Pastel Defender Heliotrope

Latrotabuli Game Test
Pastellian Chess
By Jennifer Diane Reitz © 2004

Jennifer's Move 01

COMMENTS: "I have taken the liberty of moving first, if that is acceptable. Your turn!"

13/13

Coda's Move 02

COMMENTS: "Moving the Phalanx forward feels like the whole front line is advancing."

13/13

Jennifer's Move 03

COMMENTS: "Initial Testudo. Not unlike a castling move in modern chess, in some ways."

13/13

Coda's Move 04

COMMENTS: "Another Phalanx advancing, this time bringing the Centurion along as part of the formation."

13/13

Jennifer's Move 05

COMMENTS: "A conservative, hopefully cagey move. Essentially an investment defence."

13/13

Coda's Move 06

COMMENTS: "By contrast, this move is more aggressive and admittedly a potential risk."

13/13

Jennifer's Move 07

COMMENTS: "It is important, I think, to recall that in order to make a legal capture, a piece must be actively moved. Merely sitting in a place where two enemy Latros are adjacent is not a capture situation, and of course, a capture cannot occur if the leading piece is the Centurion itself. Thus my lone Latro, snuggled up to your Centurion, is currently completely safe. However, because this is an example game, for study purposes, I feel compelled to mention that unless definitive action is taken, I could potentially win the game with my next move."

13/13

Coda's Move 08

COMMENTS: "Potentially, of course. If you (or I, for that matter) were to move a latros to block my centurion in, I would lose. I recognized that when I called it a risk, and anticipated that response. And so I make the first capture of the game."

13/12

Jennifer's Move 09

COMMENTS: "Having lost a Latro due to being a completely daft plonker with no skill whatsoever, I have resigned myself to a flailing move indicative of my despair."

13/12

Coda's Move 10

COMMENTS: "I hope you had a good holiday. I just want to remind you that it's your move"

13/12

Jennifer's Move 11

COMMENTS: "I had a nice holiday, I hope you did as well! I'm thinking you have sente (Go term: board dominance/ initiative) currently, but I am working on pulling myself up."

13/12

Coda's Move 12

COMMENTS: "Still in the spirit of being a useful tutorial game, here's an example of centurion-assisted capture. Notice how it breaks what would normally be a two-on-two stalemate."

13/11

Jennifer's Move 13

COMMENTS: "I'm two latro down now, and Coda is clearing dominating the board...still a scout can (hopefully) make a difference."

13/11

Coda's Move 14

COMMENTS: "Since that move prevents me from using a Decursio, I'll make a more versatile move."

13/11

Jennifer's Move 15

COMMENTS: "The equivalent of a pawn capture, I have done this purely to continue the game. In fact, my victory is assured with this move:"

"With which I instantly win the game thanks to the rule..."

And of course, the game is lost for the player with a Centurion that at any point is unable to move, being trapped by other pieces either of his own, or of the enemy, or by the edge of a board as well. A blocked Centurion is game over and a victory for the blocking side. Yes, it is possible to lose the game by foolishly blocking your own Centurion, should this be noticed by one's opponent.

"Which applies here...by moving my latro to this position, your turn begins with a completely immobilized Centurion, and should such an event occur, ever, the game is over, and submission declared for the owner of the blocked Centurion. Yes, this means that a player can actually 'kill' their own Centurion, if they were to completely surround it on all four cardinal directions with friendly pieces. In Latrotabuli, blocked is blocked.

However, this victory has occured only in an alternate universe splay, as an example. My actual move is to capture a piece so as to continue the game and see if a better victory, for either of us, may emerge instead. This would have been a kind of unhappy conclusion to our game."

12/11

Coda's Move 16

COMMENTS: "Who's the daft plonker now? Not only did I lose a piece due to a move I THOUGHT was good, I'm only still in the game due to the mercy of my opponent. Time to turn on some heat."

12/11

Jennifer's Move 17

COMMENTS: "The blood is flowing now, as another capture evens up the score. I had originally considered moving the Latro on the leftmost up to challenge his Centurion, but then suddenly realized that he could activate a Testudo and just take it. So, that left me with a plan of attrition as a means to retain Sente."

11/11

Coda's Move 18

COMMENTS: "I'm taking that loss in stride, because I'm countering with a double capture. This only works because of the positioning of the Centurion."

11/9

Jennifer's Move 19

COMMENTS: "BUGGER ! and 'bugger' is such an apt word, considering the ass-reaming I just received above. Shaken, and stirred as well, I decide to get my -rather sore- bum in gear and move a single Latro to a hopefully better position. Ooh, I thought I was so flash before with my whole 'I shall be so gracious and not win the game' nonsense... flash, yeah... flash in the pan."

11/9

Coda's Move 20

COMMENTS: "It was hard to decide on this move but I think it's going to work out for me."

11/9

Jennifer's Move 21

COMMENTS: " I probably should have done this a long time ago in the game. But ultimately, I need some sort of a strategy beyond attrition...I am clearly on the run now."

10/9

Coda's Move 22

COMMENTS: "Well, that wasn't the move I expected. This wasn't my original plan, but it'll work."

10/8

Jennifer's Move 23

COMMENTS: "From out of the Old West (side of Senryoku) comes the Lone Latroranger! Hi-Yo Chatoyance!"

10/8

Coda's Move 24

COMMENTS: "Sorry, darling, but you might as well ride off into the sunset. *drawl*"

10/6

Jennifer's Move 25

COMMENTS: "FIRP...dang...Farging...sands! This is not Windy at all! Prepare you, to die soon now! Or win. More likely win, actually."

10/6

Coda's Move 26

COMMENTS: "I had a variety of moves available to me defensively, but selecting the one that would work out better in the future required some consideration. I may be in the lead but the game is not yet won."

10/6

Jennifer's Move 27

COMMENTS: "I only have a precious few Latros left on the field, so I have to make each move count even more...if I can."

10/6

Coda's Move 28

COMMENTS: "I think the heat is on both sides now; if I'm not cautious I could find myself on the wrong end of a sonic pike."

10/6

Jennifer's Move 29

COMMENTS: "It's all or nothing now for me. This move will make or break the game, I should think."

10/6

Coda's Move 30

COMMENTS: "Very tricky. As before, there are several moves available, but I had to predict the flow of the game for about three turns ahead in order to select one that wouldn't end up with me losing to insidiae."

10/6

Jennifer's Move 31

COMMENTS: "I am clearly on the road to destruction. As I have no chance to survive, I must make my time. You really know what you doing. What happen? Basically, all my base, now belong to you."

FINAL SCORE: CODA WINS, 10 - 6 !

Congratulations, and good game!

FILES:

Here is a .psp (Paint Shop Pro format) board graphics tempate for easy cut-and-paste play: GAMEBOARD

And here is the same template in .psd (Photoshop) format in case you cannot use the above: GAMEBOARD

PASTEL DEFENDER HELIOTROPE
By Jennifer Diane Reitz

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