How about a game of Japanese Chess, i.e. Shogi? Now playing Shogi4 — Page 83

The rooks not moving backwards along a row had me confused for a bit. I keep forgetting that detail.

G-14qr

Rx8kl discovered check

Sorry I'm so busy lately guys.  I feel like we progress so slowly.

G-13rs

What are you doing up so late???  I have to work at this ridiculous hour, but you have no excuse, young man!

Who, my dad? He's not young.

*runs*

*returns after remembering his dad is sleeping and will be for a few hours yet*

R-6qr

Alright, I know I keep updating the strategy, but this is what I think.  I need to keep your dad busy.  I will continue to keep him hopping, making threats anywhere I can that he must respond to.  Hopefully I can make some captures and build up my army that way.  Meanwhile, you need to start cutting off his space, as I suggested before.  Start moving pieces from the opposite corner towards him, making sure to prevent any holes.  I suggest you also clear the way for your lance or something else to attack the pleasure garden so my lance isn't doing it alone.  I also suggest you don't "wait for the right moment" to drop your bishop.  Experience shows that usually it is better to get your pieces in play sooner rather than later.  You could even use your bishop to guard the central cell from a distance, like a drop on 12aa/ab.  We get twice as many moves as he does, so we can afford to play two different strategies and keep him running instead of effectively moving his army cohesively.  Right now he's used his king almost exclusively.  Let's keep him doing just that.  Keep the rest of his army useless, little more than potential recruits for us.

By "opposite corner" do you mean the one towards you? I'm planning to move my rook more into the open within the next few moves, and the bishop drop will follow.

P12wx

By opposite corner, and maybe it's not the best term, but I mean the southeast corner, facing your dad in the northwest corner.  Start closing in on him from the opposite side so that he has less and less room to maneuver, that's my theory.

R-7rs check

darth_ender said:

By opposite corner, and maybe it's not the best term, but I mean the southeast corner, facing your dad in the northwest corner.  Start closing in on him from the opposite side so that he has less and less room to maneuver, that's my theory.

 Good, we're on the same page.

S-13xy

Well, this doesn't portend well.  R-5xy

R-14wx

Remember what I said about not leaving any holes? :(

Sorry Ric.  My negligence there has likely cost us the game.

S-4wx

B*12uv

check

Ender, do me the favour of dropping your pawn on 3xy when you have the chance. Unless I'm missing something, that should keep that nasty king out of your territory for now. Let me know if you see a whole in my defenses. I don't want to lose my bishop because of a silly oversight (or a non-silly oversight, for that matter).

I don't see a hole (or a whole, or a half), but I do see a vulnerable pleasure garden now that you blocked your rook and lance and my lance is gone :(

I'm glad you noticed that, as I completely forgot about guarding the pleasure garden (luckily I can get it back under cover in one move). :P Hopefully my dad doesn't make a clever drop that I'm not expecting, or we could be in trouble again.

You worry about that pawn, ender, I'll worry about keeping him out of the pleasure garden.

having serious computer troubles. will try to resume play asap