Hive 48

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I played white against a player who ranks considerably higher than I rank, in the top 100 on BGA in fact.

Technically, this game is called a tie by BGA, but I had thought that playing the last piece rendered it a win for that player.

No big deal.

Two takeaways:

  1. Patience matters, all the way to the end of the game. I might have won this game had I managed to stay patient all the way to the end. Instead, I didn’t believe I could do better than a draw, and may have missed a chance to win it outright. This is in part because in the past, I’ve wasted time on moves which don’t matter win I could have gotten a win without those moves. Since I saw the draw here, and not the win, I’ve moved as fast as I could to the draw. Now, how do I learn this lesson?

  2. I am capable of taking on players ranked in the 400s on BGA and not completely embarrassing myself.

Here’s the end of the game:

Hive game 48

And here’s a link to the game: Game 48.

Replaying, I don’t see any late in the game moves which would have gotten me the win. I would have needed to tie up Black’s ant some time before the end game. Still, I’m pretty stoked.

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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.