The PENTE STORY A Retrospective Look By Inventor Gary Gabrel

Flashback 15 years. We're in Boston, Parker Brothers' backyard, just prior to the 1983 Pente World Championships. In spite of terrible economies during the last 4 years, a million Pente sets have been sold by an unknown company staffed by college students from Stillwater, Oklahoma. After the tournament, Parker Brothers agrees to buy PENTE for several million dollars.

During that time in my life, I did a lot of interviews with the news media, and the questions were always familiar.

"Today we'll discover PENTE, the new mating game for the glamorous," the talk show host announces."I'm talking with Gary Gabrel, the inventor of PENTE, a new board game that is being called the backgammon of the 80s. Tell me, Gary, just what is PENTE?"

"PENTE is the third generation in a family of classic games. The first generation was go, the complicated strategy game that originated in the Orient. The second generation was the much simpler go-moku. The third generation is PENTE. It's like a sophisticated tic-tac-toe, the object is to get five in-a-row or to make five captures."

"How did you come to invent the game?" the interviewer asked.

As many times as I have answered this, I try to keep it fresh. "It's been 10 years now since I started playing go and go-moku, and "inventing" PENTE. It's been an amazing and wonderful experience, a business dream come true. Neverless, I hardly ever play PENTE anymore and can't really compete with the Chess players who have taken up the game." At the opening ceremonies I'll play a game for the press with Tom Braunlich, my friend and defending world champion. We use real diamonds and rubies as pieces--the fix is in, I win in five moves, PENTE!

It all started in 1973. I was putting my sociology degree to work washing dishes at the Hideaway pizzeria near the Oklahoma State campus. We used to hang around after closing to party and play games. Call it what you will--destiny, vision, or just sheer luck--I was wondering what would be next after pizza--social work? I opened my mind to all the possibilities, and there was a vision of PENTE. I spent 5 years perfecting it, writing the rules and overcoming what seemed to be one obstacle after another. One year I logged 50,000 miles in a van selling PENTE at craft shows from New Orleans to Denver. Then my persistence paid off. I began to transform the game visually to make it the beautiful game it is today. It caught on in night clubs as an alternative to backgammon, and stores from Neiman Marcus to Macy's couldn't get enough. We were on the verge of making it big on our own. But, in '83 we just ran out of the steam and money needed to push PENTE over the top. PENTE was sold to Parker Brothers.

Unfortunately, the game and toy industry is a fickle one, and Trivial Pursuit took center stage at Parker Brothers. Soon thereafter Norfolk-based Decipher saw its potential and took PENTE into its care. Today, PENTE survives because of her great qualities--a game that is easy to learn, plays fast, has depth and great beauty. One of only 20 games featured in Games magazine's Hall of Fame (Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble are also listed.), maybe someday she too will become the mega-hit she has the genes to be--a classic game of skill, for all ages, and all time.

In the meantime, I'm making pizzas again. This year my new company will open its fifth new Hideaway pizzeria in just five years. PENTE! I win again!