HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: flee@cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee)
Subject: Re: Let's start off with TWIXT
	<1992Nov10.233716.3236@news.vanderbilt.edu>
	<1dqb3iINNseo@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 14:02:24 GMT

Here's a draw, on a small Twixt board.  Neither player can complete
their goal.
	. . O .
	X ./. .
	.\O X .
	. X O\.
	. ./. X
	. O . .
(Ugh.  Twixt is awkward to reproduce in text.)

My vague memory of Twixt's rules:

There are two types of pieces: pegs and bridges.  Pegs go on the grid
points.  A bridge joins two pegs of the same color a knight's distance
(a 2x1 rectangle) apart.  Bridges may not cross one another.

The object is to connect opposite sides of the board with a continuous
chain of bridges.  One player is trying to connect north-south, the
other player is trying to connect east-west.

A move is placing a peg.   I forget when you're allowed to place bridges.
But consider the possibilities:
a. one bridge per turn;
b. any bridges per turn;
c. all bridges per turn;
d. place bridges instead of placing a peg.

And I seem to remember there was something that happened when you ran
out of pegs or bridges, but I forget what.  This can probably be
ignored for now.
--
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: royd@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Roy Daniel)
Subject: The game of reality
Organization: Universite de Montreal
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 22:48:53 GMT

Here's an interesting (dare I call it?) game.

It is called Reality. I've first seen it in the comicbook "Sandman" #4, by DC
comics.

The game is quite simple. One player says what he is; the other has to be 
something stronger, and so on. For example, here is a free interpretation of
the duel that occures in the comic, where Morpheus has to play the reality 
with one of Hell's demon. The demon has the first move.

Demon: "I'm a dire wolf, prey stalking."
Dream: "I'm a hunter, horse riding, spear carrying."
Demon: "I'm a horsefly, horse stinging, throwing the hunter off his saddle."
Dream: "I'm a spider, fly devouring."
Demon: "I'm a snake, spider eating."
Dream: "I'm an oax, snake crushing. I feel the snake die under my weight,
         his spine broken."

This is where it gets real interesting:

Demon: "I'm an anthrax, life butcherer."
Dream: "I'm a world, life nurturing."
Demon: "I'm a nova, all exploding, planet cremating."
Dream: "I'm the Universe, all encompassing, every life."
Demon: "I am the Anti-Life, the Beast of Judgement, the Darkness at the end
        of existence, the end of worlds, of life, of gods. Of everything."



Dream: "I am hope."



Good, isn't it? The player that can't find something stronger than his
 adversary loses. In the example above, the demon, who couldn't find something,was sent for eternal suffering in the Pits of Hell.
Of course, you don't have to play for such high stakes...

Enjoy!


Daniel Roy,
Physics Dept.
University of Montreal


Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: caspar@sci.kun.nl (Caspar Terheggen)
Subject: Re: Abalone.
Organization: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 11:49:02 GMT

In <1992Nov12.213654.9196@news.arc.nasa.gov> nicholso@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Melvin H. Nicholson YBH) writes:

>Yep.  I've played Abalone.  I even tried an e-mail game or two, and here
>is the notation we used.

>     x x x x x
>    x x x x x x
>   . . x x x . .
>  . . . . . . . .
> . . . . . . . . .
>  . . . . . . . .
>   . . o o o . .
>    o o o o o o
>     o o o o o

Nice.  This one is also very transparent:  #=black, O=white, .=space,
W=white marbles captured (points for black), B=black marbles captured.
First I thought @ for black was good, but in a real game situation
@ and O are too much alike, IMHO.

   W   # # # # #
      # # # # # #
     . . # # # . .
    . . . . . . . .
   . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . .
     . . O O O . .
      O O O O O O
   B   O O O O O

[notation of numbering and moves deleted]

As for notation, is there some sort of (International) convention
on this?  I certainly don't want to reinvent the wheel and I also
do not pretend to have a better solution, but I thought about this
for a while yesterday (before I saw Melvin Nicholson's article) and
came up with this scheme.  Rows are labeled A through I, say starting
on White's side (the bottom).  In each row the spaces are numbered
starting from 1, giving A1-A5, B1-B6, C1-C7, ..., E1-E9, ..., I1-I5
as valid labels.  Example:

       . . . . .
      . * . . . .
     . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . .
   . . . . * . . . .
    . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . .
      . . . . . .
       . . . . *

The marked points would be H2, E5, and A5.  What do you think of
this scheme?  (he said, slipping into his asbestos suit).

