I'm looking into the rules for Pente, since it's next on the list after Halma and Halma's being tested even now...
Here's what I have -- for you experienced Pente players out there, have I missed anything or gotten something wrong? Thanks in advance...
First off, initially we're just doing Pente, not Keryo-Pente. (We'll probably offer Keryo-Pente at a later date.)
Pente is played just like Gomoku but with these differences:
The first player is white, as opposed to black. (Note: On Pocket-Monkey, we actually have Gomoku wrong and we have white going first anyway. It should be black and we'll fix it at some point, but don't let that distract you; in Pente apparently it's white.)
Five in a row or more is a win (in Gomoku, it's exactly five in a row).
You can capture pieces in Pente: If a player has two pieces in a row and you put one of your pieces on either side, you "capture" the two pieces and they get removed from the board.
There's a second way to win in Pente: If you capture 10 of your opponent's stones (or more), you win.
Some rules say that the first player (white) must play their first move on the center spot. Other rules list this as a tournament option. Opinions? Should we require this?
Some rules say that the first player's second move must be more than five spaces away from the center. (This combined with #3 above is, I think, meant to minimise or eliminate the first player advantage.) Other rules list this as a tournament option. Opinions? Should we require this?
Etiquette: Although not required, it's customary to announce it if you form three-in-a-row without any stones on either side (a "tria") or four-in-a-row without any stones on either side (a "tessera"). Because this is etiquette, not a rule, Pocket-Monkey won't do this automatically and we leave it up to the players whether to conform to this standard practice of etiquette. (The idea here is to win by forming better structures, rather than just because your opponent forgot to block a dangerous formation.)
(Down-the-line when we offer Keryo-Pente, we'll do the thing where you can capture three pieces and win by capturing 15, instead of 10, of your opponent's pieces.)
On #5 & #6, I'm currently thinking in terms of having "Pente" without those rules and possibly doing a second version, "Strict Pente" or whatever, with those rules. (Suggestions for a better name are welcome. ;-) ) Sound good? Or are those rules the usual ones?
Did I miss anything?
Thanks again in advance, -- T.J. Crowder First Primate Pocket-Monkey.com
Re: Pente Rules
Message #3828 Replies: 2
posted by goofball38 (goofball38) on 10/11 at 22:24
Ok the way I've always played pente is that it is the exact game as gomoku but you can capture pieces and more then 5 in a row wins.
I have never heard of a person having to start in a certain place. I have however heard of that rule about placing the next 5 pieces away. Littlegolem.net uses that rule and I would rather play gomoku that way because it is more fair and doesn't give an advantage to either side. But I have not seen this in pente.
And i have never heard about calling moves.
Another good point for the rules: If one person makes a set of 2 stones between the other opponents stones that are already laid on the board that it will not count in the capture. I hope that makes sense.
Re: Pente Rules
Message #3836 Replies: 0
posted by samsgrammie (samsgrammie) on 10/13 at 03:39
I have played pente that the 1st person can start anywhere, and the 2nd the same...no move out 3 more, and i have seen alot of pente games where more than 5 are in a row and that is NOT a win..u can only have 5, makes it more interesting and shy call the moves, the person is in shock when the next turn they see your 4 in a row and they know they r gonna loose. does not make sense to not capture the opponenets stones if u put 2 next to theirs.
I thought the three way rule and the center spot was only in a PRO version or Compeditive tourneys. I think it would apply to a "strict" version fine. But you might not want to allow if in a friendly game. dana
Well, I've been doing more reading of highly-ranked rules pages on the web. And I've concluded that barring Gary Gabriel himself telling me what the rules are, the rules are a bit fluid -- some people play one way, some people play a different way. It's a bit frustrating for someone like me, who likes structure. :-)
So the points of contention seem to be:
1. Whether the first player is black or white. I don't think this is highly significant, so since it makes our lives easy we'll use white for now (like our Gomoku/Connect6 games) and black when we fix Gomoku/Connect6 (because black is supposed to go first in Go, and these are all derivatives of Go).
2. Whether the first player is required to play on the center spot. The majority of references I've found, including a scanned copy of the original rules booklet from Hasbro (to whom Gary Gabriel sold the U.S. manufacturing/distribution rights), say that this is required, so my plan is to include this rule.
3. Whether the first player is also required to move more than five spaces away from the center on their second turn. This seems to be a rule added later to attempt to be more fair to the second player, since in games like this the second player tends to be at a disadvantage. But it is a refinement, I think, not part of the original concept.
4. Whether more than five in a row is a win. The majority of references (including, again, the Hasbro rules booklet) say yes, so my plan is to go with five or more.
5. Whether it's good etiquette to announce trias and tesseras. As this is a point of etiquette, the site itself won't point them out, and players are free to do as they wish. :-)
Based on all of this, my plan is to have "Pente" and "Pro Pente" (to start with). "Pente" will not have rule #3 above; "Pro Pente" will. We'll probably run tournaments on Pro Pente only.
At some point, we will also offer Keryo-Pente and Pro Keryo-Pente. The only difference between Keryo and non-Keryo is that you can capture three pieces as well as two, which blocks a common defense, and the number of pieces you have to capture in that way to win via capture is 15 instead of 10.
Any counter-opinions out there? :-)
Thanks again for your help, -- T.J. Crowder First Primate Pocket-Monkey.com
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