To all -

I was messing around looking at different games at Brain King a couple of nights ago and found something that astounded me. There it is right under EVERYONE's noses is EXACTLY what would ALMOST perfectly refute my challenge! I guess the challenge seemed so impossible (and I thought so too) that no one bothered to look too hard. But what's amazing about this is that I found it and I wasn't even looking for it!

The game that ALMOST PERFECTLY fits EVERY criteria in my challenge on THIS site is Reversi 6x6! It's not a PERFECT match to the challenge, but it's VERY close and if someone had brought it up, I would have said 'close enough'!

The only criteria that it is a LITTLE bit off on? There's NO rule change, it's only a board size change! It's the EXACT same game only on a smaller board! My criteria required that there be 1 (or maybe 2 or 3) rule changes that DRASTICALLY and negatively affect the chances of one side to win.

Why do I THINK that Reversi 6x6 is SO MUCH different then regular Reversi 8x8? The 6x6 game has been SOLVED!! It's right there on the Reversi discussion board! Player 2 wins by force 19-17 or 20-16 on the smaller board depending on the opening rules placement of the stones! But the 8x8 game (which is the standard rules game) is FAR from being solved and a couple of top players aren't even clear on WHO has an advantage!! This was from a discussion that was had a couple of months ago from two of the top players on this site in Reversi. Now THAT is a drastic and negative effect on the winning chances of one side by a game that contains the same name so that it could possibly confuse NEW players into wondering what the correct rules (in this case board size) for the game really is.

By 'solved' or 'by force' in this case it means that if player 1 plays the BEST and PERFECT moves on EVERY move, that there's no way that he could win if player 2 plays PERFECTLY. On the Reversi discussion board is the website with the proof to it. I found it to be a VERY interesting twist that it is player TWO that wins by force. In all other games, USUALLY player 1 has the advantage.

So NOW no one can say that I gave an IMPOSSIBLE challenge! :-)


Gary