Moves.  Maybe <first marble>[<last marble>]-<new first>, leaving
out all repetitions.  Of course <last marble> is not present in
single moves.  Examples:

       . . . 3 .                . . . . .
      2 2 2 . 3 .              . 2 2 2 3 .
     . . . . . 3 .            1 . 4 . . 3 .
    . 1 4 . 5 5 . 6          1 . 4 . . . 3 .
   . 1 4 . . . . 6 .   ->   1 . 4 . . 5 5 . 6
    1 4 . 7 . 8 . .          . . . . . . . 6
     . . 7 . . 8 .            . . 7 . . 8 .
      . . . . . .              . 7 . 9 . 8
       . . 9 . .                . . . . .

1. D1F2-E1
2. H1H3-H2 (H13-H2 or H13-2)
3. G6I4-F7 (maybe I4G6-H5)
4. D2F3-E3
5. F5F6-E6 (F56-E6)
6. E8F8-D8 (EF8-D8 or EF8-D)
7. C3D4-B2
8. C6D6-B6 (CD6-B6 or CD6-B)
9. A3-B4

Caspar.
--
 Caspar Terheggen  +31 80 652801  caspar@sci.kun.nl  U634008@HNYKUN11.bitnet
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 14:43:43 -0500 
From: "Jonathan R. Ferro" <jf41+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Did *NO ONE* see this message before???

----------
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Received: via nntppoll with nntp; Mon,  9 Nov 1992 09:38:09 -0500 (EST)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: newgroup rec.games.abstract
From: tale@uunet.uu.net (David C Lawrence)
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 13:48:22 GMT
Control: newgroup rec.games.abstract
Organization: UUNET Technologies, Inc

rec.games.abstract is an unmoderated newsgroup which passed its vote for
creation by 287:64 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on 2 Nov 1992.

For your newsgroups file:
rec.games.abstract      Perfect information, pure strategy games.

The charter, culled from the call for votes:

        The newsgroup would be for discussion of abstract games where
        strategy, tactics and player skill are paramount.  This includes
        the major category of perfect information, pure-strategy
        (deterministic) games, i.e. those with no element of chance (e.g.
        no dice), and where all information is available (unlike card games
        and Scrabble, for example, where players' hands are hidden).  The
        games under consideration are characterised by a simple board and
        pieces, with a small number of rules.  The cliche `a minute to
        learn, a lifetime to master' is often applied.

        o       discussion of less mainstream abstract games,
                which do not warrant a group of their own.

        o       design and implementation issues for computer players.

        o       develop generic code for computer programs,
                such as board widgets, alpha-beta and other algorithms.

        o       introduce each other to new games, thus finding new
                opponents.

        o       discuss strategy & tactics for human players.

        o       what makes a {good,fun,hard,popular} abstract game?
                Will playing X be detrimental/beneficial to my Y playing? etc.

        o       ask `experts' for rule clarification.

        o       catalogue known abstract games, variations, genealogy,
                sources of equipment, literature, clubs.

        o       maintain a list of email opponents for various games.

        o       catalogue available computer programs for these games.

        o       maintain a FAQ, outriggers could be posted to other groups,
                get a mention in appropriate FAQs.

        o       propose and discuss new games or mechanisms

        o       puzzles for games other than chess et al.

        o       organise tournaments for various (obscure) games.

        o       organise an ftp archive, where useful information and games
                programs can be held.

        o       vote for the best and the worst abstract game of the year
                (or month or ever!)

        o       generally have fun in a decent way

----------

-- Jon Ferro               Einsprachigkeit ist heilbar
From: ddgarcia@cs.berkeley.edu (Dan Garcia)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: Othello Puzzle #2
Date: 12 Nov 1992 09:26:42 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: coons.berkeley.edu
Keywords: Othello

 cmspring@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Colin Springer) writes:
|> 
|> Due to the interest in Othello Puzzle #1, I've decided to make it a
|> semi-regular feature.  In future I'll include a coordinate system, to

