RicOlie_2

darth_ender said:

S-4ii+B

Kx4ii

It's probably going to be a breeze for you to checkmate me. All you need is to drop all you pieces in the right places, hope I don't make the right moves, and voila, you've won yet again.

Sorry.  I may not be as available in the future, so our games will probably go slower.  I'll try to keep up, but sorry for playing slower.

 That's OK, I'll play slower too, just for you. ;)

By the way, I might disappear for a couple days or so because I'm getting my laptop screen replaced as it's been fractured for a few months. I've been using an external monitor, which can be a bit of a pain since it restricts my laptop's portability a lot.

Sadly, I used to be like that (when I was about eleven to twelve). It's kind of annoying though. It's as if the EU is their Bible or something.

I'd be interested in playing Self-eliminator Chess and Chessgi sometime. I can't think of how many times I've wanted get rid of a piece I couldn't move, or put a more powerful piece on a square in one turn instead of two or three.

darth_ender said:

Well, truthfully I do have you pretty stuck.  I don't think it's over yet, but I ultimately think I have you at a point where there is no real escape.  If I didn't want to give up yet, I'd probably play S-4ii+B, perhaps forcing a trade of the Silver/Bishops.  I haven't analyzed the board long enough to be sure that would work, but it's probably your best option at the present.  It would definitely buy you more time than any other move I can see.

I didn't see anything better either. I'll go with that then.

So since these different games tend to have very different strategies, I'm starting to see one here.  In other small variants, it's usually best to keep all your pieces on the board instead of holding onto them for too long.  Drop ASAP.  But in this game, since your pieces are always changing values, and since it's difficult to get your piece to a valuable square and make sure showing the desirable face, I think it's actually better to hold onto your pieces a little longer.  That way you can drop your piece with the appropriate face up on the right square and maximize your move that way.

 I noticed that too. I think I did the right thing by dropping my gold general when I did, but I'm at a huge disadvantage now because I have zero pieces to drop as opposed to your two which makes me even more stuck.

Looks like I'm stuck. I can't think of any good way to free myself of the trap you have me in. I'm either going to have to get some advice or begin a new game. :(

Yeah, thanks, I'll take it back. I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention to you captured pieces. They're going to cause me a lot of grief. Were it not for them, I could checkmate you in three moves.

K-3ii

S-5ii+B

January 27:

A.D. 98: Trajan becomes Roman emperor.

A.D. 1302: Dante becomes a political exile.

A.D. 1880: Thomas Edison patents the electric incandescent lamp.

A.D. 1888: The National Geographic Society is formed.

G*3iii

B-4i+S

P-2iii+R

Sx3ii+B

G-3ii+N

I think I'll be destroyed if I end up stuck on the defensive. It's tough to keep up a defense when your pieces are changing every move.

R-2ii+P

I assume you meant G-4iv+N, because your gold starts from square 4v.

P-1ii+R

That was brutal, but oh well...

Let's take a break from this for a bit and play a game of Kyoto Shogi. I need to figure out how the promoting works though.

Pawns are also rooks, gold generals are also knights, silver generals are also bishops, kings are always kings...what piece is "T"? And when you call a move, do you write the initial of what the piece is before or after it's moved?

EDIT: I guess I do have the promoting just about figured out. :P

You're already forcing me into a corner and we're only 11 turns into the game! :P

K-4f

G4e-5d

G3e-4e

I never like playing against a computer. It really isn't the same. With real people, you can learn their favoured strategies over time and interact with them in ways other than just moving the pieces, but a computer doesn't have a personality or a certain way of playing the game and it can't do anything more than make moves.

I blame the Gungans.

G-5e

So far, my favourite is regular Shogi. I like long games since I tend to naturally go for really long-term strategies--often a fatal flaw unfortunately, but I at least have better luck in a longer game. I enjoy having a variety of pieces as well. More pieces allow for more elaborate defenses and multiple mini-strategies. I like complexity and variety, so the larger a game is, the more likely I am to like it once I get the hang of it.

After that comes Goro Goro Shogi. Despite all the pieces having limited movement, it doesn't take long to get into the game because of the pawns being head-to-head right away. I also like that it's a bit longer than other small variants and it's harder to get a big advantage over someone than in something like Judkin's Shogi, in which a capture of a rook or bishop can easily turn the tables in a couple moves.

Yes, I saw and fixed my settings accordingly. The coords are a little bit different, but they'll do.

G2f-3e

darth_ender said:

At the top of the Zillions window, click on "Play".  Click "Choose side".  The highlighted player is human, not highlighted is computer.  Just make sure both players are highlighted and that's it!

Ah, that makes sense, thank you.

And I would be happy to play another game of Goro Goro after this.  That was honestly a refreshing, challenging game.  You can go first.

 Sure, my move is Px3c.

I wouldn't mind playing Kyoto Shogi, but I don't know how, if it is at all possible, to change the computer player to a human player in the Zillions software. If you know how, or can figure it out, then let's play a game of Kyoto Shogi and then another one of Goro Goro Shogi. If not, let's just play another game of Goro Goro.