osman@sprite.DEC (Eric, dtn 283-7484, Burlington Ma.) (04/10/85)
I indeed have been playing several games by machine. My experience is that they start out fine, and then when they get complicated, I find I really need to see them on a real go board. This is because the crude terminal graphics leaves alot to be desired. Here's an example of what we pass back and forth when we play: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RECORD OF MOVES Black (#), Eric - White (O), Lou 1. b d4 4-4 point 2. w c6 approach rather than take another corner A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . # . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use "KO" next to 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . one that was just 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . taken. 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . + . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W captured: 0 stones 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B captured: 0 stones 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm on a Digital VT241 color scope, so fancier graphics are certainly possible. Perhaps someone could write some software that takes the "mail board" as illustrated above, fancies it up to display a nice go board, allows the move to be typed in, then uglifies it again and sends it back on the mail system ! Hey, while I've got your attention, here's a go problem. Remember, in order to "not cheat" you ought to think about the opponent's best responses to your candidate move, rather than "trying things" on the go board. This discipline gives real-game environment practice, since of course in a real game you can't put down stones and try things. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . O # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . black = # 3 . . # O # # . # . . . . . . . . . . . white = O 4 . O # O O # . . . + . . . . . + . . . 5 . O O O # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . # # # # . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Black to play. 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .What's the BEST move ? /Eric Osman, Waltham Ma. (1 kyu)