How much difference does the Boat rule make?
Posted:
Jul 26, 2018, 6:10 PM
I've been increasingly impressed with the amount of difference the Boat Pente rule makes in altering Pente lines. I've abandoned playing the wedge as P1 in Boat Pente and recently I found an end game position where neither side had made any captures and yet the boat Pente rule would still alter the outcome of the game. Prior to finding that, I had been focusing on end game positions where P2 had made at least three captures, since that seems to be about the level at which Boat rules really start to affect games, but now I'm recognising that there is NO minimum capture amount before Boat rules can alter the outcome of a position in favor of the opposite player than the one who would win in a Pente position. In other words, the Boat Pente rule is extremely effective in complicating and altering Pente positions sufficiently to allow P2 to have more of a fighting chance at winning the game. I would go so far as to say that if Boat rules had been implemented as the official way to play Pente some time before set based ratings were implemented that set based ratings would not have been necessary. Too bad so many great players left the game before Boat rules were introduced here. I'd have loved to see what virag, sjustice, progambler, student and others would have come up with.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Re: How much difference does the Boat rule make?
Posted:
Aug 15, 2018, 1:09 PM
Here's an example game where boat rules affect the game even with no captures taken:
On move 13 in boat pente, P2 can ignore P1's threat of 14. L12 and play a threat like 13. ... G10 or 13. ... H7 followed by 14. ... J7. (though option 2 may allow P1 to turn the tables with 15. H9 if P2 tries to make a pente at J9 instead of a tessera on the 7 line)
Message was edited by: watsu at Aug 15, 2018 1:25 PM
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
