Hive 40 and 41

Dec 28 2016

Hive Game 41

This game was against probably the highest ranked player yet, and I got skunked.

He played black, and pretty much took charge of the game within about 4 moves.

I didn't really have a chance after that.

I really need to go back through this game carefully to work out his moves, then see if I can apply them going forward.

All that said, I did not play nearly as well as I should have. There is something about playing against much more highly ranked players which puts me into a bad frame of mind. I end up making stupid moves, because I don't believe I can win. Thing is, I know that at some point, I will win against higher ranked players, and I need to start believing that now.

Hive game 41

Hive 40

On this next game, I did a lot better, but the opponent was a lot weaker, so that's no surprise.

I still tried to play carefully, and not lose with some careless moves.

Here's the end of the game, I played black:

Hive game 40

What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

Have a solo game ready to play.
Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
Referee a game in progress.