Of course my tic tac toe reference was ludicrous, it was intended to be so. Also, you asked me to dispense with the sarcasm-- you know me better than that! BUt, your statement that I become very sarcastic whenever someone disagrees is very wrong. If you read the long threead of posts, you will see that I clearly and eloquently wrote out well thought out replies addressing every aspect of each post.

Who said I am picking and choosing hwich variants to play and which not to play? I am simply stating my strong objection to ONE SINGLE variant. You, like theo thers, sound like a broken record repeating the same incorrect statement over and over.

Anyhow... Regarding our games at IYT. 1) I did not try very hard and 2) you had a LOT more experience than I did at the time. I think you KNOW number 2, so why do you bother bringing it up?

If I failed to address one of your points, I apologize, I never intentionally avoid people's points in a debate. I'll review it in the morning, I am tired and I need to go to sleep.

BUt I stand my my definition of "pseudopente," I think it is fitting. What do you suggest calling it? Don't say "pente" because htat is already in use by the real version of the game.

My last thought for the night:

DOES ANYONE DOUBT THAT PLAYER 1 has an advantage inthis game?????????

Well, to have NO restriction for player 1 when player 1 has an OBVIOUS advantage (the extra stone) is just ASININE!

To me, saying that no restriction si necessary is the same as saying that having the extra stone is not an advantage. Well, that defies logic and reason.

Satan said "One last thing. You didn't address my point either. In my ORIGINAL pente rule book, regular pente is listed, as well as tourney. Tom Braunlich wrote a book on REGULAR pente strategy that is still relevant today for beginners and intermediates. Therefor, there are / were official rules for this game. And it was addressed and played by one of the greatest players ever. AND, I bet back then, Tom Braunlich enjoyed playing regular pente. Why shouldn't I or anyone else? "

Satan, in response to this I will refer to What Gayr wrote:

"I will now state some information and make some quotes from the following books:
PENTE Strategy 1 copyright 1980 by Tom Braunlich and PENTE Games Inc.
PENTE Strategy 2 copyright 1982 by PENTE Games Inc.
PENTE Strategy copyright 1984 by Tom Braunlich

1. Pente was invented in 1978 by Gary Gabrel.
2. The first official World (U.S.) Championship tourney was held in 1979 and last in 1984.
3. The tournament rule (opening restriction) was created before the first tourney was played in 1979.
4. The tournament rule became a standard accepted rule for the game after 1982.
5. The rights to Pente were sold to Parker Brothers on January 1, 1984.

Parker Brothers chose to do nothing with Pente and destroyed the corporate sponsorship for the game, thereby destroying any future possibility of large national championships. Later on, they sold the rights to Decipher who also chose to do nothing with it.

Now to the instructions for the game in the original tube. I too have an original Pente tube although I have lost the instructions. BUT...I do remember exactly what you are stating, that is that the instructions said that the tournament rule is optional. What happened is that those instructions were written when the tube was originally manufactured. I can't state an EXACT starting date for when the instructions in the tube were created, but it MUST have been after the tournament rule was created before the first tournament in 1979. Anyway, no one bothered to change the instructions after the tourney rule became the standard accepted rule after 1982. Why did this happen? I do not know. But my guess is that Gary Gabrel was looking for a buyer in 1983 and found one who eventually bought the rights to it on January 1, 1984 in Parker Brothers. I'm guessing that he wasn't too concerned about tweeking anything with the tubes that were being manufactured while he was looking for a buyer."