Posts:
64
Registered:
Jan 20, 2019
From:
Salem Oregon
Age:
48 Home page
The Axolotl
Posted:
Apr 5, 2019, 1:14 PM
Examples of tactics, like watsu's Popping the cork are extremely useful for me. Even if the tactic is known, playing through examples helps create, recognize, and navigate them in games. This is especially true when the tactics are considered rare, as I mentioned at length in game of mistakes.
Don't worry. This post won't be that long...
I sent this idea with a couple example games to watsu in the hopes of prompting similar posts. He's not sure what the interest is as the Forums aren't highly visible on the mobile apps. My own discussions with other players seems to indicate that even paid members are not making much use of this particular resource.
watsu did share some examples along with some great Pente verbiage though. Thanks.
A common defense when threatened with a double keystone pair capture is to threaten a capture across the pair of fours. While I think this is covered in one of the Pente books, a quick look didn't turn a name up. This has always looked like a fish tail to me though, and cutting that tail tends to kill the fish.
It's so common to defend this way that players sometimes assume it will work without thoroughly evaluating the position. In reality, capturing across the fours only survives if it's an actual fifth pair or if a powerful secondary threat is created by the capture. In the example above, one of the captured pair is a keystone, forcing P1 to deal with the attack.
In Axolotl positions though, there's no effective secondary threat so it's not really a fish . . .and if you cut the tail, it just grows back in a new and improved way.
See the name does make sense...
As I mentioned, this tactic came up in two of my games the other day:
In these positions, the threatened capture across the pair of fours actually makes the keystone capture unstoppable, leading to a loss. This is because the threat is empty and briar patch threats can be encouraged or ignored. After the keystone pair capture, they take across the fours. Then, by playing into a spot formerly occupied by one of the keystones, you create a new 4/3 formation.
watsu also sent a recent example game from another site where the Axolotl got him.
The underlying assumption that capturing across the fours is effective in and of itself seems to be common. Common assumptions are ripe for tactical exploitation, especially deeper within forced sequences.
Anyway, I'd love to see your examples of the Axolotl in practice.
Sometimes, protecting the keystone pair won't help either, as in the last example. And... in the Boat, the Axolotl is a whole different kettle of fish... I wouldn't have resigned the last game in Boat Pente
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
