I guess this is getting to the opint where I am being a pain in the as about this, and I don't want to become known for being difficult to get aliong with. But, I just don't uinderstand why this thread of discussion is going onas long as it has. my thoughts:

a 9 X 9 board? what is the point??? I really don't see the logic in that.

also, you say "I think the smaller board cuts down on the advantage of going first in Keryo Pente, but not in regular Pente. Gary and Dmitri agrue otherwise ..."

of course we argue otherwise, you are not presenting any reasons whatsoever for WHY this would reducep layer 1's advantage! Are you trying to say that player 1 naturally tends to "Branch out " more and neeed the extra space more than player 2? I don't understand how you came to that conclusion, and it doesn't make any sense to me. You hope that Gayr or I accpet a challenge on a 13 By 13 board without the restriction. WHy? what purpose is served by this? As it is, Player 1 wins more often than not WITH the restriction, so why would player 2 do better WITHOUT it?

In my games with the restriction, most of the time, as player 1, I am immediately in a powerful and dominating position. As player 2, I win because player 1 screws up.