Originally posted by sorrymateNot half as intriguing as why someone would register with a correspondence chess website, never play a game, wait three weeks and then ask this chess variant question 😲
Thanks for the answers. I personally think it's a pretty interesting question. But my question is if it is possible to play this game perfect as a human. Say white moves 1.h3 what is blacks right reply or replies?
The whole point of this game is to teach youngsters something about pawns in readiness for endgames.
In your line, for example 1.h3 g5 2.g4 f5?! 3.gxf5 h5 4.e4?(f3!) g4 5.hxg4 h4 leaves white a critical tempo behind...
Several games may be required to work through the whys and wherefores of this, learning how to defend, how to sacrifice to create the passed pawn and so on - which is good training that can be useful in a real endgame.
Because you cannot programme positions into an engine without kings on the board it means that ordinary human brain power is required to work through this. I don't know if someone has written a variant programme to produce a correct move sequence "tablebase" for this, nor do I care. The point is to realise that chess is a struggle between the opponents, pitting their vision, ideas and discoveries against each other in an effort to win. This training scenario is about developing those skills.
As it happens I think 1....h5 is amongst the better replies to 1.h3 but I will leave you to work out why - or whether I am wrong
Originally posted by sorrymateI think that the best reply would be 1...h6 and continue to "mirror" white moves and think that white will be in sugzwang after all his "safe" moves. Why don't you try it on a board and then tell us your experiences ?
Thanks for the answers. I personally think it's a pretty interesting question. But my question is if it is possible to play this game perfect as a human. Say white moves 1.h3 what is blacks right reply or replies?
Originally posted by sschere2Following this policy too rigidly has its limitations
I think that the best reply would be 1...h6 and continue to "mirror" white moves and think that white will be in sugzwang after all his "safe" moves. Why don't you try it on a board and then tell us your experiences ?
1.h3 h6 2. g4 g5 3. f4 f5 4.gxf5 gxf4 5. e3 e6 6.fxe6 fxe3 7.exd7 followed by d8 wins
Originally posted by Mister MeanerAnd if you think that is too far fetched look at
Following this policy too rigidly has its limitations
1.h3 h6 2. g4 g5 3. f4 f5 4.gxf5 gxf4 5. e3 e6 6.fxe6 fxe3 7.exd7 followed by d8 wins
1.h3 h6 2.g4 g5 3.e3 e6 4. f4 f5 5.d4 d5 6.c4!
If dxc4 7.d5!
7...exd5 8.gxf5 and the pawn has a clear run
7...e5 8.fxe5 likewise..
and if 6...c6 7.c5 with symmetry broken in whites favour
Originally posted by Mister Meaner
And if you think that is too far fetched look at
1.h3 h6 2.g4 g5 3.e3 e6 4. f4 f5 5.d4 d5 6.c4!
If dxc4 7.d5!
7...exd5 8.gxf5 and the pawn has a clear run
7...e5 8.fxe5 likewise..
and if 6...c6 7.c5 with symmetry broken in whites favour
Black to move after 6.c4
I first read about the Pawn Game in Lev Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course. His rules are slightly different in that you can win in 3 ways:
1. promote a pawn
2. capture all of your opponent's pawns
3. "stalemate" your opponent, while still having a move remaining for yourself.
I was interested enough to have written a program in Visual Basic.NET to try to "solve" it. With my limited knowledge of programming, data structures and code optimization, I never did "solve" the entire game. However, I was able to "solve" simpler variants. For example,
1. WP @ g2,h2 : BP @ g7,h7 = 0-1
2. WP @ f2,g2,h2 : BP @ f7,g7,h7 = 0.5-0.5
3. WP @ a2,b2,c2,d2 : BP @ a7,b7,c7,d7 = 1-0
From case 1, you can see that it is possible for White to be in zugzwang from the start.
I also tried some asymmetrical configurations:
1. WP @ f2,h2 : BP @ g7,h7 = 0-1
2. WP @ a2,c2,e2,g2 : BP @ b7,d7,f7,h7 = 0-1
It was a pretty interesting experiment and I learned a little bit about game programming like alpha-beta (which is MUCH better than plain minimax) and the importance of move ordering.
Also, did you know that the Pawn Game can be represented by a 6x8 chess board? The 1st and 8th ranks are irrelevant... getting a pawn to the 7th rank first is enough to ensure a win.
Originally posted by papabeargaryJudit Polgar started with Pawn Wars according to her sister Susan in Breaking Through. I use the game teaching kids. I teach pawns first because they are the hardest to learn, and learning them well will take you a long ways.
It's actually a good way to teach young children. I started my kids on playing "pawns." We each got our Kings and then the child has ALL their pawns while the adult has only their rook's pawns. It doesn't take a child long to learn how to win that.
Then you move them on to trying to win while you use your rook and knight's pawns...then three on ea ...[text shortened]... to learn), is to make sure they can win even while the adult plays their very best game.