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Topic: Opening puzzle (Read 909 times) |
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aaaa
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Opening puzzle
« on: Jan 10th, 2009, 1:56pm » |
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Silver to play after the following opening:
1w Ra1 Rb1 Rc1 Cd1 Re1 Rf1 Dg1 Rh1 Ra2 Db2 Hc2 Md2 Ee2 Cf2 Hg2 Rh2
1b ra8 db8 rc8 cd8 de8 rf8 rg8 rh8 ra7 mb7 rc7 ed7 he7 cf7 hg7 rh7
2w Hg2n Hg3n Hg4n Ee2n
2b ed7s ed6s ed5e ee5e
3w Dg1n Ee3n Ee4n Ee5n
3b ra7s hg7s hg6w ra6e
4w Ee6w Ed6n rc7s Ed7w
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| « Last Edit: Jan 10th, 2009, 2:04pm by aaaa » |
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camelback
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #1 on: Jan 10th, 2009, 7:16pm » |
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4s ef5s Hg5w hf6w he6w
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aaaa
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #2 on: Jan 11th, 2009, 2:10am » |
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No, that's not it.
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woh
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #3 on: Jan 11th, 2009, 3:32am » |
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4s ef5s Hg5w hf6w rc6e ?
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aaaa
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #4 on: Jan 11th, 2009, 5:41am » |
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on Jan 11th, 2009, 3:32am, woh wrote:
Yes, courtesy of game 93765.
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aaaa
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #5 on: Jan 11th, 2009, 3:02pm » |
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Hmm, I added this to the list of puzzles (a link of which I, BTW, no longer see on any of the framed pages on the main page), but now I see that one could do one better and simply blockade the elephant in that position, possibly making the puzzle invalid.
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Fritzlein
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #6 on: Jan 12th, 2009, 7:31am » |
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It's a close call whether blockading the elephant is really better than winning a horse, because the blockade has rabbits in front on b6 and d6. Can it really be held?
One could get around that difficulty by making is a "capture in two" puzzle rather than a "find the best move". Unfortunately, there appears to be more than one move that forces a horse capture in two moves, because the f6-trap doesn't have to be evacuated on the first move. Thus 4s ef5s Hg5w rc6e cd8s should do the trick as well, or even 4s ef5s Hg5w rc6e he7w.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 12th, 2009, 11:33am by Fritzlein » |
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chessandgo
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #7 on: Jan 12th, 2009, 10:16am » |
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blockading looks more appealing to me as the threat against the Horse remain. either gold will lose that Horse or let silver consolidate the blockade, which arguably might be worth more than a Horse.
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camelback
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #8 on: Jan 12th, 2009, 10:16pm » |
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In my opinion, resulting blockade is temporary. Any piece in b2, c2 or d2 can go for rescue there is no other advantage other than winning the horse. I may be wrong and others can illuminate me 
I still prefer he6w instead of rc6e for 4th step in 4s. I guess its just a matter of taste or style 
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aaaa
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #9 on: Jan 13th, 2009, 4:47am » |
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on Jan 12th, 2009, 10:16pm, camelback wrote:| I still prefer he6w instead of rc6e for 4th step in 4s. I guess its just a matter of taste or style |
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he6w doesn't capture the horse. Gold simply saves it then with Ec7e hd6s Ed7s Ed6e. If you rather meant he7w, then that strikes me as suboptimal, as Gold can capture a rabbit in return.
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Fritzlein
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #10 on: Jan 13th, 2009, 7:26am » |
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In any event, there is more than one move whereby Silver can "gain an advantage of some kind".
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camelback
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #11 on: Jan 13th, 2009, 7:21pm » |
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on Jan 13th, 2009, 4:47am, aaaa wrote:
he6w doesn't capture the horse. Gold simply saves it then with Ec7e hd6s Ed7s Ed6e. If you rather meant he7w, then that strikes me as suboptimal, as Gold can capture a rabbit in return. |
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Oops! yes, I'm soo blinded 
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aaaa
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Re: Opening puzzle
« Reply #12 on: Jan 21st, 2009, 5:38am » |
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on Jan 13th, 2009, 7:26am, Fritzlein wrote:| In any event, there is more than one move whereby Silver can "gain an advantage of some kind". |
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If people think that the puzzle is fundamentally flawed in some way, then I won't oppose it being (heavily) modified or removed altogether. However, one must surely admit that there is something to not trying to give too much away by keeping the question vague to some extent, making the puzzle more challenging and encouraging contemplation and discussion about what achievement might be better (just like we're doing in this thread).
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| « Last Edit: Jan 21st, 2009, 5:39am by aaaa » |
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