1. #1
    JohnGalt2341
    46 and 2 are just ahead of me
    JohnGalt2341's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 12-31-09
    Posts: 8,762
    Betpoints: 3436

    Hexversi Puzzle #9. Multiple Choice. 1st correct guess Wins 50 Points.

    1 guess per person. If you guess a 2nd time, your 2nd guess will be ignored. First correct guess Wins 50 Points.

    Instead of putting a cap on how many times you can Win, the way I am going to do it is, however many times you have Won already, you have to wait for that many number of guesses before you can make your guess. For instance, if you have Won twice already, for this particular puzzle, you have to wait for at least 2 people to guess before you can make your guess, or else you will be DQ'd. I'll list the puzzle Winners and how many times they've Won at the bottom of this post.


    Hexversi has the exact same rules as Othello except the board is shaped like a hexagon and there is a dead spot in the middle of the board as seen in the image below. You cannot play through the dead spot, you must play around it. If you do not know how to play Othello, I recommend that you watch the minute and a half video below, and you will know ALL of the rules.

    What's the best move for Green?(feel free to take a guess)




    I've added a 100 Point bonus for the first 10 players that post a screenshot of themselves beating this AI in the link below. Take the screenshot before your last move of the game so the AI doesn't block the image. Three people have beat the AI so far. They are: Housemoney, jackpot269, and Ian. Well done gentlemen!

    http://meta-site.net/hexlo/?fbclid=I...xXgSGPufKWHqTE

    I'll keep this going until 10 people beat it. You can only win this ONCE. AND, you can't use someone else's screenshot. In other words.... it has to be a unique configuration. This is NOT a strong AI. It's VERY aggressive. Aggressive play is EASY to beat once you know how to deal with it.

    Here's some hints as to how games are Won. Games are NOT won by gobbling up as many pieces as you can on every single move. This is a TERRIBLE strategy. Games are won by trying to run your opponent out of options/moves entirely, and forcing them to give you a corner. Whomever has more options/moves, is ALMOST ALWAYS winning the game, regardless of what the score says.

    When it comes to piece count, you'll usually want to think "less is MORE", until you can get a corner. Try to keep your pieces INSIDE of your opponents pieces. This will create MORE options/moves for you.

    Once you run your opponent out of options(good ones at least), then you get to dictate the direction of the game, and getting your piece count up high and winning the game after that is easy. Good luck!


    Here are the past Puzzle Winners so far:

    blankoblanco 3
    Ian 2
    Optional 2
    gauchojake 1


  2. #2
    JohnGalt2341
    46 and 2 are just ahead of me
    JohnGalt2341's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 12-31-09
    Posts: 8,762
    Betpoints: 3436

    Any guesses?

  3. #3
    Optional
    Optional's Avatar Moderator
    Join Date: 06-10-10
    Posts: 57,601
    Betpoints: 9220

    Sure, if my turn comes.

  4. #4
    jackpot269
    jackpot269's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 09-24-07
    Posts: 11,401
    Betpoints: 8069

    Last edited by jackpot269; 09-21-22 at 11:06 AM.

  5. #5
    las8
    BigdaddyQH is a pedophile
    las8's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 09-09-09
    Posts: 1,287
    Betpoints: 16799

    I would play j6.
    Last edited by las8; 09-21-22 at 01:24 PM.
    Points Awarded:

    JohnGalt2341 gave las8 50 Betpoint(s) for this post.

    Nomination(s):
    This post was nominated 1 time . To view the nominated thread please click here. People who nominated: Ian

  6. #6
    blankoblanco
    blankoblanco's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 11-18-11
    Posts: 3,318
    Betpoints: 29790

    Quote Originally Posted by las8 View Post
    I would play j6.
    I approve this play

  7. #7
    las8
    BigdaddyQH is a pedophile
    las8's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 09-09-09
    Posts: 1,287
    Betpoints: 16799

    I was overthinking it. At first I thought it it left purple with 2 moves giving green the NE and SE corners. Then I realized there are actually three moves. One of those moves is i7 which could potentially would give purple the NE corner but then you just come back with i8 and purple is left with f2 and j7 which would give green the SE and NE corners, respectfully.

  8. #8
    Machba
    2X POTM JAN 2022 SEPT 2022
    Machba's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 01-08-19
    Posts: 6,635
    Betpoints: 3004

    i7.

  9. #9
    JohnGalt2341
    46 and 2 are just ahead of me
    JohnGalt2341's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 12-31-09
    Posts: 8,762
    Betpoints: 3436

    Quote Originally Posted by las8 View Post
    I would play j6.
    We have a Winner!

    After Green plays j6, this will leave Purple with exactly 3 options as seen in the Purple notation below. If Purple plays either i7 or j7, Green will get the NE corner at k6. If Purple plays f2, Green will get the SE corner at f1. So, no matter where Purple plays, they're doomed. Once Green gets either k6 or f1, Green can immediately get k1 as well.



    Here's a 2nd screenshot after Purple played i7. And now as you can see, Green can take the NE corner at k6. From here, Green can work both clockwise AND counter clockwise around the sides of the board picking up permanent pieces while giving Purple crappy moves. As of right now, Purple has only one option/move and that is at f2. I didn't fill in all of the notation for Green, but Green has several options to choose from. It's an easy Win for Green from here on out.


