|
|
Post by mercian on Apr 21, 2022 16:31:42 GMT
This is to avoid cluttering up the main thread, and I've just invented a Wordle game within a game by accident. I don't know if I'll be able to do it again, but the idea is to make your words sound as though they might almost be a newspaper headline, or brief description of a story. One of mine today went TRADE WARNS RAZOR HAIRY FAIRY!  I suspect the key to it will be to make the second or third word a verb. |
|
|
|
Post by shevii on Apr 22, 2022 8:34:02 GMT
This is to avoid cluttering up the main thread, and I've just invented a Wordle game within a game by accident. I don't know if I'll be able to do it again, but the idea is to make your words sound as though they might almost be a newspaper headline, or brief description of a story. One of mine today went TRADE WARNS RAZOR HAIRY FAIRY!  I suspect the key to it will be to make the second or third word a verb. One for you- my Microsoft Chess Titans scores at level 5: Played 33 Won 3 Drawn 2 Lost 28!!! I'm sure you have bigger fish to fry (like playing real people) or don't even have windows games but be interested to know where a regular chess player gets to on this game. I'm OK at level 4 but by level 5 the computer starts planning more complex moves! |
|
|
|
Post by birdseye on Apr 22, 2022 11:11:49 GMT
I do wordle every day but rather than modify it, the fun is in competition with my wife! Also do Nerdle which I find annoyingly difficult at times thanks to a crap short term memory.
I'll have a look at the chess titans.
|
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Apr 22, 2022 14:39:21 GMT
sheviiI've tried to download Chess Titans to my PC with no luck. I get as far as specifying the language I need and then nothing happens. No error message - nothing. Anyway, I might not do much (or any!) better than you. Chess programs are very strong these days. I recommend the chess.com site. That gives you a pseudo-grade as well, which is an approximation to a real grade. There's also plenty of learning and training material. It's free to use, though you get more if you pay of course.
|
|
|
|
Post by shevii on Apr 22, 2022 15:18:00 GMT
shevii I've tried to download Chess Titans to my PC with no luck. I get as far as specifying the language I need and then nothing happens. No error message - nothing. Anyway, I might not do much (or any!) better than you. Chess programs are very strong these days. I recommend the chess.com site. That gives you a pseudo-grade as well, which is an approximation to a real grade. There's also plenty of learning and training material. It's free to use, though you get more if you pay of course. I have zero doubt you'd breeze through higher levels than me to be honest as the fact that you play means you know specific sequences and presumably some of the basic tricks- whereas I just move the pieces around! I played with my dad a bit when I was young but it was only watching Queen's Gambit on Netflix that made me give it a go on Windows (it's standard to Microsoft games for all versions I think and was already on my PC under accessories> games). I'm not committed enough to take it further so it's just spare waiting moments. The only thing I have surmised from the program is that if you do something they don't expect you to do then it gets a bit confused and you stand a chance- my problem being I don't know what is a random move in the first place! Very often I can get check mated or lose two many pieces in the first 10 moves at level 5 so normally just pass the time at level 4 where I stand a chance (with the undo function coming in handy!). |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Apr 22, 2022 21:41:30 GMT
I could give you a game on chess.com if you like. A game can be set up to allow take-backs (like undo) and I could give advice or commentary.
|
|
|
|
Post by mercian on May 28, 2022 23:54:58 GMT
Further to my wordle tabloid headline sub-game, I had a couple tonight.
1) A US private soldier stated his strong beliefs on gun control, and the tabloid headline was:
Raise
Proud
Grunt
Truth
2) (A bit more tortuous). A man was smuggling mice in a pouch and appeared in the dock. Obviously the judge needed to know the seriousness of the offence, which led to:
MOUSE
POUCH
COURT
COUNT
----
I'll get me coat. 🙂
|
|
|
|
Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Aug 15, 2022 15:03:16 GMT
Does anyone else on here play Diplomacy?
|
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Aug 15, 2022 23:03:21 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Aug 16, 2022 8:02:37 GMT
Hi - we played it when I was growing up - usually ended up in a family row. When I was on hols I found an online version called backstabbr and have got a bit addicted to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by johntel on Aug 16, 2022 12:17:45 GMT
Hi - we played it when I was growing up - usually ended up in a family row. When I was on hols I found an online version called backstabbr and have got a bit addicted to it. Mafia is good fun and doesn't take too long, so grudges quickly get forgotten. Catan is our board game of choice when the family get together. Some of the new collaboration games are good - Forbidden Desert is my favourite. Micro Macro Crime City is fun and worth a look, though it gets a bit samey once you've worked out the mechanics. You can try it out online here: www.micromacro-game.com/en/index.html |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Aug 30, 2022 22:31:47 GMT
If we're talking about online games I can recommend Torn City. It's not fancy graphics and fast action, but it can be quite addictive. I've been playing it for years and have only got to Level 60 (out of 100). You start off as a nobody living in a shack and having to scour the town dump for stuff you can sell or use, but there are plenty of simple missions to help you get started. There are various paths to take, you can become an ace racing driver, or trader, or crime boss or run a business, and various other things and any combination. I've got myself a Private Island and run a small company and a very weak crime faction. There are special events at Christmas, Halloween and other times (usually about 1 a month). The game is constantly under development and is the richest I've ever played in terms of strategies to be employed. If anyone's interested and joins via this link www.torn.com/1339487 I will outfit them with some basic equipment to help get started. |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Oct 15, 2022 22:48:49 GMT
If anyone's getting a bit bored with Wordle (I gave up when they started using words that I couldn't find in any dictionary, not even American ones) can I suggest this - waffle.gg/It's a similar sort of thing, but you have to complete a very simple crossword-like grid of 5 letter words by swapping letters about. |
|
|
|
Post by leftieliberal on Oct 26, 2022 10:12:54 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by leftieliberal on Dec 4, 2022 18:40:02 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by johntel on Dec 5, 2022 16:39:16 GMT
That article says the NYT now has an editor who removes 'unacceptable' words. Hence todays answer!
