Posts:
124
Registered:
Jun 8, 2008
From:
Stillwater, Oklahoma Banned: For abuse of mm_ai8
Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 21, 2008, 3:35 AM
First of all, I know it’s really Speed Boat-Pente. But I don’t give a schidt (fyi, since this is my first post in this forum, the name is pronounced “schid,” as the “t” is silent).
What drew me to Pente, way back in 1977, is that the game is FUN, kind of like a cross between checkers and chess. Pente is simple to get started, but just about as complex as someone wants it to be. Now, thanks to Zoeyk inventing Boat-Pente and the timer used by this website, we can race at full throttle, 1/0 on the timer, a.k.a. Speedboat Pente.
If you don’t know, Boat-Pente is the same as regular Pente, but it allows you to capture pairs out of your opponent’s 5 in a row. When the timer is at 1/0, there is barely enough time to move, much less think about where. So when you combine speed with Boat-Pente, it allows the player who may be totally defensive by the end of the game to have a second chance. And, when the game is moving that fast, by the time someone gets a pente, there’s usually a lot of pairs for the taking. This allows the defensive player two second chances; one to extend the game in those last few seconds, or to win on pairs. Much like in football, when the offense moves closer to the goal-line, it gets harder to make the score.
I watched Zoeyk and Awakening play several games with the timer set to 1/0 and average about 1.5 second per move. Schidt!!! I’ve seen several Speedboat games that moved so fast, the winner had to ask if they were the one who won!!! If you’re good at Pente, then you’ll be good at Speedboat. But even if you’re not that good at Pente, if you can keep your head for a minute, you have a chance to win at Speedboat. Alexmorel and I played a game that lasted 1:59 seconds and ended with each of us having 5-in-a-row on the table!!! It is totally insane how intense Speedboat gets. It almost makes Pente a spectator sport. It’s as close to surfing and playing pente as you can get.
I’d be glad to play anyone rated or unrated. But you can also find players like kriswithak, ccherian, mersenne, who’d race Speedboats with you. See ya soon!
Personally, I like timers on at minimum 1/1. This allows for games with more moves in them to have a longer clock. I've nothing against speedboat (or speedpoof or speedkeryo for that matter), in fact I enjoy playing it, but generally won't without an increment on the timer.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Posts:
2,241
Registered:
Mar 4, 2007
From:
San Francisco
Age:
45 Home page
Re: Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 21, 2008, 6:19 AM
Thank you Jack,... Not often do i get compliments in these forums hehe,... Its nice when i get one. Glad people are making use of that varient,.. Yes it is fun,.. and yes it can help even the odds of black vs white a little in some cases. Try playing the wedge opening in boat. Black will give white a run for its money if done right often times.
~Zoeyk
Scire hostis animum - Intelligere ludum - Nosce te ipsum - Prima moventur conciliat - Nolite errare
Posts:
124
Registered:
Jun 8, 2008
From:
Stillwater, Oklahoma Banned: For abuse of mm_ai8
Color-Blind Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 21, 2008, 8:35 AM
Ok, I'm not going to name names (Zoeyk), but after handing my @$$ handed to me time and time again, I've thought of a handycap for a few of you people. You can chose any color you like, but you have to play with both players using the same color:
Color-Blind Speedboat Pente!!!
Some of you dudes need something to occupy your minds a little bit; spend some of your time looking up moves on the list and make it fair for the rest of us mortals. 47 freak'n moves in less than 60 seconds! Schidt!!!
I've tried a lot of different time settings, but at 1/0 the game can't last long, which makes round-robin mini-tournaments very quick and fun. I like to see people getting eaten by the "clock monster" just as often as a Pente, or 5 captures. Incremental time, even just 1/1 seems to give the player on the offense more of an advantage. That makes me think of another handycap possibility; allowing each player to set different times. That way I could play with 60 seconds against Awakening's 15 seconds and still have a chance.
