[JohnGalt2341]

Move 31 was a favorite of mine in this game because it looks like a terrible move but let's see if I can explain why it was a good move. Late in close games you will often see sections/pockets like the ones with the X's and O's below. On the left, there is a section of 4. In the upper right there is a section of 3. And on the right there is also a section of 3. Generally, the best way you can play sections like this is to either get the most moves in the section or to get the last move in the section and preferably both. So... I had to figure out a way to do this because all of my other moves on the bottom would have opened up good moves for him and I didn't want to do this. I chose move #1. This enabled me to get 2 out of the 3 moves in the right section and later I was able to get 3 out of the 4 moves in the left section and in the upper right even though I only got 1 move... it was the last move in the section which is huge. Sacrificing these corners was risky... but... he had no moves down there so it wasn't nearly as bad because he couldn't really build off of it. I figured he would get some pieces at the end of the game but because I had the upper left and upper right walls that he wouldn't be getting many.

Moral of the story... in close games... you should always be striving to get the most moves in each section. In sections with even numbers(2 or 4) it's usually best to move last in the section if it's split evenly. In sections of 3... first and last is usually best. I sacrificed the corner on the lower left because I was able to get 3 out of the 4 moves in that left section and although it did give him a corner it only created 1 move for him so... I got 3 moves and he got 2. This changed the dynamics of the game because it forced him into a bad move and I was able to get the last move in the other sections.

[blankoblanco]

Damn, thanks for sharing some of your thought process. I'm definitely not seeing the game on that high of a level yet, but all the principles make sense. Can't wait to try to execute these ideas in a game and totally mess it up

[Daniel Espinosa]

Interesting, I wasnt aware of much of that. So, in my position, the right move would have been not to take both corners?

[JohnGalt2341]

Interesting, I wasnt aware of much of that. So, in my position, the right move would have been not to take both corners?

That's difficult to say. One move that would have helped you late in the game is if you would have taken move #3 below.

In the position above Green(me) is waiting for Purple to move first into sections 1 and 2 so I can maximize my piece count by going 2nd and force you to make another move. Had you moved to spot #3 it would have forced me to move into section 2 first... even if I chose to do it later in the game I would have had to move into that section first because you would have taken away your moves there. I realize that this goes against things I have said in the past because you would be using up 3 potential moves with just 1 move... but this is an exception to that rule.

I'm not sure if you could have won the game even if you moved to #3 in the position above but I'm pretty sure it would have made the game a lot closer.... and certainly a lot more complicated for me.

This was such an interesting game. We both played really well IMO. My side-play and endgame saved me. I don't think there is anyone in the ladder that you guys can't compete with now. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys play Ryan and Toptal.

[JohnGalt2341]

blanko vs winbig2 Preview
Move 1

blanko playing Green
Ladder record 6-0 Rank #11
Moneyline -300
Spread -33.5

winbig2 playing Purple
Ladder record 183-185-1 Rank #16
Moneyline +240
Spread +33.5

My analysis:
winbig2 has aggressive tendencies that are fairly easy to dismantle. He's not a terrible player but he often makes terrible moves. I expect blanko to outplay winbig2 from start to finish. winbig's best chance in this one is to minimize his aggressive moves, I don't expect this to happen. This should be a good game for blanko to work on his finishing skills(running his opponent out of moves). I expect that to happen somewhere around move #30. After that it will be a walk in the park and winbig will likely resign shortly after.

Prediction:
winbig taps out on move #30

Final:
Resignation is likely... but I'll say
blanko 62
winbig 28

Picks record 4-1 so far

[Daniel Espinosa]

Yes, as I said before, I made that move and when I saw what you did, I knew it was game over. It was kind of a missclick on my part, even with my limited knowledge I could see it was terrible. Interesting game indeed, I think I played really good until that point, and didnt make any huge early mistakes, which is great considering I lost my recent matches because of that. Cant wait to challenge you again

That's difficult to say. One move that would have helped you late in the game is if you would have taken move #3 below.

In the position above Green(me) is waiting for Purple to move first into sections 1 and 2 so I can maximize my piece count by going 2nd and force you to make another move. Had you moved to spot #3 it would have forced me to move into section 2 first... even if I chose to do it later in the game I would have had to move into that section first because you would have taken away your moves there. I realize that this goes against things I have said in the past because you would be using up 3 potential moves with just 1 move... but this is an exception to that rule.

I'm not sure if you could have won the game even if you moved to #3 in the position above but I'm pretty sure it would have made the game a lot closer.... and certainly a lot more complicated for me.

This was such an interesting game. We both played really well IMO. My side-play and endgame saved me. I don't think there is anyone in the ladder that you guys can't compete with now. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys play Ryan and Toptal.

[blankoblanco]

Yeah, definitely the strongest player I've faced on ladder, would be a bit of a miracle if I could pull it out.

Do you believe in miracles!!?? My victory over aragon is now official and for this brief moment I'm #3 on the ladder after John and Ryan!

I have to imagine aragon made some uncharacteristic mistakes against me. John, where do you think it went wrong for him? Like I was thinking his move 15 was very questionable, and then I realized how few moves he actually had then, so I feel like there was probably a key mistake or two that he made earlier

For my part, I think I was in complete control and then blundered with my moves 28+29. I lost sight of the fact that move 29 re-opens the top right corner for him that was "safe" in move 28. That being said, I'm not sure what the best move on 29 would've been. I just know I felt like I had it in the bag and then suddenly realized I essentially gave up two corners on a side with empty space to work with so things got scary

I know it's a lot to ask but if you have any notes on my play in this game it'd of course be helpful

[JohnGalt2341]

Do you believe in miracles!!?? My victory over aragon is now official and for this brief moment I'm #3 on the ladder after John and Ryan!

I have to imagine aragon made some uncharacteristic mistakes against me. John, where do you think it went wrong for him? Like I was thinking his move 15 was very questionable, and then I realized how few moves he actually had then, so I feel like there was probably a key mistake or two that he made earlier

For my part, I think I was in complete control and then blundered with my moves 28+29. I lost sight of the fact that move 29 re-opens the top right corner for him that was "safe" in move 28. That being said, I'm not sure what the best move on 29 would've been. I just know I felt like I had it in the bag and then suddenly realized I essentially gave up two corners on a side with empty space to work with so things got scary

I know it's a lot to ask but if you have any notes on my play in this game it'd of course be helpful

Congrats!!

I was looking through the game and my feeling is that aragon just didn't play very well overall. And I agree... move #15 was a bad move. #13 was also not good... and #16 was also not good, and #21 and #22 are a couple of others that were not good. I don't think there was any single move that was horrendous... just a lot of moves that weren't very good. This was definitely not aragon's best game. I'd be surprised if they play this poorly again in a rematch.

I liked your move #28. I would have moved there and I would followed it up with #1 below. Sure it would have created a few moves for Purple but it would have created 5 moves for you. You could go in the exact order below. After you got to move #6 Purple would have been completely out of moves and I'm pretty sure you would have gotten all 6 corners and won the game quite easily.

I'm tempted to challenge you in the Ladder but I'm not going to because I want to wait until you feel you are ready and then you can challenge me. However... if you end up playing both Ryan and Toptal and you beat them both... well... then I think you'll definitely be ready and I'll have to challenge you. But until then... I'll leave it up to you.

[blankoblanco]

Congrats!!

I was looking through the game and my feeling is that aragon just didn't play very well overall. And I agree... move #15 was a bad move. #13 was also not good... and #16 was also not good, and #21 and #22 are a couple of others that were not good. I don't think there was any single move that was horrendous... just a lot of moves that weren't very good. This was definitely not aragon's best game. I'd be surprised if they play this poorly again in a rematch.

I liked your move #28. I would have moved there and I would followed it up with #1 below. Sure it would have created a few moves for Purple but it would have created 5 moves for you. You could go in the exact order below. After you got to move #6 Purple would have been completely out of moves and I'm pretty sure you would have gotten all 6 corners and won the game quite easily.

I'm tempted to challenge you in the Ladder but I'm not going to because I want to wait until you feel you are ready and then you can challenge me. However... if you end up playing both Ryan and Toptal and you beat them both... well... then I think you'll definitely be ready and I'll have to challenge you. But until then... I'll leave it up to you.

Ty sir!

Right, I was on board with move 28 by itself, it's just the combination of 28+29 that was the problem. Your move 1 was always appealing just for sheer amount of pieces but I wasn't sure when to make it. I guess I was just shying away from it because I didn't want to open up moves for him. Maybe sometimes I get too eager to try to shut my opponent out of moves. And if I'd seen the obvious error in 29 it's possible I would've made that play instead since nothing else looks very good to me

We'll play after I lose one, fair enough? I feel like this win streak has been a bit of a fluke but I want to see if I can extend it just for the hell of it. And let's face it, I'm not gonna beat you at this point! You know all the tricks I know times 2

The more I think about it the more impressed I am Daniel played you so close because I doubt I could

[Daniel Espinosa]

Very impressive 3rd place! I should probably challenge you again

[blankoblanco]

Very impressive 3rd place! I should probably challenge you again

Thanks! Dude, I'm super impressed by how well you played vs John! Amazing game, and he had to pull out all the tactics. I think he'd crush me

You're free to challenge me if you want but as I said to John I'd prefer to wait until I lose a game vs one of the other players. I just want to see if I can extend my magical win streak a bit, and facing either you or John would make that very difficult!

The last game between us didn't look that close based on score but I think it really only came down to a 1 move difference. It challenged me more than most of my games have

[JohnGalt2341]

Thanks! Dude, I'm super impressed by how well you played vs John! Amazing game, and he had to pull out all the tactics. I think he'd crush me

You're free to challenge me if you want but as I said to John I'd prefer to wait until I lose a game vs one of the other players. I just want to see if I can extend my magical win streak a bit, and facing either you or John would make that very difficult!

The last game between us didn't look that close based on score but I think it really only came down to a 1 move difference. It challenged me more than most of my games have

Indeed! I must say... I'm looking forward to a rematch with Daniel to see if he can do it again.

I'm really hoping that you keep your streak alive as well. As long as you don't face Ryan or Toptal I think your chances are pretty good.

I wish SBR had lines on this stuff. Like... how many Hexversi ladder games will blanko win before he loses a game?

I'd set the Over/Under at 13.5

[Daniel Espinosa]

No problem, I will challenge Ryan when he is available to see if I can take 2nd place.

[JohnGalt2341]

No problem, I will challenge Ryan when he is available to see if I can take 2nd place.

I see you took down 2Pl76F... nice work!

[Daniel Espinosa]

yesss

[blankoblanco]

Grats on beating 2P Daniel! Looks like we both were able to take advantage of his habit to make unbalanced edges

Question for both of you guys. Do you feel like your games vary a lot in how they play out, or do you see some of the same looks pretty consistently?

I've actually been surprised at how different almost all of my games have been so far. Like, yeah, for the most part I'm trying to run my opponent out of moves as the main way to win but I feel like I've seen a new tactic or way of approaching it almost every game

So I was wondering if Daniel feels similarly since we're both newer and also if it's any different for John

You (John) said before that you can usually spot the best move (or one of the best) right away. You obviously have more experience and more direction in what you want to accomplish every step of the way. My play is surely more erratic and I obviously make more mistakes, so I think maybe I'm more prone to create chaotic board states, whereas it seems like you're almost always in control and have a solid plan... (this is leading into the next part)

Do you find that a lot of your games play out in a similar way, or does it still usually find a way to be different (sort of like how there are known openings in chess but later in the game it almost always becomes a unique sequence of moves)?

I was even thinking maybe aragon played badly against me because I made some weird/bad moves and dragged him down to my level, lol

[Daniel Espinosa]

My games at the beggining have been quite differently because I have been playing differently (obviously trying to change things to improve). It is probably where I struggle the most. And because of that, my games have been varying a lot. The games I have won have in common that I have been able to take some unblanced edges, so maybe that has not varied much.

[JohnGalt2341]

Grats on beating 2P Daniel! Looks like we both were able to take advantage of his habit to make unbalanced edges

Question for both of you guys. Do you feel like your games vary a lot in how they play out, or do you see some of the same looks pretty consistently?

I've actually been surprised at how different almost all of my games have been so far. Like, yeah, for the most part I'm trying to run my opponent out of moves as the main way to win but I feel like I've seen a new tactic or way of approaching it almost every game

So I was wondering if Daniel feels similarly since we're both newer and also if it's any different for John

You (John) said before that you can usually spot the best move (or one of the best) right away. You obviously have more experience and more direction in what you want to accomplish every step of the way. My play is surely more erratic and I obviously make more mistakes, so I think maybe I'm more prone to create chaotic board states, whereas it seems like you're almost always in control and have a solid plan... (this is leading into the next part)

Do you find that a lot of your games play out in a similar way, or does it still usually find a way to be different (sort of like how there are known openings in chess but later in the game it almost always becomes a unique sequence of moves)?

I was even thinking maybe aragon played badly against me because I made some weird/bad moves and dragged him down to my level, lol

My games at the beggining have been quite differently because I have been playing differently (obviously trying to change things to improve). It is probably where I struggle the most. And because of that, my games have been varying a lot. The games I have won have in common that I have been able to take some unblanced edges, so maybe that has not varied much.

Let's see if I can attempt to answer this without sounding lazy in my answer. Almost all of my games are very different but I do see a lot of the same looks in many games. My game vs Daniel is a good example of this. That game was incredibly unique in that I don't recall ever sacrificing 4 corners in a game in order to maintain what I perceived as "control" of the game. However, each individual sacrifice was fairly familiar to me. I've seen all 4 of those positions(or very similar at least) in games before but it is extremely rare that I will sacrifice more than 1 or 2 corners in a game. So... to answer your question... yes... I do see a lot of the same looks... but virtually every single game is very unique as a whole.

The 2nd thing I put in bold... I feel that way often as well. And I'm always sort of proud of myself when I make a bold/creative move to gain an edge.

Bold#3. I'm nearly certain that you are right about this. Before you guys started playing I don't think I ever looked at games that I was not involved in. When the tournament started and I was looking at other people's game I kept seeing board positions that looked mind bogglingly chaotic to me, and not just yours and Daniels. I would click on a game and I would think to myself "how in the hell did the board ever end up like this?". It was fascinating to me but then after reviewing the games I would figure out why. There are certain moves/positions(particularly on the side) where I'm pretty automatic about how I play them so... there's certain types of chaos that I never see in my games because I don't allow it to happen and I don't create it either if that makes sense. And when you have 2 players that play the sides very differently than I do playing each other... it usually means there will be a lot of very strange positions... at least strange in my mind.

As you guys already know... my style is heavily based on forcing people into unbalanced edges and exploiting those unbalanced edges. This is a very common theme in many of my games. Almost the only time it's not is if I beat somebody really badly from start to finish. So... this is something I see constantly in my games but in other people's games you might see different things on the sides entirely.

It's interesting to me that it appears that some players play differently depending on who they are playing. I don't recommend playing this way. This may have been what happened with your game vs aragon like you said. In the movie Searching For Bobby Fischer Josh's friend(Laurence Fishburne) from the park says "Play the man playing the board" and his teacher says "Always play the board and not the person". I tend to agree with his teacher. The only time I stray from this is if I'm undecided on a move because two moves look equally good... and then I consider the style of play/tendencies of my opponent and which one will likely work better vs them. But in general, I play the board and not the man.

I hope I answered your questions at least a little. I know my answers weren't very definitive. One thing I really love about this game is how it only takes a few moves or so and you're already playing a completely brand new game that you've never seen before.

[blankoblanco]

My games at the beggining have been quite differently because I have been playing differently (obviously trying to change things to improve). It is probably where I struggle the most. And because of that, my games have been varying a lot. The games I have won have in common that I have been able to take some unblanced edges, so maybe that has not varied much.

Yeah, what's interesting for me is in my first 4 or so ladder games I didn't actually exploit any unbalanced edges to win. However, against you I think I only won that one game because I avoided a potential unbalanced edge trap on the left side of the board that I almost certainly would have fallen into if I didn't think about it

But it does seem like, as it seems John may have implied, the better the competition is, the more that forcing and exploiting unbalanced edges becomes your main way to get an advantage. I think in the beginning I just played some weaker opponents where I could just get the first corner without a struggle and take over from there, and that won't be the case at the top of the ladder

Also appreciate the very in-depth answer from you, John. I think I might have to stick with my approach of creating weird and unfamiliar boards if I'm ever gonna even have a chance to beat you. Can't defeat the master at his own game

[blankoblanco]

Also I feel like I might actually lose to Chair Man? Living up to his reputation he's playing aggro as hell, but I haven't really been seeing great counter-moves at all yet. Maybe the light bulb will switch on and I'll find the opening, or maybe I'm screwed.

I have no doubts John (and perhaps Daniel) could win blind-folded from my position but this is uncharted territory for me. Stay tuned!

[JohnGalt2341]

Yeah, what's interesting for me is in my first 4 or so ladder games I didn't actually exploit any unbalanced edges to win. However, against you I think I only won that one game because I avoided a potential unbalanced edge trap on the left side of the board that I almost certainly would have fallen into if I didn't think about it

But it does seem like, as it seems John may have implied, the better the competition is, the more that forcing and exploiting unbalanced edges becomes your main way to get an advantage. I think in the beginning I just played some weaker opponents where I could just get the first corner without a struggle and take over from there, and that won't be the case at the top of the ladder

Also appreciate the very in-depth answer from you, John. I think I might have to stick with my approach of creating weird and unfamiliar boards if I'm ever gonna even have a chance to beat you. Can't defeat the master at his own game

If you can combine the two I could be in trouble. People sometimes beat me at my own game but what really gives me fits is when people Prevent me from playing my game.

I see you took out dmoresco... nice work! He's going to make it to the finals in the current tourney... so that's a pretty nice win. Who's next on the chopping block? I think sht10 would be a good match for you. He hides his stats but you can see he's won a ton of regular Reversi and 10x10 tourneys. I honestly thought he would be a lot better at Hexversi but he's not for some reason but he's still pretty good. He plays pretty quickly and I think he makes his moves quickly as well. I'd probably give you a slight edge in the game but it would be close.

[JohnGalt2341]

Also I feel like I might actually lose to Chair Man? Living up to his reputation he's playing aggro as hell, but I haven't really been seeing great counter-moves at all yet. Maybe the light bulb will switch on and I'll find the opening, or maybe I'm screwed.

I have no doubts John (and perhaps Daniel) could win blind-folded from my position but this is uncharted territory for me. Stay tuned!

I think you'll be fine in this game... but it looks like it's going to be a fun one to watch!

[blankoblanco]

If you can combine the two I could be in trouble. People sometimes beat me at my own game but what really gives me fits is when people Prevent me from playing my game.

I see you took out dmoresco... nice work! He's going to make it to the finals in the current tourney... so that's a pretty nice win. Who's next on the chopping block? I think sht10 would be a good match for you. He hides his stats but you can see he's won a ton of regular Reversi and 10x10 tourneys. I honestly thought he would be a lot better at Hexversi but he's not for some reason but he's still pretty good. He plays pretty quickly and I think he makes his moves quickly as well. I'd probably give you a slight edge in the game but it would be close.

Thanks for the congrats. I can't help but feel like dmoresco didn't play his best game, similar to aragon in his game against me

At this point I'm choosing to believe that I magically suck the talent out of others and make them make mistakes. Or we can choose to believe it's some sort of brilliance in how I play. I prefer that one, but...

I think I might actually hold back on challenging because of the 15 (or whatever number it is) move limit for non-members per day. Now that other people are challenging me I keep running out of moves! And it sorta disrupts my train of thought sometimes because I have a plan I want to execute but I'm out of moves and then I wake up the next day and I forget what I wanted to do and have to figure things out all over again!

[JohnGalt2341]

25 Point Hexversi challenge

Below is the current state of a current game I am playing vs Eddie(my nephew) in the 2nd round of the tournament. I just ran out of moves for the day so I can't play my next move yet but I already know where I am going to move. So... where do you think am I going to move? I am Green.

[blankoblanco]

Puzzles! <3

Staying true to my word from before, I will let Daniel go first since I hogged it before. But I think I know where I'd move

edit: Actually this might be more complicated than I thought, my guess could definitely be wrong

[Daniel Espinosa]

Thanks Blanko, but just answer if you want to .

