From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Shogi=20Net?= YAHOO COM> Date: 29 aug 2000 Subject: FWD: Impasse Thanks [The following is forwarded on behalf of Michael Breier AOL COM>]. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Shogi-L, My many heartfelt thanks go out to all those who offered insights on the Impasse. I now realize that my original concern was not so much with Impasse, No-contest or Draw--but with Entering Kings in general. I found that in the relatively few games I have played with friends, this situation occurred more than once and always with frustrating results. We would just dance around each other to little avail. The question arose whether we should just call for a Replay but I did not know if we COULD do that under the circumstances. I was under the impression that the scenario must be played out until a conclusive resolution had been reached. We would just trudge on until one or the other Resigned from boredom. It seems that we had the option all along of starting afresh whenever we got stuck. This type of problem is, I suppose, only the sort of thing that happens with beginners. Nonetheless, I am searching for ways to minimize this stumbling block. Practice might be the best way. Senzaki's "Touchdown" is certainly an interesting alternative and I suppose time will tell whether it gains adherents. If anything, I could see it gaining popularity as another "Propose-and-Accept" feature on a per game basis, only as the need arises. It possibly recalls Shogi's speculated pre-Chaturanga origins in Ashtapada as it changes the fundamental nature of the game to that of a simple race. The King's "Home Square" definitely brings to mind the Palace/Fortress of Xiang Qi and Tjyang Keui (Changgi). I sometimes think I see in Shogi other signs of evolution from the aforementioned games. Although it is often safer to speak of a shared ancestry rather than outright migration since chess origins are a hotly debated matter of national pride for so many and no one wants to be thought of as imitative. Even the fact that the King and his Gold Generals are the only pieces never to promote seems to hearken back to a day when they were confined to a small area around their starting positions. In fact, the Promotion Zones themselves seem like an outgrowth of the River in Chinese Chess. The Capture and Drop of enemy pieces reminds me of the Game of Three Friends. In this 3-player variant of Xiang Qi, a mating King adds the mated King's remaining pieces to his own. Annan Shogi is vaguely reminiscent of the peculiar movement properties of the Cannon piece in Korean Chess. ~Michael __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/