ellieoop, it is frustrating to me that you ignored my entire post by dismissing it with blanket statements such as "You take the game more serious [sic] than I do"

If that is the case, then why are you so insistent on playing without the opening restriction? You are contradicting yourself. A short summary of your argument is this:

1) I am not a serious player and I play for fun only (why did you mention your tournament wins? but that is another matter).

2) Although I do not take it seriously and I play strictly for fun, I am insistent that I be able to play with an incorrect rule that allows me to make an illegal second move.

This doesn't make any sense, and you are not even attempting to justify your case!

Look at What Gary wrote. If I played chess just for fun, should I have the option of starting a match where one side only has one rook? No, of course not, the idea is laughable. Well, the notion of pente without the restriction is equally laughable, it just isn't as apparent to lesser caliber players. Again, that is NOT meant to be disrespectful to anyone, it is just an observation.

Ellieoop -

I realize that you are here to have fun and not to win championships. We DO need a LOT of players like you. There ARE already many players of ALL levels that ARE having a LOT of fun playing WITH the restriction.

We think that many MORE players in the long run will have FUN with the game if it becomes EXTREMELY popular like Chess. We think the game is so great that it COULD become that big. We are doing this so that MORE players will fun in the LONG run.

Can you explain to us what makes the game less fun when you are restricted as White on your second move? That is what Dmitri King and I are confused about. After all, there is no further restriction on either side. We want to understand why it becomes less fun for you.


Gary

i like the choices i have at iyt, it's not going to be a problem for me, if the option is not here, i'll either have to play it the way it is, or not play it.
thx. for your replies. ellie

Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves here. Why don't you try it out with the restriction for a bit and see how it goes. You might be surprised and find that you like it, maybe even more than the version you are accustomed to.

i thank you both for responding, and i am playing it both ways, and i think i might have even won here playing large pente and keryo. i just really think there should be a choice, but that's only my opinion, and i'm sure i will be playing it all ways. thx. again

Ellieoop -

Thanks for your comments. So can we assume that it is the lack of choice as White on your 2nd move that bothers you?

Anyway, since you're at both sites, try a couple of games of each. Better yet, try it on BOTH the 13x13 AND 19x19 boards here in addition to the 13x13 ones that you are probably playing at IYT.

You might find that on the 19x19 board here with the restriction, that the stone patterns will be REALLY cool looking compared to the smaller board and no restriction. Since there's more space and the stones must be a little more spread out to start with, I've seen BIG patterns that look like hammers, arrows, boxes, and even one or two that look like faces. See what you can come up with! The patterns are another thing that makes Pente and Keryo Pente so great.


Gary