Hi Jamzu Players! The first Daily Double of the JDD 3 starts at exactly 8:30pm EDT, in about 20 minutes. Just a quick recap of the rules: - I'll post the two positions and give the GO! to start - One guess per player for both best moves each round - I'll stop each round after about 10 minutes, and PM players their results - Please wait for my GO! before starting new guesses on the second round - Have fun! Cheers, ~Doug
Fantastic, Khamous! You nailed the second position, with a move that had exactly the right idea, and that I had missed!! I had E8-C2 for Position two.
Indeed it is. Come on guys, Khamous is out of the way and can't win anymore, your odds of winning for the rest of the week just skyrocketed.
Here's the lowdown on today's two best moves: Position One Best Move: B4-C5 - Opens Red in Lane 4 for a possible maximum advance - Adds another block to Blue in lane 5 - If Blue runner in lane 4 advances next move, Red has a possible jump Other Good Moves: G5 - Does score runner in lane 5 - But is more important now, while still in opening game, to take the opportunity to open and advance runners, while simultaneously blocking Blue B3-G2 - Partly opens Red in lane 3 - Does move a jammer to block Blue more in lane 2 - But does not open a runner for maximum possible advance, and does not anticipate Blue's potential advance in lane 4 Position Two Best Move: I4-E2 - Red must block Blue in lane 2 now for any hope of winning. There are several possible blocks here: I4-E2, E8-C2 and B8-B2. I4-E2 is the best of these, blocking Blue furthest back, and not allowing the possible counter-attack B2-G5. Here is one scenario where Red could win with this move: 1. Red blocks Blue with I4-E2 2. Blue moves off in lane 3 3. Red unblocks lane 5 4. Blue unblocks lane 2 5. Red rolls a 5 or 6 and moves off in lane 5 6. Blue rolls a 1 or 2 and advances in lane 2 7. Red unblocks lane 6 8. Blue rolls a 1 or 2 and advances in lane 2 9. Red rolls at least a 2 and moves off in lane 6 10. Blue only rolls a 1! 11. Red moves off in lane 4 and wins! There are several other scenarios where Red could win with I4-E2, but they all follow a pattern of moves very similar to the above scenario. It's still a slim chance for Red, but he has to do I4-E2 to completely prevent Blue from getting a killer advance in lane 2, while also stalling Blue for at least one move. If Blue is able to block Red back in lane 5 on his next move, and decides to do that instead of moving off in lane 3, then the tempo of moves is even again. Red may then have another chance to block Blue in lane 2. This is a situaion that can occur in a close end game in Jamzu, and is called a "block war." Basically, whichever player can do a block move that cannot be couter-blocked by the other player gains a tempo in the end game race, and has a better shot at winning the game.
OK, much too quiet this time around! I'm going to suspend the contest for now, and see about continuing at a later date, depending on schedules. Keep an eye on this space!
Fantastic, Khamous, you nailed it again! Well, for various reasons, the contest is over for now. I'll see about restarting here again after the next updates of Jamzu are out, including the iPad version, but ending it for now is OK.
I completely forgot about this tonight, I was so busy all day! >_< This is a shame though, this contest needs participants! And yeah, 1) E4, 2) H4-E3
Yeah, I missed yesterday because I had some plans. I totally spaced tonight, since it's Lost finale night and all. Sorry to see this go away so quickly.
Woot! Spork got it, too! NP, of course, about being busy. I think one thing was, there were a bunch of scheduling conflicts this time around. And I'll also be rethinking the "one win only" rule when we start again! It was a bit of a drain more than a help, maybe? There's maybe other things we could try that are not quite as high pressure and high stakes as these contests tend to be! Hey Czar, it will be back!! Don't worry, we really love doing these, and I know you guys really enjoy this, too. It's just tons of fun. One thing I'll likely do is run shorter series next time, and maybe make sure we can agree what times work best for just a couple days. Any feedback you'd like to share is welcome, as always. Edit: we could likely do a short contest with a "no previous winners rule" and another short series that is fully open. Best overall solution maybe.