    And here's what the final board looked like.

    Last edited by JohnGalt2341; 09-21-22 at 07:31 PM.

  10. #10
    las8
    BigdaddyQH is a pedophile
    las8's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 09-09-09
    Posts: 1,287
    Betpoints: 16799

    btw I am absolutely obsessed with this game. I can't play enough. I appreciate John's passion for this game as without him I would have never played. I am trying to find someone to 3D print me a board or something so I can play my friends. Otherwise I will have to fork over a few hundred for a custom wood carved board if it comes to it. Thanks John!
    Points Awarded:

    JohnGalt2341 gave las8 1 Betpoint(s) for this post.


  11. #11
    Optional
    Optional's Avatar Moderator
    Join Date: 06-10-10
    Posts: 57,601
    Betpoints: 9220

    I would have been wrong.

    Nice job Las8

  12. #12
    JohnGalt2341
    46 and 2 are just ahead of me
    JohnGalt2341's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 12-31-09
    Posts: 8,762
    Betpoints: 3436

    Quote Originally Posted by las8 View Post
    btw I am absolutely obsessed with this game. I can't play enough. I appreciate John's passion for this game as without him I would have never played. I am trying to find someone to 3D print me a board or something so I can play my friends. Otherwise I will have to fork over a few hundred for a custom wood carved board if it comes to it. Thanks John!
    I can't remember if I ever showed you guys this or not, I made a board for my brother and myself. It's not perfect by any means, but it gets the job done. I think I got the dimensions right but I screwed up quite a few of the hexagons. My approach was all wrong, and once I would screw up just one of the hexagons it would screw up other hexagons as well. And then I said... screw it... I'm too far in... I'm not starting over... I already started over once.



    I used poster board and I glued it to... I can't remember what it's called now but it's essentially super stiff condensed cardboard. I cut it with a box cutter and smoothed the corners with sand paper. For the pieces, I glued together poker chips. The dimensions work great. But many of the hexagons are rather atrocious. It doesn't look so bad in person.

    It's a pretty big board though. I'm not sure if you've ever played Othello on the boards they sell in the stores. They are so damn small, it makes it a pain in the ass to turn the pieces. I feel like Othello might be a more popular game if the boards they sold in the store weren't so damn small. I made a 8x8 and 6x6 board for myself and a couple of my coworkers back in 2006 using the same poker chips with 2x2 inch squares. It's so much better than the ones they sell in stores IMO.

  13. #13
    JohnGalt2341
    46 and 2 are just ahead of me
    JohnGalt2341's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 12-31-09
    Posts: 8,762
    Betpoints: 3436

    Quote Originally Posted by Optional View Post
    I would have been wrong.

    Nice job Las8
    Have you tried any games vs the AI yet?

    http://meta-site.net/hexlo/?fbclid=I...xXgSGPufKWHqTE

    The AI plays VERY aggressively. Try to keep your pieces INSIDE of your opponents pieces. This should give you lots of options. A simple strategy I call "The Island in the Water" should work well. YOU want to be the Island. Keep your island small if possible. Flipping 1 piece at a time often works well vs the AI, just be careful not to get eliminated entirely. Also, try to keep your pieces in 1 nice clump(together) when you can, rather than having them in several scattered chunks.

    Be careful of playing the X-hexes too early. The X-hexes are the hexes in Red notation in the image below. If the AI plays an X-hex, try to figure out if there is a way to get that corner. And most importantly... don't forget, everything we do is to try to maximize our options/move count while trying to minimize our opponents options/move count. This is how games are Won.



    If anyone has any questions.... let me know! 7 people can still beat the AI for 100 points! Good luck!

  14. #14
    blankoblanco
    blankoblanco's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 11-18-11
    Posts: 3,318
    Betpoints: 29790

    Quote Originally Posted by las8 View Post
    I was overthinking it. At first I thought it it left purple with 2 moves giving green the NE and SE corners. Then I realized there are actually three moves. One of those moves is i7 which could potentially would give purple the NE corner but then you just come back with i8 and purple is left with f2 and j7 which would give green the SE and NE corners, respectfully.
    Just saw this, and I feel I should correct you just to be helpful. After green plays j6, i7 never gives purple the NE corner, because that move turns the j6 piece back to purple, due to that edge of purple on the NE side. Then purple has no way to reach the NE corner, only green does. j6 actually forces purple to give the NE corner to green 100% of the time

    Do you see what I mean? It can be hard to visualize sequences of moves on a static board, I know it took me many games to get better at it, and I would mess up because I overlooked that a certain piece would get flipped within the sequence (and I still do mess it up)

    You might already have a handle on this from John's more helpful visuals, but I know you're hungry to improve so I wanted to make sure you learned as much as you could from it!
    Last edited by blankoblanco; 09-22-22 at 07:55 AM.

  15. #15
    Optional
    Optional's Avatar Moderator
    Join Date: 06-10-10
    Posts: 57,601
    Betpoints: 9220

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnGalt2341 View Post

    Have you tried any games vs the AI yet?

    http://meta-site.net/hexlo/?fbclid=I...xXgSGPufKWHqTE
    No, but only because my schedule is jam packed and time is so precious at the moment I can't put any time in to it. I will eventually when things calm down.

Top