|
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 18, 2023 22:46:38 GMT
Jan 18, 2023 15:27:09 GMT lululemonmustdobetter said: mercian Avatar Jan 17, 2023 23:52:41 GMT mercian said: 😲 You're talking quite a lot of sense lately. One day you might be allowed to vote (or have they already done that?). 🤣 ------------------------------ Dear @merican, I always talk sense, however you rarely seem to see sense!  On another topic entirely, my eldest son is really getting into chess atm. His openings' have really improved recently (he gave me a bit of a shock the other day) He asked me how many moves I think ahead and how many he should - I'd be interested to get your views on this? He's 13. I told him I usually think 4-5 moves ahead, but it varies depending on where you are in the game etc and how many options your opponent has etc also that its more important at his stage to understand the importance of the having the imitative and winning positional advantage in the early stages of the game. ------------------------------- Good news about your son. This is a link that might be useful: www.chessinschools.co.uk/I agree with what you say about thinking ahead. It sounds as though you'd beat me if you can think that many moves ahead consistently! I'm using the word 'move' in the way it's used in chess programming, where a move is a move by both white and black. A single move by either is known as a 'ply'. I read somewhere recently that ordinary chess players do 90% calculation and 10% pattern recognition whereas with Grandmasters it's the other way round. In the opening I tend to make the first 3 or 4 moves more or less automatically. In the middle game it can vary. In a blocked position, which I try to avoid, it's probably best to try to identify weak points in your and your opponent's position and then try to exploit or defend them accordingly which might only need looking a couple of plys ahead. In an open position calculation is more necessary, both to look out for opponent's chances and your own opportunities. It's dangerous to look too far ahead (IMO) because the chance of miscalculating goes up dramatically the further you look, and also once you've worked out what you think is a forcing sequence of say 3 moves the temptation is to just rattle through the sequence if your opponent replies as expected, only to find that you overlooked something and you've left a piece hanging or something. So I tend to look 4 or 5 plys ahead and then if I think the situation looks promising, just go for it (trying to remember to check again after each move rather than just rattling through). This isn't how most people play however. I did a test to see which famous player my style resembled and I was pleased to find it was Tal who did a similar thing but at World Championship level. In the endgame of course, it's sometimes possible to look 10 moves (20 plys) or even more ahead by just counting as I'm sure you know. And I agree that initiative is tremendously important, though I've come a cropper twice this season by saccing too much trying to maintain the initiative. I hope that's a bit helpful. Here's another link That your son might like. I wrote this a few years ago. It's meant to be amusing as well as instructive and is aimed at not very experienced players. www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/learn/playchesswithpete.htm |
|
|
|
Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Jan 19, 2023 17:58:16 GMT
Jan 18, 2023 15:27:09 GMT lululemonmustdobetter said: mercian Avatar Jan 17, 2023 23:52:41 GMT mercian said: 😲 You're talking quite a lot of sense lately. One day you might be allowed to vote (or have they already done that?). 🤣 ------------------------------ Dear @merican, I always talk sense, however you rarely seem to see sense! On another topic entirely, my eldest son is really getting into chess atm. His openings' have really improved recently (he gave me a bit of a shock the other day) He asked me how many moves I think ahead and how many he should - I'd be interested to get your views on this? He's 13. I told him I usually think 4-5 moves ahead, but it varies depending on where you are in the game etc and how many options your opponent has etc also that its more important at his stage to understand the importance of the having the imitative and winning positional advantage in the early stages of the game. ------------------------------- Good news about your son. This is a link that might be useful: www.chessinschools.co.uk/I agree with what you say about thinking ahead. It sounds as though you'd beat me if you can think that many moves ahead consistently! I'm using the word 'move' in the way it's used in chess programming, where a move is a move by both white and black. A single move by either is known as a 'ply'. I read somewhere recently that ordinary chess players do 90% calculation and 10% pattern recognition whereas with Grandmasters it's the other way round. In the opening I tend to make the first 3 or 4 moves more or less automatically. In the middle game it can vary. In a blocked position, which I try to avoid, it's probably best to try to identify weak points in your and your opponent's position and then try to exploit or defend them accordingly which might only need looking a couple of plys ahead. In an open position calculation is more necessary, both to look out for opponent's chances and your own opportunities. It's dangerous to look too far ahead (IMO) because the chance of miscalculating goes up dramatically the further you look, and also once you've worked out what you think is a forcing sequence of say 3 moves the temptation is to just rattle through the sequence if your opponent replies as expected, only to find that you overlooked something and you've left a