A Crash Course in Traditional Notation
Posted:
Jul 22, 2000, 10:37 PM
As we kick off our initial strategy discussion (thank you penteman), it occurred to me that not everyone may be familiar with traditional pente notation. In traditional pente notation, the center of the board is referred to as 0, and each move is described in terms of its relation, Up, Down, Left, or Right, to 0. These are abbreviated U,D,L, and R, respectively. Thus, the first move of the first player (traditionally referred to as White) is always 1.)0. It is common for the second player (traditionally referred to as Black) to play one space above the center, a move that would be noted as 1.)0,U1. That's pretty much all there is to it. Moves that create a capture are noted with an asterisk (*).
I realize that the advent of online pente has given rise, for whatever reason, to alphanumeric notation, and I am not averse to strategists speaking that language here. However, everyone should be aware of traditional notation and of the fact that old hands at this game will probably use it by reflex. Personally, I use traditional notation because I grew up with it and because, in my opinion, it is easier to follow. As Joe King pointed out to me yesterday, alphanumeric notation is not even standardized from server to server right now and thus is a cumbersome tool for discussing strategy.
Anyway, that's the story with all those U's, D's, L's, and R's, if anyone was wondering.
Take it easy and keep playing,
Aaron
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
