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- Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
- Path: sparky!uunet!caen!positron
- From: positron@engin.umich.edu (Jonathan Scott Haas)
- Subject: Re: Timber Chess
- Message-ID: <0mW=5p#@engin.umich.edu>
- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 18:39:16 EST
- Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
- References: <1992Dec18.231746.24737@oz.plymouth.edu> <BzM46D.JH6@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl> <1992Dec21.190907.26083@ll.mit.edu>
- Nntp-Posting-Host: marjoram.engin.umich.edu
- Lines: 29
-
- In article <1992Dec21.190907.26083@ll.mit.edu> nates@ll.mit.edu ( Nate Smith) writes:
- >
- >(the "ko" rule in Go is its
- >"defect" and has had an accidental side effect of creating a very nice
- >feature, the ko-fight.
-
- I vehemently deny that the ko rule is a defect. Without it, a "ko fight"
- would consist of hour upon hour of replaying the exact same moves over
- and over until one of the players got bored, tired, or fell over dead.
- All the ko rule states is that a move which exactly recreates a previous
- position is illegal... is that wrong? Do you also disagree with the
- "three repetitions and a draw" rule of chess?
-
- >some "defects" in some games have absolutely no
- >function otherwise, such as "en-passant" pawn capture - now how in- what
- >was the circumstance that led to that rule?? i'd like to go back in time
- >and see where they came up with that one...:-))
-
- It dates back to the time when pawns weren't allowed to move forward two
- spaces on their first move. When they allowed the pawn to move forward
- two spaces on its first move, they didn't allow it to escape a threatened
- capture by an enemy pawn that way, by allowing the enemy pawn to capture
- as if the pawn had only moved one square.
-
- --
- __/\__ Jonathan S. Haas | Jake liked his women the way he liked
- \ / University of Michigan | his kiwi fruit: sweet yet tart, firm-
- /_ _\ positron@engin.umich.edu | fleshed yet yielding to the touch, and
- \/ | covered with short brown fuzzy hair.
-