I don't know what that would involve changing the game window for seperate timers on each player. But if someone did change the window, I wonder if they could add an option for listing or high-lighting things like open-threes, closed-fours, etc. That would be awesome too!!!
Posts:
140
Registered:
Mar 8, 2008
From:
georgia
Age:
55 Home page
Re: Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 25, 2008, 3:49 AM
I have to say that if you have not tryed this game then you have truly MISSED THE BOAT...lol. It is so much fun and gets your motor runnin! I have played many games of speed but, this one is the best. Especially no matter how skilled you are at pente... you still are not sure who the winner is until the end of the end. So try it you will find yourself laughing and ready for round 2.
Posts:
124
Registered:
Jun 8, 2008
From:
Stillwater, Oklahoma Banned: For abuse of mm_ai8
Re: Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 25, 2008, 6:19 AM
The other day, I was playing someone who kept talking (typing) the whole time we were playing a 60 second game. I mean, they thought they had the time to carry on a conversation. It's almost as if she (oops, sorry Kris), they were intentionally trying to distract me. Well!!! All I can say is two can play at that game. Ha! Next time I see 'em, I'm gonna schlap the schidt out of them. Wonder what other trick they might pull? By the way Kris, I think you look very good in green, it's YOUR color. Sorry, just talk'n schidt.
Posts:
140
Registered:
Mar 8, 2008
From:
georgia
Age:
55 Home page
Re: Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 25, 2008, 3:18 PM
Well Jack it is out, we have a love- hate relationship. Now Jack is the first player that I have played that has asked for undo's three plays back??? Unreal, I say. I about fell off the chair laughing so hard. But, it was real and it is fun. So it is really fun playing with schidt. I alway wear my boots Jack when I play you...cause the schidt gets deep.lol Some would say I look good in any color...Red will do.
Posts:
124
Registered:
Jun 8, 2008
From:
Stillwater, Oklahoma Banned: For abuse of mm_ai8
Re: Speedboat Pente
Posted:
Jun 28, 2008, 5:43 PM
K, you’re a grown woman. Did you just say, that you think it is really fun playing with schidt? Get a hold of yourself!!! By the way … you gotta pay for the blue paint, before you even think about yellow, much less dream about a red boat. Aint gonna happen sista!!! (Man it is too much fun yank’n her chain).
Anyway, I’ve played a few hundred games of Speedboat now. Oh yeah, it’s a ride, especially when you first try it. But it is amazing how good the players are getting. Seemed like the best Pente players were thinking deeply into the game; so I thought they’d be spending time doing that, and it would kind of handicap them since there was only 60 seconds to play. Wrong.
Additionally, Colorblind Speedboat was just a joke. Yet ironically, by playing blind, I have come to see the light. You see, as silly as it may sound, there are people who can and actually like to play it; and aaaahh, still beat the schidt outta me. That’s right boys and girls, I have played Speedboat Pente with the timer set to 1/0, looking at two different colors of stones; while my opponent was colorblind, looking at only one color of stones, and they still beat me. So that kind of sheds some light on the following conclusions; either I suck, or Zoeyk is really a computer, or both.
So with the timer running, I have tried yelling; clapping my hands; questioning the marital status of birth parents; farting, and then lighting it on fire; emailing pictures of my mother-in-law in the morning; everything short of activating the reach-through feature and schlap’n something on their head that Ajax wont take off. Would someone please change the game window to allow different playing times for each player before I get my @$$ kicked and sued? Can ya throw me a frigg’n bone here???
Seriously though, what about allowing different incremental times for each player? Wouldn’t that be a classy way to handicap? No schidt, even if its unrated, I just want to beat Mersenne one time.
Not often do i get compliments in these forums hehe,... Its nice when i get one. Glad people are making use of that varient,.. Yes it is fun,.. and yes it can help even the odds of black vs white a little in some cases. Try playing the wedge opening in boat. 
Black will give white a run for its money if done right often times.