Yes, it is that I make also. Regrettably, some players do not accept it and we oblige to fill automatically the squares. When one knows the final result and when the reflection does not exist any more, it is not very pleasant.
For my part, I do not agree to replay with opponents who have a practice so.

Just because another player does not see the futility of a give position, that does not make it OK to ask them to give up. Some other games are actually enjoyable to get the final "kill", (even though Amazons isn't) so why not just offer a "GG" comment when the outcome is determined - maybe the other player will get the hint. Maybe their skills are so low, that they need to see the bitter end before they understand. Maybe they are just being difficult & it is the only satisfaction that they will get out of the game. Whatever the circumstances, it just seems rude to tell someone to give up (even a lost position)

You also have to remember that Amazons is still a new game for many, so some may not see that they are in a losing situation, plus others might also like to play the game out to help them actually see the end of the game.

to be honest I feel it is better to play the game out and looserather than just give up. I feel giving up is wose than loosing cause if you loose then at least you tried. though if it is painfully obvious that one person has...lets say 6 moves left and the other has 25 then I under stand where you are coming from. but if it is 23 and 25 one person may make a major mistake (which can happen) then I think it should be played out.

not sure if that made any sence but thats how I see it.

I also feel it is better to play a game to the end. If the "winning" player is bored? with the game then they can choose to resign themselves. But,to ask an opponent to resign seems presumptuous. The tables can turn if a mistake is made by the one who thinks they inevitably will win. There is a chess player who requests that his opponent resign whenever he captures their Queen first ! That seems to be 'jumping the gun' a bit and being rather short-sighted. If someone is ahead in Amazons or any other game and is bored with playing they always have the option to resign. But to ask another to resign seems to be poor etiquette.

*No chess player on this planet* I don't think you've played enough people. Anyways, in most game types experts can see the outcome a long way off.

I agree. Why force some one to quit when they think they can still win? Or maybe your opponent is doing what the game is ment for, having fun. I think most of us forget to actually sit and enjoy the game and rather focus more on winning. Maybe your opponent enjoys actually finishing a game rather then trying to get wins.

Edit:I'm a bit slow with my responce eh?

Last time I checked, every chess player was not in the master class. Queen odds have been given in real games.

I guess by real you mean the world championship?

By the way, in maharajah chess, white starts with much more than a queen deficeit.

Good reference BuilderQ. I am by no means in the upper echelons of chess as
QuoUsque seems to be but I have witnessed a fair number of Chess games where after the Queen was taken the 'Queenless' player went on to win. I will duck now and try to avoid your arrows ;)

It is not impossible to win without a queen. I (a very poor chess player) have won at least a few games having lost my queen rather early. Against an experienced opponent, however, that is different.

.... and back to talk about Amazons please.

A mistake could drastically reduce ones territory even when the game is "decided". Of course such mistakes don't happen if the players know what they are doing and are giving a bit of attention to the game. But that's not always the case.

However, i also think that it is very annoing to play out the end when the territories are enclosed. I will resign when i see i have lost and wish my opponent would do the same. But if they choose to fill the board then so be it.

And of course a game of chess can be won without the queen. With experienced players playing that is very unlikely and at top level it's next to impossible. But at general BrainKing level it happens all the time.

how about a type of blackhole amazons , simmilar to blackhole reversi , im not sure if it would limit the game too much but would stop people from having a good starting point ...what are other opinions ??.

would that be similar to the one sugested earlier with the centre 4 squares as water?

lol , possibly , i didnt read back enough ;)

Ill let you off then Jason LOL

Sometimes I'm in the mood to play and finish an entire Amazons game in a single online session.

Does anyone know a real-time Amazons game server, which supports time limits like 30 seconds/move, 12 moves in 8 minutes or 20 minutes/game?

I think the Generic Game Server supports real-time games of Amazons.

is there anyone that is not already in a team that would be willing to join my team so i can enter the team tourney ? if you are not already a member of my fellowship you can join here jasons games room

I'm feeling left out. Can someone show me how to play Amazons. I see the rules yet can't comprehend them

I'm not the best player but if you would like I will play you an unrated game and tell you what I can.

Honestly the best way to learn is just to jump in and start playing a couple of games. Once you start to see and play, things make a lot more sense.

Is it end when a player cannot move or when he makes the final move ?

It shouldn't really matter - the player who, on his/her turn, cannot move loses. I have not yet completed a game to that point so I wouldn't know if the final move of the losing player is required.

Well, we are completely separated and have equal number of squares left ?

if you have the equal number of moves left , then the one who moves next will be the one who loses the game when the board fills up because they will run out of spaces first (providing all available spaces can be used )

there should be a 'pass this move' option for this game as in Go. two passes and it is over

That would change nothing. If your position is so bad that you pass, your opponent just passes as well. Then, next time you pass, you are done.

stuck in a tedious endgame when the outcome is determined is unnecessary

°°·.,,.·°¤`'¤¸`°´`°«*HappyHolidaze*»¸.¤°´`°'¤¸¤´¤°·.,,.·°°

Only ONE more Day to sign up!☺

Scarlets Winter Wonderland at the Amazon Island

Scarlets Winter Wonderland at Sea

Come Sail Away!!

Come Sail Away!!

Come Sail Away with Me!!

Today I was curious to know "how big" this game is when compared to chess. I decided to start by counting the number of positions where there is a definite loss.

There are 100 squares on the board, and when 92 are occupied, it must mean white has lost since black made the last move.

How many positions like that are there?

Well there are 100!/92!8! ways to have 92 arrows shot, and 8!/4!4! ways for white to occupy the remaining 8 empty squares, and 4!/4! ways for black to fill in the last 4 squares for each of these positions.

100!/92!8! =

100x99x98x97x96x95x94x93/8x7x6x5x4x3x2 =

186,087,894,300

8!/4!4! = 140

4!/4! = 1

So the total is:

26,052,305,202,000

Over 26 trillion ways to lose if you have filled every square on the board.

ok, so, um.... that completely confused me @_@

It was meant to convey the notion that there are more positions in the game of Amazons than the game of chess.

There are 26 trillion ways to have the board completely filled. Think of how many positions are possible along the way!

And the "!" sign means "factorial" in math.

like 3! = 3x2x1, 5! = 5x4x3x2x1, etc.

when a player has 1 move left ... and no room to shoot the arrow on that move .. will he still be able to make that move ?

can O move in the example below ?

XXXX
X.OX
XXXX

the arrow will go to the square he/she just left.

ah! oops i forgot about that one :)

thanks ... can you tell i am not that good with amazones ? ;)

LOL...knowing hw you just lost tells you my experiences!! LOL:)

hey! i havent lost a single game yet ;)

somehow i get overrun by all amazones that i encounter ;)

send invite please.. :)

Congrats Jason on your new job..

ScarletRose: Thanks

Cave Men ROCK!!!
good luck Jason!

Meanwhile the first round of the Amazons & nothing else tournament is finished.
Congratulations to the winners Chessmaster2000 and Ahmagh!
The final round has already started as a 3-win-match between them.

I would like to anounce the creation of a new tournament of this type.

I 've provided a german translation of the Game of Amazons to wikipedia.org recently; and I ask you to proof-read that german translation -- or to submit a translation of the game of Amazons in your native language to wikipedia.org yourself. Thank you!

The current Urls of the Game of Amazons at Wikipedia are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_the_Amazons (english)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonen_%28Brettspiel%29 (german)

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonas_%28juego%29 (spanish)