Saturday, June 14, 2014

Game 9 - LOA Titaan vs me 1/26/14 on Mindoku.com. 5 minute game

Sorry it's been a while, but I've been busy and no one's been accepting my requests on iggamecenter and Mindoku.

1. b1-b3 a2-c2
2. g1-g3 h2-f2
3. g8-g6 a6-d6
4. f8-f5 h7-f7
5. e8-e6

Titaan could have captured my opening gift with g6xd6 instead, but that would reduce the mobility of the piece on f7.

...a5-d5
6. d1xd5 a7-c5
7. d8-f6

Building an impressive wall on the eastern half of the board. Now for a series of captures, as I try to break Titaan's wall and he tries to strengthen it.

...c2xf5
8. c8xc5 h5xd5
9. g3xd6 h4xf6
10. b8-b6 h3xe6

Isolating the g6 piece.

11. c1-e3 e6xe3
12. b3xe3 a3-b2
13. b6xf2

Black is abandoning his previous base of operations, and is trying to connect on another part of the board, due to the isolated g6 piece.

...a4-b3

Threatening b3-e6, but then realized e3xe6. I decided to save the move until the end.

14. g6-g5 b2-d4
15. g5-d2 h6-g7

Threatens b3-e6#

16. c5-c4

Blocks and gets this stone closer to connecting.

...g7-e7

17. d6xf6

...e7-e4??

Allows f6xd4#!

18. f1-d3?

Fortunately for me, Titaan missed it. Did I mention this was a 5 minute game?

...f7-g7

19. f6-e6?

e1xe4 threatening f2xf5 might be better.

...g7-e5
20. f2-f4

e6-f6 or e1-c3 keeps black in the game.

...e5-c3#

A typical blitz game: Lots of errors on both sides due to time trouble. Titaan's strategy of relocating the area of connecting is one I never saw before or considered, but it worked very well in this game. Another aspect of LOA that deserves exploring.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The Inherent Symmetry of Lines of Action


The initial setup of Lines of Action is symmetrical. In fact, it contains at least 2 types of symmetry: rotational and reflectional.

Rotational symmetry is when you can turn an object and wind up with the same pattern. In LOA, you can rotate the board 180 degrees and still have the same opening setup. Reflectional symmetry is when you can divide an object in half, fold one half over the other and wind up with the same pattern.  It's as if a mirror was placed down the center of the object, and the mirror reflection was the same as the original half. LOA has axes of symmetry running through the center of the board horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

While this is all very good for math geeks, what does it mean for players? It means that the same game can be played 4 different ways in LOA. As an example, here are 4 pictures of my first “standard opening” that I discussed in the last post.

1. c8-c6 a2-c2
2. b1-b3

1. c1-c3 a7-c7
2. b8-b6

1. f1-f3 h7-f7
2. g8-g6

1. f8-f6 h2-f2
2. g1-g3


All of these are, technically, the same opening. Go has the same properties – the same game can be played in 4 different ways. Since Go has been popular for centuries, a standard has been established wherein the black player makes his first move in the upper right-hand corner from where he is sitting. LOA has no such standard, unfortunately. Therefore, it may be helpful to be aware of the way certain openings are symmetrically equivalent.


As a final example, here is the shortest LOA game playable without suicide moves, as created by Mannish Charosh in the 4 possible variations. The original is listed first.

1. d1-b3 h5-g4
2. b1-b4 g4xg1
3. b4-e7 a3xc1
4. b3-e6 h3xf1
5. e1-e5#

1. e1-g3 a5-b4
2. g1-g4 b4xb1
3. g4-d7 h3xf1
4. g3-d6 a3xc1
5. d1-d5#

1. d8-b6 h4-g5
2. b8-b5 g5xg8
3. b5-e2 a6xc8
4. b6-e3 h6xf8
5. e8-e4#

1. e8-g6 a4-b5
2. g8-g5 b5xb8
3. g5-d2 h6xf8
4. g6-d3 a6xc8
5. d8-d4#