I think it would also be nice if you included the legal slots we should
consider - I spend the first 30 seconds changing the "."s to "*"s where
white COULD move and then evaluate the relative merits of each. Probably
every netter does the same thing, in one way or another. I propose this:

  a b c d e f g h
1 . o o o o o o .
2 o * o o o o . .
3 o o x o o o . .
4 o o o o x o . x
5 o o o o x x x *
6 o o x x x x * *
7 . * x * * * * .
8 . * * * . . . . 

p.s. on first glance I say c8

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Garcia (ddgarcia@cs.berkeley.edu) UC Berkeley Computer Science Grad Student
         Sex is more fun than logic. One cannot prove this. It just IS,
          in the same sense that Mt. Everest IS and Alma Cogan ISN'T
 - John Cleese as the Prof. of Logic in Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" album
From: palmerd@gallium.cs.unc.edu (Daniel Palmer)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Abalone Puzzles?
Date: 11 Nov 92 14:14:15 GMT

There are (as far as I know) two Abalone puzzles that "come" with the
game.  As part of the instructions there is a set-up board and a claim
that one of the opponents has a forced win or something of that sort.

I recall being sent the second one as a "reward" for solving the first.
Has anyone come across other Abalone puzzles?  Was there ever an Abalone 
strategy book published (Ala' the Pente Books 1 and 2 back when that game
was making the rounds?).  Any information would be appreciated.

-Dan



Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: Chris.Jeris@launchpad.unc.edu (Chris Jeris)
Subject: MAU:  More nasty rules
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 15:19:38 GMT

you know, I ran into some VERY screwed up rules playing with some of my friends.
for instance, if the last three cards played were all primes (J, K count) the
player of the third had to say "Pi primes" and the number of the last card was the
number of places to the left that play shifted.

or, from the quasi-mao variant, ALL non-court cards must be called"
spades as 'rank+8 "clipboards"', all other suits as 'rank+8 "next higher suit in
bridge order"'.  Naaasty.

Of course, this was the same variant that required players to say "Please"
before drawing a card and "Thank you" after placing it in their hand.

Chris Jeris	cjeris@imsasun.imsa.edu	The Illinois Math & Science Academy
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: c059vin@utarlg.uta.edu (Daniel Vincent)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: TRY THIS
Date: 10 Nov 92 05:19:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: utarlg.9NOV199223195668
Organization: The University of Texas at Arlington
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

Hey netters,
	you could probably try this. all u need is a small cassette player(the
one that uses the smallest type cassete).
	Record the following message using a friends voice "Yeah that is the 
one. Are you in it. Get out as fast as you can"
	Next step get into a crowded elavator and 1/2 way thru talk into your
talk into your machine asking if that was the elevator cabin and then switch on
the player.
	U could see the response of the people in the elevator..
	Good luck
Daniel Vincent.
From: mjd@saul.cis.upenn.edu ("[*] Fan of the Efts")
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: Chess on spherical boards.
Date: 13 Nov 92 01:37:10 GMT
	<1992Nov11.161535.20791@cc.umontreal.ca>
	<1992Nov11.191304.19055@math.utexas.edu>
	<MJD.92Nov11174539@saul.cis.upenn.edu> <tuc.721523968@cs.wisc.edu>
	<MJD.92Nov12124405@saul.cis.upenn.edu> <tuc.721601100@cs
Organization: Eaters of Wisdom
In-reply-to: tuc@calico.cs.wisc.edu's message of 12 Nov 92 20:45:00 GMT



Oh, you're right---it's nonorientable.  Silly me.

