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        Arimaa >> Events >> Arimaa "Summer Camp"
        
(Message started by: ddyer on Jul 24th, 2013, 12:58pm)
Title: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ddyer on Jul 24th, 2013, 12:58pm
This will be a round-robin competition at Boardspace.net, intended to be complementary to the annual championship played here.  
  • no pressure.  Not an tournament, just a slightly structured set of games to play.
  • relaxed time pressure.  You have 10 minutes more time than your opponent.
  • games scheduled by mutual arrangement with your opponents.

The games will start Aug 15.
Sign up: http://boardspace.net/cgi-bin/tournament-signup.cgi?tournamentid=39
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by supersamu on Jul 25th, 2013, 3:31am
I tried to sign up, but it didn´t work.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by harvestsnow on Jul 25th, 2013, 7:04am

on 07/25/13 at 03:31:54, supersamu wrote:
I tried to sign up, but it didn´t work.


If the site doesn't create a java applet in a separate window (the "lobby"), then probably nothing will work for you.
The problem seems to be that the "height" parameter is 0, which causes some browsers to ignore it, including chromiummy version of chromium not to load it. Firefox is fine with it.
I hope ddyer will change it. In any case, it can be fixed locally (run it with tampermonkey):

Code:
// ==UserScript==
// @name       boardspace.net applet fix
// @namespace http://harvestsnow.cow
// @match      http://boardspace.net/cgi-bin/login.cgi*
// ==/UserScript==
document.applets[0].height = 1;
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ChrisB on Jul 25th, 2013, 1:12pm
The IE browser didn't work for me, but I was able to sign up using the Chrome browser.

Looking forward to the event!
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ddyer on Jul 25th, 2013, 2:20pm
For what platform does chrome have a problem with zero height applets?
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by harvestsnow on Jul 26th, 2013, 5:33am

on 07/25/13 at 14:20:07, ddyer wrote:
For what platform does chrome have a problem with zero height applets?


Chromium 28.0.1500.71 Ubuntu 12.04, with Iced Tea plugin.

The applet loads normally if it's called from a local copy of the page with a non-zero height parameter.
This isn't the only weird thing, though. Accessing any property or method of the applet does the trick. Thus, a javascript statement like

Code:
document.applets[0].toString;
, which theoretically shouldn't have any effect, makes the applet appear. It's like "hit it to make it work".

Maybe this doesn't have anything to do with supersamu's and ChrisB's problems. The <applet> tag has been deprecated for so long, it wouldn't be surprising to have a weird array of bugs.


I'd gladly join the tournament; unfortunately I need to play at least one game, and the arimaa gameroom is stuck for me on a game where Dumbot won't make its move...
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ddyer on Jul 26th, 2013, 12:13pm
Java in Ubunto is a poor cousin.  I suspect dumbot will eventually move, it's just slow (and also not a very good player).  I've been unable to interest the bot developers here in making a better one.  Better to get a human opponent.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ChrisB on Jul 26th, 2013, 1:03pm

on 07/26/13 at 12:13:06, ddyer wrote:
 I suspect dumbot will eventually move, it's just slow (and also not a very good player).  I've been unable to interest the bot developers here in making a better one.  Better to get a human opponent.

Yes, dumbot is slow.  I wasn't checking its move times, but it seems to take 2 minutes or more to do all four of its steps.

And, yes, it is not very good.  Still I found playing it helpful to get used to the interface and the different piece designs.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by Fritzlein on Jul 27th, 2013, 1:26pm

on 07/24/13 at 12:58:32, ddyer wrote:
relaxed time pressure.  You have 10 minutes more time than your opponent.

So there is no increment per se?  To be more specific, suppose that you have used 20 minutes exactly and then I make a move that brings my total thinking time to 29 minutes and 59 seconds, i.e. I move one second before losing on time.  If you make you next move in one second, does that leave me with just two seconds to make my next move or lose on time?

This is an intriguing dynamic.  Are games with such a time control often decided on time?
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by ddyer on Jul 27th, 2013, 1:57pm

on 07/27/13 at 13:26:09, Fritzlein wrote:
So there is no increment per se?  To be more specific, suppose that you have used 20 minutes exactly and then I make a move that brings my total thinking time to 29 minutes and 59 seconds, i.e. I move one second before losing on time.  If you make you next move in one second, does that leave me with just two seconds to make my next move or lose on time?

This is an intriguing dynamic.  Are games with such a time control often decided on time?


That's correct.   You have to use about as much time as your opponent, but the absolute amount is not relevant.   Most of the game interfaces at Boardspace, including Arimaa, include a second clock that shows the time deficit.   Boardspace tournament games are rarely lost on time.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by harvestsnow on Aug 21st, 2013, 1:29pm
The first two games have been played. They can be reviewed there (http://boardspace.net/arimaa/arimaa-viewer.shtml) (search for AA-harvey-ddyer-2013-08-17-1650.sgf and AA-ChrisBo-harvey-2013-08-18-1448.sgf in the main directory).

Four games are scheduled:

Thursday August 22, 01:00 GMT  ChrisBo- ddyer
Thursday August 22, 22:00 GMT  harvey - woh
Saturday August 24, 12h00 GMT  ChrisBo - woh
Sunday August 25, 20:00 GMT    ddyer - woh

No news from foggy at the moment.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by browni3141 on Aug 21st, 2013, 6:11pm
I kind of wanted to do this, but I got busy and forgot about it :(
I hope it is fun.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by harvestsnow on Aug 24th, 2013, 11:31pm
It would be more fun with more players.

The boardspace client is quite different from the one at arimaa.com. The moves you try on the board are visible to your opponent and the spectators. The mouse position is also relayed several times per second. This gives a closer feeling to a real board. It's very nice for informal games, but if there's anything at stake I'd rather avoid leaking information about my thought process to my opponent, or warning them of an upcoming move. It might be interesting to play slow-paced demonstration games on boardspace and record the experience.

As for the time control, having 10 minutes more than woh who plays at blitz speed isn't relaxed at all. I had trouble following him, and ChrisBo vs woh seem to have ended on time. The other games were played at roughly 1 minute per move.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by supersamu on Aug 25th, 2013, 2:36am
I would have loved to participate, but I couldn't get the website to work.
The time control is something worth trying and the client sounds cool.
Maybe the next time!
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by cvic on Aug 25th, 2013, 5:14pm
Created an account, but I can't figure out how to signup...

Using Firefox 23 on Windows XP SP3 atm. I'll try on Ubuntu tomorrow.

Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by harvestsnow on Aug 26th, 2013, 8:47pm

on 08/25/13 at 17:14:48, cvic wrote:
Created an account, but I can't figure out how to signup...

You can't signup anymore, the registration was open until August 15.
That's at least 3 people who would have liked to participate, but didn't for various reasons. We could do informal round-robin tournaments like this more often. I might be naive, but this format seems to require very little organization effort: no pairings to do, no internal ratings to maintain, no round scheduling, etc.
The One day swiss (http://arimaa.com/arimaa/forum/cgi/YaBB.cgi?board=events;action=display;num=1255926313;start=0) is another option. Is there a documentation about the different tournament systems already experimented in the arimaa community, and how they worked out?
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by crazyharry on Aug 26th, 2013, 11:24pm
Make that 4. I'm not sure I would have had time to compete well, but I considered registering, and would like to participate in such things, at least.
Title: Re: Arimaa "Summer Camp"
Post by half_integer on Sep 2nd, 2013, 2:44pm
Make it 5.  I only started playing online shortly before this started, but if it were open today I would participate.


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