thoughts for writing a community based Pente book
Posted:
Aug 16, 2014, 10:44 PM
Recently I was talking to a chess player/student/teacher and he mentioned a book he was currently reading which was structured in the following way: A number of positions were diagrammed in the book and then players of varying skill levels were asked to write down their thoughts about that particular position. Their responses were sorted by their playing level at the time they wrote their responses. Then a reader of the book at whatever level of play could learn about the thought processes of players of a particular strength in various board positions. Once the reader feels they have gleaned all they can from the thoughts of players at their level, they move on to explore the thought processes of a group of players at the next higher level when they encounter the same position. Likely, a community Pente book is not in the works any time soon, but if it were to happen at some point in the future, I think this would be a great way to approach it. I don't know the name of the book we were discussing, but I would guess that many other books on chess contain teaching ideas which would transfer well to Pente - after all, some of the earliest Pente literature was written by chess players (Tesh, Braunlich, et. al)
Message was edited by: watsu at Aug 16, 2014 10:56 PM
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Re: thoughts for writing a community based Pente book
Posted:
Aug 17, 2014, 5:40 AM
I'd say pick at least three or four positions of varying degrees complexity, ones which are not currently familiar to all, but also ones which can be arrived at by good play on both sides of the board. Then, those who wish to participate would submit their thoughts privately as you suggest. Have people look at the positions in the following ways: 1. Analysis of opponent's threats, both immediate and long range 2. Positional analysis - areas of the board which are under control by one or the other player as well as areas of the board which are contested by both and attempting to get a sense of which side has the advantage in the position 3. Tactical analysis - threats both immediate and long range which one can pursue in order to win the game, provided the opponent's threats can be neutralized. Also, unless a time limit for analysis is specified, players' levels should probably be based on turn based games rather than live games.
Message was edited by: watsu at Aug 17, 2014 5:40 AM
Message was edited by: watsu at Aug 17, 2014 6:36 AM
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Re: thoughts for writing a community based Pente book
Posted:
Aug 17, 2014, 5:52 AM
Likely before too many more days pass, I'll have to take another break from Pente to work on other projects, but hopefully I'll be able to pop in from time to time and see if anything comes about along these lines.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat