Mark Steere vs Ralf Gering (2006)
From Wikimanqala
Recorded 55Stones game
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| Mark Steere |
| versus |
| Ralf Gering |
| Played on the Internet (USA-Germany), May 2006 |
| Recorded by: Ralf Gering |
Mark Steere vs Ralf Gering (2006)
The following game was played by e-mail between Mark Steere (Palo Alto CA, USA) and Ralf Gering (Niederdürenbach, Germany), the author of 55Stones, between May 4 and May 6, 2006.
Notation:
The holes are called in alphabetical order A to K (capital letters if the player has sente; small letters if the player has gote) from left to right.
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| Initial Position |
Mark Steere (W) -- Ralf (E)
1. d (+4) B
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The player having Gote in the first move shouldn't try to win many stones because if he would do so the other player would just use the pie rule and switch. It would be better to answer B with f. d is bad because K is left empty and cannot be defended by East, that is Mark, after Ralf has used the pie rule. The first move is extremely difficult to perform because more than 50 steps must be done until an empty hole is reached.
Pie Rule!
Ralf (W) -- Mark Steere (E)
1. d (+4) B
After switching, the four captured stones are owned by Ralf who will play West for the remaining game. He has Sente in the next move. Having Sente is often a disadvantage, but not in this position.
2. G (+7) d
G threatens to capture after four steps by reaching K. d is probably the worst move. i would let Ralf capture just one stone.
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3. b (+7) E
E tries to close all empty holes, but then b reaches the emptied hole after just three steps.
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4. I (+10) h
h is the worst move, you can make, although it appears to defend hole G. After two laps and 8 steps Ralf drops the last stone in the emptied pit E, while his opponent has just arrived in b. Mark has 7 stones (9 (from c) +1-3) in his hand which are captured by Ralf. Ralf has now already 25 stones. If Mark had played d, he would have captured two stones in four steps (6-4=2). Other interesting replies would be for him a or j. a appears to be particularly promising, although nothing is captured, because after six steps both players would end in G at the same time. But Mark would retain Gote and A is now empty which should be an easy target for him as Ralf can't defend this hole.
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| Mark resigns. |
In a match situation one would continue to play, as a match should always consist of two games (each player starting once). This is the shortest 55Stones game ever recorded.
