The RubeTube

I just got my first online Go victory! After getting creamed by an average of 82.5 points in my first two online games, I finally achieved sweet success on my third try. (What they say about it being a charm, well it's true.)

My two defeats were against non-beginners. I was devastated in my first game by a 10-kyu player despite a 9-stone handicap, and found similar failure in a no-handicap game against a 22-kyu player. Finally, I managed to score my maiden victory against a fellow beginner, "Alfa" from Indonesia. Here's a record of our game, in SGF format. It wasn't a pretty game at all; it looked like an authentic beginner's match, characterized by huge chunks of territory. But in the end it turns out that I was somewhat less of a beginner than my opponent; I won by 38.5 points! Here's what the board looked like at the end (I was playing white, click for a better view):


If you're looking to get started on Go, you can check out PANDA-glGo. Right out of the box, you can use it to edit and view games. But if you want to play Go against the computer, you'll have to get GNU GO as well and configure PANDA-glGo to use it; you can find the latest release on PANDA-glGo's download page. On the other hand, if you're itching to play against human opponents, you'll have to go to IGS-PandaNet and register for an account. There's also a Go tutorial on the site if you want to learn the rules of the game.

Watch out for me if ever you go online; my handle is "punzki" (as usual) and I'd be glad to have a match. It'd surely be more fun than always losing to the computer!

Labels: :D, board games, go, software

Andreé and I went for dinner at Almon Marina last night, followed by a nightcap at Starbucks. Our talk-about-whatever-comes-to-mind conversation led to the topic of Mastermind, the game about the ultimate triumph of logic and wits over deceit and trickery.

And so we played Mastermind, using the receipt as the playing "board" and the paper wrapper of a straw as the place to keep the code pattern secret. To make the game faster, we played the variation where there are no duplicate colors (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, White, blacK) in the pattern. We had just enough time for six games and we alternated roles. I lost our matchup by the slimmest of margins: Andreé solved in 4, 4, and 4 moves while I cracked the code in 4, 4, and 5 moves. Oh well, I made no mistakes except for being unlucky in that last game. We played one last match via SMS when we got back home, which I also lost, 5-4.

I just love spending quality time together.

(Interesting tidbits: Remember the picture on the Mastermind box cover? With the seated distinguished white gentleman and the alluring Asian woman standing behind him in a mysterious dark room? WTF was that about, anyway? Billionaire tycoon with exotic bodyguard? The picture was shot back in 1972 and they reunited for another shoot in 2003, for old times' sake.)

Labels: :D, Andree, board games, Mastermind

I have this 13x13 goban (go board, 19x19 is the standard board size) which Miguel gave me some time back. On Monday night, I taught my brother how to play go. We played without him getting a handicap and I overwhelmingly beat him. With all the stones I captured (which we use to fill up his territory at the end), he didn't have any territory left and even got a "negative" score.

On Tuesday night, it was my mom's turn. Who would've thought my 50-plus-year-old mom would be willing to learn such a mind-wracking game? Without a handicap, she actually fared much better than my brother; I still garnered a decisive victory but she had some territory left after counting.

I really enjoyed teaching them and playing go again; the last time I played was probably over a year ago. It's a game I want to be good at but I never had the time to practice. I think I'll start playing go online and watch recorded games to build up my skills.

Labels: board games, family, go