I've not played blaickner but in my opinion I would not accuse someone of cheating unless you have solid proof. Some people are just that great at a game. And i'm sure if you gave those people the chance they could help to improve your game as well.

And Gary, yes people do use cheating materials for the games at Pogo. I knew someone who was a pro card player and she played one of the games there (i don't remember which one) they said they had only played once or twice and totally beat her and not by luck...i mean the game went on for like an hour or so. She said she had pro tactics but got beat anyways.

This is strictly my opinion but when someone has got me backed into a spot where all my moves are spent passing and I know there is no way i'm even going to get a move in the next 10 turns I usually resign. And if an opponent is in the same situation I don't take it against them to do the same. I guess its all up to you whether you would like to play out the game and see where it goes or learn from the experiance or if you think that you will not benefit from the game then resign. I know that I don't take offense to it when people resign and I usually write a message to the person i'm playing if I resign the game.

thanks for the explanation...i guess i misunderstood you. I have played reversi many different ways on lots of sites and in person. I know what you mean though about getting the correct variation of the rules..as Pente is on here it is not on other sites for example itsyourturn.com...when i came here and played pente it was totally different. On itsyourturn.com black ALWAYS has the advantage and it is really hard for white to win. I like how it is set up now. I understand what you mean. I really don't know what the offical rules are and you are right that one of the pros should speak up about it, probably to fencer so everyone can get on the same page.

Hi Gary, I do know what you are talking about and understand completely. I do not know the basis or where the rules came from for these versions of reversi. You may want to put this request into the feature request board to give a heads up to Fencer about this. He may have a solution that will make all dissatisfied players happy with the rules of this game.

As far as your question if it is player 1 or 2 that wins by force it totally depends on the moves of the game. I've found with reveri games that have the same rules of the othello board game that sometimes you are still forced to pass and this can sometimes allow the other person to win. The best example i have is like checkers...if say black has one or two pieces left and they are stuck then the games ends in a forefit by black. It is the same thing with the forced move in reversi. It all depends on what moves are played. But as far as changing the beginning rules, you should relay this to Fencer and see what he can do :) :)