Hi Walter,

Your messages are interesting and well constructed, and I agree with most of what you've written. However, we are all reasonable individuals here who can discuss and even disagree civilly, so let us try to limit the invective to a minimum, shall we? Nobody made Dmitri the 'Keeper' of the game rules or anything of that sort.

I've been conversing with Dmitri for better than a couple of years, and always have found him a brilliant thinker. The fact that he holds a rigid view of pente rules does not modify that attitude. We disagree with his assertion that the player 1 rule restriction should apply to the keryo13 board, and that is why we are conducting the trial games. But, Dmitri is welcome to advance his philosophies just as much as we are to argue contrarily. His typing is poor due to a wrist ailment, and his style may seem brash to those who don't know him that well, but when he makes a point he is simply doing that, and nothing more; I do not for one moment believe he intends to injure anyone's emotions.... You suggested that Dmitri has chimed down when the stronger players offered their views. Well, here is a hint: Dmitri IS one of the stronger players! He isn't to be taken lightly in any version, and we could all learn a great deal from him.

You wrote that games evolve, and that's very true indeed. I applaud your willingness to try out alternate size boards, although offhand I think the 9 and 10 boards are probably too small to produce much in the way of viable tactics. But please feel free to experiment with these ideas, and if they are found to be of interest then write about it here.

I don't favor allowing a tournament maker to choose the board size. It would be a lot of programming on the site's part for little return, and it could get out of control in a real hurry. The fact is though, you don't need any on-line program to test these ideas. You can play an opponent via private message on the site, or by e-mail. It wouldn't be as convenient, of course; you'd have to set up your own boards and record the moves, but (as you seem to like cliches) 'where there's a will, there's a way'. Perhaps you might also get some friends to try these versions over the board with you.

Pioneer54