-------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Don Sheldon" <don.sheldon@xxxxxxxxx> > On 7/6/06, kerry_and_ryan@xxxxxxx <kerry_and_ryan@xxxxxxx> wrote: > > Does anyone see a good game-end rule for Martian Chess that drives the game to > a conclusion with a single winner when there are players tied for the lead, > neither/none of which can empty their sector profitably? I know, how about > this: The game ends when there is one clear winner anytime AFTER (or while) > there was (is) an empty sector. I think that would have worked during the > tournament game, but I'm not sure. I dislike a little because it require a > little bit (in fact, one bit) of memory -- you can't just look at the board to > see the state of the game. But that's a small price to pay. > > On first look, that seems like the best you're going to get. In fact, > I kinda like it. It definitely keeps the feeling of quickness that > should accompany martian chess. Cool. > Possibly naive question: what's so bad about a stalemate/shared > victory? (Other than the obvious difficulty in tournaments.) Other than tourney issues?... nothing, as far as I'm concerned. If two people played equally well in a non-tourney game, then a shared win is a reasonable outcome, IMHO. But, as the subject line indicates, it is exactly tournament games that I'm worried about. It didn't turn out completely horribly. The two players in a tie for the lead both moved on, thus making a five-player final game. I'm kinda glad that neither one of them won the final. Nothing personal against Dan or Johnpaul, but it the final results would have been harder to support if someone won the tourney with arguably 1.5 wins. I had declared that they each got one full win for the game, but I could see someone not seeing it that way. By the way, does anyone remember Johnpaul's last name? And he prefers Johnpaul (all one word), despite having Alexander first on his Origins ID badge, right? Anyone? > -- > - |) () /\/ > Hi, I'm new here *waves* Welcome aboard. Glad to have you. Ryan