I may be dense here, but I'm not seeing an obvious Gon path or other way to win for P1 either on pente_fan's line or on the one Karl sent me awhile back. I don't doubt that P1 can prevail eventually, assuming no mistakes, but while I'd agree P1 has the upper hand after J13, I'm not seeing a path forward clearly.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
You are of course correct, watsu: this is anything but a proven win for P1 after K9 (which I do think is White's best move). It is made difficult by the fact that P2 currently has a tiny bit of initiative. However, I claim that Black has only sham threats (for example M5 then O5), while P1 has the very real threat of G9 and a 5th capture.
Therefore, I recommend playing it out, you and me, here on the forum. In the position following K9, what is Black's move?
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Alright, before you sent me M8 instead of K9, I think. K9 might be best in terms of quickest win, IDK. How many moves do you predict is the longest that P2 can hold out after K9 and what if I can find a shorteer or as short a win path for P1 while not using K9 at this move?
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Okay, my claim is that Black only has sham threats, while White has two game-winning threats, G9 and G11-H12 (where P2 somehow has no good cap threats), which Black cannot simultaneously block. I am fairly confident in the truth of that claim. I am less confident about this, but in my best efforts I was able to make P2 survive until the White's 29th move (so 10 moves after his 19th move K9), using the blockable threats of M5-O5 and M8-Q12. He then has to block one of White's threats, but the other one should prevail.
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
That's roughly about what I see too. I'll see if I can come up with a line which wins for P1 at move 29 without using 19. K9 against best P2 play. And I doubt I can survive beyond move 29 as P2, but will look at that too.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Okay, I think I may be able to win on move 29 using an alternative move to 19. K9 and also to hold out beyond move 29 against 19. K9 as P2. I play 19. M8 as P1 and 19. ... M5 as P2...
ETA: with some assistance from Karl, I prolonged the game as P2 to move 34 after 19. K9.
As P1, I tried a line using 19. M8, but it was using the block of an extension which Karl didn't make to build off of, so it failed. So, back at the drawing board, I think I can win at move 30 (provided this line holds up) with 19. M8 O8 20. G11 F11 21. H13
Message was edited by: watsu at May 21, 2019 8:05 AM
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