I think I will go with 8. You are sacrifying one corner but you are gaining one that has more value imho.

[JohnGalt2341]

Thanks Blanko, but just answer if you want to .

I think I will go with 8. You are sacrifying one corner but you are gaining one that has more value imho.

I looked at this for a second as well until I realized that I would be flipping the 4 purple pieces on the right side. That alone is bad enough, but with that you would also be giving Purple a free move in #7 which means Green wouldn't get a corner at all.

[Daniel Espinosa]

Right! Dumb movement

[blankoblanco]

I think every move on the left side can be eliminated as an option for now

Going with Daniel's corner sacrifice idea, does 7 work? He has to take it to prevent you getting the left corner but it doesn't really have much if any value to him

Are you confident you're going to win from here? If I was in this situation, I'd have no idea, it looks very close

[JohnGalt2341]

I think every move on the left side can be eliminated as an option for now

Going with Daniel's corner sacrifice idea, does 7 work? He has to take it to prevent you getting the left corner but it doesn't really have much if any value to him

Are you confident you're going to win from here? If I was in this situation, I'd have no idea, it looks very close

Correct! Nice work! I didn't think you would get this one. I think you may be ready for Ryan or Toptal. This is a fairly brilliant move IMO. Here's why: In the board below you can see that in spot A green doesn't have a move there. Purple was saving that move for later. This is a tactic that I use myself in many if not most of my games. However, when using this tactic you have to be careful that your opponent doesn't create a move in the spot that you are saving if this is possible. By moving to #7 I am creating a move for myself in spot A which I will be moving to next assuming(he hasn't moved yet) he takes the corner. I suspect he will move to spot 8 after that. It doesn't really matter where he moves because there is nothing he can do to stop me from moving to spot B next and then spot 4. The move to spot B was also created by moving to #7. So... in the entire sequence I will be getting 4 moves and he will be getting only 2 and he'll have to use 2 moves elsewhere. AND, I was able to get the spot he was saving... this is HUGE because it takes away one of his moves and it gives me a move at the same time. This is like intercepting a pass in your own end zone and then running it back for a touchdown.

I'm nearly certain I will win this game unless there is something I am overlooking. Btw, I think Purple would be wise not to take the corner here because this is a dreadful exchange for Purple. Purple would be better off giving me the corner and taking spot A for himself. Either way... I'm pretty sure I will win. It's a cramped board so I expect it to be close.

[JohnGalt2341]

I should note... I remember saying in a post a few weeks ago that I don't look ahead much. This is mostly just in the opening to midgame. In late game situations I'm always seeking out combinations of moves. Mostly 3 move combinations but sometimes 4 or 5 as well. They are much easier to see if they are all in one section. But when they are scattered in different sections it's usually more difficult to see the combinations.

[blankoblanco]

Ahhh, admittedly I didn't see that it being such a good move hinged on spot A specifically. I was mainly just thinking that cutting through that diagonal had value, the right corner didn't, and I had eliminated most of the other moves

Very cool tactic. I hope I can identify something like that in a real game

[JohnGalt2341]

Ahhh, admittedly I didn't see that it being such a good move hinged on spot A specifically. I was mainly just thinking that cutting through that diagonal had value, the right corner didn't, and I had eliminated most of the other moves

Very cool tactic. I hope I can identify something like that in a real game

Yeah... just eliminating your terrible moves can be extremely useful when making your decision. I think I do it subconsciously much of the time. But in complex games like the one above you just have to be careful that you aren't eliminating a potentially good move.

[blankoblanco]

I think sht10 would be a good match for you. He hides his stats but you can see he's won a ton of regular Reversi and 10x10 tourneys. I honestly thought he would be a lot better at Hexversi but he's not for some reason but he's still pretty good. He plays pretty quickly and I think he makes his moves quickly as well. I'd probably give you a slight edge in the game but it would be close.

Giving this guy a shot now, let's see how it goes

[blankoblanco]

Quick very basic early game question since it continues to be the area where I feel most uncertain what to do in many common spots

https://imgur.com/a/RsCU6vE (I can't get the image to embed right now for some reason)

Where would you guys go here, and what's the reasoning or plan behind it? I already moved so no cheating of course

edit: Okay, now it has numbers to refer to