piece hanging or something. So I tend to look 4 or 5 plys ahead and then if I think the situation looks promising, just go for it (trying to remember to check again after each move rather than just rattling through). This isn't how most people play however. I did a test to see which famous player my style resembled and I was pleased to find it was Tal who did a similar thing but at World Championship level. In the endgame of course, it's sometimes possible to look 10 moves (20 plys) or even more ahead by just counting as I'm sure you know. And I agree that initiative is tremendously important, though I've come a cropper twice this season by saccing too much trying to maintain the initiative. I hope that's a bit helpful. Here's another link That your son might like. I wrote this a few years ago. It's meant to be amusing as well as instructive and is aimed at not very experienced players. www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/learn/playchesswithpete.htm
My eldest son has adhd, and we are finding chess is a great way of training his mind and controlling impulsive urges as he has to think before he moves. Its great because he really loves the game and is getting a lot out of it. |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 19, 2023 20:06:33 GMT
The latest vogue for White at my level is the London System which I find quite tricky to counter at the moment. If I'm White I alternate between the King's Gambit and the Giuoco Piano. Another thing about thinking ahead is not to do it when it's your opponent's move - think positionally and strategically instead. This is because Your opponent may have say 3 reasonable moves on average, each of which needs to be analysed, so 2/3 of your mental energy is wasted anyway. Sometimes it's all wasted if he does something you haven't even considered. This is why I try to play something away from normal theory as early as I can to gain time on the clock.
It's good to get them interested at a young age because a lot of boys give up chess for a few years after they discover girls, get a mortgage and job etc, but if they've got a good grounding before then they can always come back to it later in life.
|
|
|
|
Post by johntel on Jan 19, 2023 22:55:26 GMT
mercian "If I'm White I alternate between the King's Gambit and the Giuoco Piano". That's a bit schizophrenic - they lead to very different kinds of games. How do you decide which one to use?
|
|
|
|
Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Jan 20, 2023 11:41:31 GMT
The latest vogue for White at my level is the London System which I find quite tricky to counter at the moment. If I'm White I alternate between the King's Gambit and the Giuoco Piano. Another thing about thinking ahead is not to do it when it's your opponent's move - think positionally and strategically instead. This is because Your opponent may have say 3 reasonable moves on average, each of which needs to be analysed, so 2/3 of your mental energy is wasted anyway. Sometimes it's all wasted if he does something you haven't even considered. This is why I try to play something away from normal theory as early as I can to gain time on the clock. It's good to get them interested at a young age because a lot of boys give up chess for a few years after they discover girls, get a mortgage and job etc, but if they've got a good grounding before then they can always come back to it later in life. |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 26, 2023 22:58:51 GMT
mercian "If I'm White I alternate between the King's Gambit and the Giuoco Piano". That's a bit schizophrenic - they lead to very different kinds of games. How do you decide which one to use? I occasionally play other stuff as well, but it depends on various factors. e.g. My mood, age and grade of opponent, whether he looks as though he studies openings etc. The way I play them they both lead to attacking king-side games. e.g. I am apparently the leading OTB exponent of the Jerome Gambit in the world. It's totally unsound but sure shakes folks up at my level.  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7ch KxB 5.Nxe5ch NxN 6.Qh5ch Now if 6....Ng6 7.QxB or 6....g6 7.QxN So you've got a piece and two pawns for two pieces and he can't castle. I've won a few league games with that but not recently and I had one published in a book. |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 26, 2023 22:59:30 GMT
The latest vogue for White at my level is the London System which I find quite tricky to counter at the moment. If I'm White I alternate between the King's Gambit and the Giuoco Piano. Another thing about thinking ahead is not to do it when it's your opponent's move - think positionally and strategically instead. This is because Your opponent may have say 3 reasonable moves on average, each of which needs to be analysed, so 2/3 of your mental energy is wasted anyway. Sometimes it's all wasted if he does something you haven't even considered. This is why I try to play something away from normal theory as early as I can to gain time on the clock. It's good to get them interested at a young age because a lot of boys give up chess for a few years after they discover girls, get a mortgage and job etc, but if they've got a good grounding before then they can always come back to it later in life. I wasn't being sexist, but we were talking about your boys. |
|
|
|
Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Jan 27, 2023 8:13:00 GMT
Well some girls (as I can attest to) give up chess for a few years as they discover boys, get a mortgage etc... I wasn't being sexist, but we were talking about your boys. |
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jun 8, 2023 16:57:55 GMT
bardin1 is the first official UKPR2 chess champion. I blundered. 😭
|
|
