes who gets there first.

The lesson is not to place every wall beside another wall. Look for the route your opponent can actually use. Nearby barriers and board edges can make a small placement cause a much bigger detour.

Check your own route and their reply

Also check your own route. If a wall adds three steps for them but also adds three for you, you have slowed both journeys and spent a turn. That is no automatic advantage.

And remember that these counts describe the board right now. In our example Dark had no walls left. With walls remaining, an opponent can change your route too. A promising count is not a guaranteed win, so check their reply before you commit.

There is one more position to try. Gold is one step from the finish and it is Gold's turn. There is room for a wonderfully annoying wall. Should Gold place it? No. Take the step and win. You do not get bonus points for the most dramatic obstacle. Sometimes the strongest way to control the pace is to keep moving.

Three questions before a wall

• How much longer is their best route?
• How much longer is mine?
• Is that worth the turn I am giving up?

Keep counting, keep checking the reply, and make each turn earn its place. You do not need to play faster. You need your moves to accomplish more. That is how you stay on tempo. For the bigger picture of why this decides so many games, read why beginners keep losing at Walls.

Watch Tempo in Walls in motion

The same lesson as an animated video, with a short version.

The animated lesson. About four minutes. Watch on YouTube

The 40 second version. Watch on YouTube

Keep reading after Tempo in Walls

More articles on the same ideas

• Why Beginners Lose at WallsWalls is a race disguised as a maze. Judge every wall by the trade it creates.

Where this is explained further

• Walls strategy guideCounting the race, wall economy and the detour principle with diagrams.
• Walls rulesThe board, moving, placing walls and the path rule.

Sources for Tempo in Walls

• The step counts come from one demonstration position, checked with the Walls shortest path rule. They illustrate the idea and are not from a recorded game.