5 ms·

Wait, how is the "put off checkmate" objective scored? Turns before checkmate? Or what? Is it just a joke?

by stavros 7mo ago

tylervigen 7mo ago
I have never played it, but I could imagine a scoring mechanism that would make it interesting, and perhaps is implied by the rules: The score value starts at 1. Every additional "check" multiplies the score value by 2 (so 2, 4, 8, 16...). The first player to say "checkmate" receives the score. Track your summed score between games; the player with the highest overall score at any given time is "winning."
- zadikian 7mo ago
  It only works if there are more than two players
- zeroonetwothree 7mo ago
  Isn't the optimal strategy just to say "checkmate" immediately? That dominates anything else.
  - hackyhacky 7mo ago
    That would be the equivalent of spawn camping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping_(video_games) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping_(video_games)
  - bee_rider 7mo ago
    I think to have any chance of making this work, you’d need to have a community of players in a tournament. Everybody gets to issue some number of challenges, and the winner is the person who accumulates the most points over the course of the tournament. I think you should only get points based on the length of games you win. Then the game at least has a chance to develop some mechanics. Players who delayed longer have a chance at winning more points. They also might be challenged more…
  - tux3 7mo ago
    Not in an iterated game. If my team agrees we'll never checkmate before turn 5, the game is the same except we start the actual game on turn 5 with a big score advantage compared to everyone else. You can leave at any time by breaking the rule, but then you will be playing with other people who say checkmate immediately, and that would be much worse. Being prosocial is in fact a stable equilibrium. As prophecized by gestures broadly at everything.
- garaetjjte 7mo ago
  Isn't that just iterated prisoner dilemma?
hackyhacky 7mo ago
The sibling comment proposed a possible scoring mechanism which might result in enjoyable gameplay, but I think the bigger point (for me, at least) is the Mind Chess represents a reducto ad absurdum of the strategy game genre. It eschews as many rules as possible, leaving you only with the goal of knowing your opponent's mind. So Mind Chess is more of a thought exercise.
- contraposit 7mo ago
  The Search for the Longest Infinite Chess Game https://youtu.be/b-Bb_TyhC1A https://youtu.be/b-Bb_TyhC1A
- bombcar 7mo ago
  It's similar to the 2-minute version of Diplomacy - get everyone together and the second sneakiest bastard wins; because nobody will let the sneakiest bastard win.
jamie_ca 7mo ago
Give two players cards, "Check" and "Checkmate". Both players choose a card. Players then in turns reveal their card, and if Check, make another choice. The player first revealing Checkmate wins if their opponent's currently-chosen card is also a Checkmate.
- stavros 7mo ago
  But then this just gives the win to the first person to open their card, since in that round they had both selected Checkmate. Or, you have an incentive to rush to open your card when you know you've selected Checkmate, as you want to be the first one to open.
  - manwe150 7mo ago
    In the proposed game above, there is no rounds, just alternating plays, in which you have to select you play before the other player announces their play, then swap and repeat
    - stavros 7mo ago
      So both players select their cards, then player 1 announces, then player 2, then select, then player 2 announces, then player 1? This seems a bit limiting, as you can't really select Checkmate on the play where you don't reveal first, because you only stand to lose.
      - smrq 7mo ago
        I believe the intended turn order is: 1: P1 selects 2: P2 selects 3: P1 reveals 4: P1 selects 5: P2 reveals 6: GOTO 2 I.e. each player always selects immediately before their opponent reveals.
        BoiledCabbage 7mo ago
        Yeah, but what stops P1 from DDos'ing and picking checkmate each time? If P2 picks check the first time, then they're done. At any point after if they pick checkmate, since P1 has checkmate selected they will reveal it and P2 will lose. It seems like a poorly thought through game...

Wait, how is the "put off checkmate" objective scored? Turns before checkmate? Or what? Is it just a joke?

by stavros 7mo ago

Wait, how is the "put off checkmate" objective scored? Turns before checkmate? Or what? Is it just a joke?

I have never played it, but I could imagine a scoring mechanism that would make it interesting, and perhaps is implied by the rules: The score value starts at 1. Every additional "check" multiplies the score value by 2 (so 2, 4, 8, 16...). The first player to say "checkmate" receives the score. Track your summed score between games; the player with the highest overall score at any given time is "winning."

zadikian 7mo ago
It only works if there are more than two players
zeroonetwothree 7mo ago
Isn't the optimal strategy just to say "checkmate" immediately? That dominates anything else.
- hackyhacky 7mo ago
  That would be the equivalent of spawn camping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping_(video_games) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping_(video_games)
- bee_rider 7mo ago
  I think to have any chance of making this work, you’d need to have a community of players in a tournament. Everybody gets to issue some number of challenges, and the winner is the person who accumulates the most points over the course of the tournament. I think you should only get points based on the length of games you win. Then the game at least has a chance to develop some mechanics. Players who delayed longer have a chance at winning more points. They also might be challenged more…
- tux3 7mo ago
  Not in an iterated game. If my team agrees we'll never checkmate before turn 5, the game is the same except we start the actual game on turn 5 with a big score advantage compared to everyone else. You can leave at any time by breaking the rule, but then you will be playing with other people who say checkmate immediately, and that would be much worse. Being prosocial is in fact a stable equilibrium. As prophecized by gestures broadly at everything.
garaetjjte 7mo ago
Isn't that just iterated prisoner dilemma?

hackyhacky 7mo ago

The sibling comment proposed a possible scoring mechanism which might result in enjoyable gameplay, but I think the bigger point (for me, at least) is the Mind Chess represents a reducto ad absurdum of the strategy game genre. It eschews as many rules as possible, leaving you only with the goal of knowing your opponent's mind. So Mind Chess is more of a thought exercise.

contraposit 7mo ago
The Search for the Longest Infinite Chess Game https://youtu.be/b-Bb_TyhC1A https://youtu.be/b-Bb_TyhC1A
bombcar 7mo ago
It's similar to the 2-minute version of Diplomacy - get everyone together and the second sneakiest bastard wins; because nobody will let the sneakiest bastard win.

jamie_ca 7mo ago

Give two players cards, "Check" and "Checkmate". Both players choose a card. Players then in turns reveal their card, and if Check, make another choice. The player first revealing Checkmate wins if their opponent's currently-chosen card is also a Checkmate.

stavros 7mo ago
But then this just gives the win to the first person to open their card, since in that round they had both selected Checkmate. Or, you have an incentive to rush to open your card when you know you've selected Checkmate, as you want to be the first one to open.
- manwe150 7mo ago
  In the proposed game above, there is no rounds, just alternating plays, in which you have to select you play before the other player announces their play, then swap and repeat
  - stavros 7mo ago
    So both players select their cards, then player 1 announces, then player 2, then select, then player 2 announces, then player 1? This seems a bit limiting, as you can't really select Checkmate on the play where you don't reveal first, because you only stand to lose.
    - smrq 7mo ago
      I believe the intended turn order is: 1: P1 selects 2: P2 selects 3: P1 reveals 4: P1 selects 5: P2 reveals 6: GOTO 2 I.e. each player always selects immediately before their opponent reveals.
      - BoiledCabbage 7mo ago
        Yeah, but what stops P1 from DDos'ing and picking checkmate each time? If P2 picks check the first time, then they're done. At any point after if they pick checkmate, since P1 has checkmate selected they will reveal it and P2 will lose. It seems like a poorly thought through game...