If a dead cell has exactly three living neighbors it will become alive

When a live cell has one or zero living neighbors it will die

A live cell will also die if it is surrounded by four or more living neighbors

Any live cell with 2 or 3 neighbors will stay alive

Board ranks are determined by subtracting the number of losses from the number of wins. For example a board with 10 wins and 2 losses would and effectiveness of 8. In the case of a tie the board that has played the most matches will get the better rank.

A board is not ranked at all until it has at least one win. Wins against unranked boards do not count on your total.

This shape is sometimes called a blinker. The cell in the middle will always have two neighbors. The two cells on the end will have one neighbor when they are alive and will die. The next generation that same cell will now have 3 neighbors and will be born only to die again the next generation.

This known as a glider or a soldier. It is a four generation shape that moves diagonally. This example moves diagonally up and to the right.