MM:  Inventing a spectacular game like Pentago doesn’t just happen every day. What’s the story? How did you come up with the idea?

TF:  The start of it was that I meet two guys in a bar that were bragging about a game they had created and that they thanks to that had bought a fancy sailing boat. I thought to myself that it couldn’t be too difficult to invent a game so I decided to give it a try. I had the idea in the back of my head for a couple of weeks but didn’t do anything about it. Then, at a  meeting at work when I was just scratching patterns in my notepad Pentago just appeared. I went home and built the first Pentago out of ordinary printing paper and it worked.

MM:  I’m afraid I only know this one fact about you.  What can you tell me about yourself, Tomas?  What do you do?  What are your hobbies?

TF:  I’m 39 year old Swede living in Stockholm, a father of two and married since 11 years. I have a background in Economics, but now work as CRO at a Swedish pension fund. I like to travel. Together with my family I visited New York (and Brooklyn) this summer, and we are right now on our way to Istanbul. Besides that, I like running.

MM:  How much Pentago do you play these days?  Aside from what’s in the strategy guide, can you share any insider game tips?  How do you like to play?

TF:  Unfortunately I don’t play that much any longer. I still like the game, but friends and family are less enthusiastic than they used to be (I can’t understand why?). My favourite opponent is my elderly brother since he wins 2 times out of 3 – but he has a background in mathematics.

MM:  Our blog is a math site for kids.  What’s your own relationship to mathematics like?  Do you consider Pentago to be mathematical?

TF:  I have only taken a few courses at University level in mathematics, but I have always considered myself good at maths. I think that it’s an advantage to be mathematical to play Pentago and especially patterns. But I’ve also noticed that younger persons generally are better players than elder.