I withdraw my claim that my thing is spherelike.
--

                And for to se, and eek for to be seye
Mark-Jason Dominus 	  			    mjd@central.cis.upenn.edu
From: baljeual@uther.calvin.edu (Alan Baljeu)
Subject: Re: Nomic (was Game)
Organization: Calvin College
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 00:14:25 GMT

(Denis Howe) writes:

>I've never played by Hofstadter's rules but I have played several
>times using home-brewed rules.  We started off playing a simple card
>game.  Each time a player won a round he was able to propose a rule
>change.  That got a bit silly until someone changed the rule-changing
>rule so that all other players proposed rule changes and the winner
>chose which one would become law.  That worked very well.  We evolved
>such a fun card game that on subsequent occasions we just played the
>game with no changes.  The best rule we came up with was this: When
>you play a heart you say "throb, throb, throb", when you play a club
>you say "bonk, bonk, bonk", when you play a diamond you say "twinkle,
>twinkle, twinkle" and when you play a spade you say "dig, dig, dig".
>You can tell what sort of mentality the players had!
>--
Indeed, it's great fun to play that sort of game.  I've played similar games
using Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, etc., as the basis for changing rules.

In a similar vein, has anyone out there ever heard of a game I know as 
Chairman Mouw(sp?)? (probably not the right name).
It goes like this: One player (Chairman Mouw) invents some rules, trying to be
as original,
interesting, and crazy as possible, based on a deck of cards.  These rules he
keeps as a secret known only to himself.  The winner is
the first person to get rid of all his/her cards. 

Standard rules for every game are:
1. You may play a card, if it is legal according to the rules Mouw makes.
Also, you must play it in the manner Mouw specifies in the rules.
Also it must be your turn. (you might not always be sure).

2. If you play a card wrongly, you must keep your card, and the Chairman must
explain why it is wrong, but not give away the rule (i.e. be cryptic about it).

3. If the Chairman's rules specify for something to happen, it must be done.

4. If you ask a question, you get a card. (A great way to get bystanders 
involved in your game. :-)

5. If you discuss the rules, you get a card. (More spectators joining?) 
Sometimes a confused player may find this necessary in order to make
any progress.

6. If the Chairman gets his/her rules mixed up, he/she gets a card. (this
happens often).

7. This is supposed to be a social game (no international Chairmen 
competitions), so have fun.
From: gugler-sean@cs.yale.edu (Sean Gugler)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: Move
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:09:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: FROG.1dvnseINNg1c
Distribution: world
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Undergraduate
NNTP-Posting-Host: frog.zoo2.cs.yale.edu
In-reply-to: nwbernst@unix.amherst.edu's message of Thu, 12 Nov 1992 22:03:51 GMT

boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell) wrote:
>King's pawn to queen's duck thirteen. Soprano.

neilb@scs.leeds.ac.uk (Neil Bowers) wrote:
>Zebedee takes the staff car, with the candlestick!  Do not collect $200.

nate@cats.ucsc.edu (Nathaniel Douglas Renwick) wrote:
>Ahh... but having forfeited your right to pluck the chicken, I have
>put sleeves on my vest.  Wrong number.

dbh@doc.ic.ac.uk (Denis Howe) wrote:
>Troglodyte (+2,-3,0) and double.

nancy@genie.slhs.udel.edu (Nancy Lebovitz) wrote:
>Aleph null squared plus seventeen. You have control of the national debt.

boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell) wrote:
>I castle through Robert Abrams' corpse, yielding a surplus. 
>Please remove your flatiron from Marvin Gardens.

nwbernst@unix.amherst.edu (Neil Bernstein) wrote:
>Violation of Rule Theta! [all practical application forbidden, cf "flatiron."]
>Penalty: drag your favorite Homeric hero seven times around the board, or draw
>a Liberal Arts Major card.

gugler-sean@cs.yale.edu (Sean Gugler) writes:
>The Emporer rolls a seven, of which he saves one for the road:
>Queen jumps Pawn.  Knight jumps Queen.  Bishop jumps Queen.  Queen
>jumps Queen.  Rocky jumps Janet.  Frank dumps Rocky.
-- 
Sean Gugler                    gugler-sean@cs.yale.edu     <-- Internet
P.O. Box 1902 Yale Station         gugseap@yalevm          <-- Bitnet
New Haven, CT  06520   USA         sgugler@music.yale.edu  <-- NeXT
(203)-436-0861            We both have truths; are mine the same as yours?
From: gt4719b@prism.gatech.EDU (Dave Frascone)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Is there a site for "cheats"?
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:08:58 GMT
Article-I.D.: hydra.74602
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology




Is there an anonymous ftp site for game hints, strategies,etc?

Please reply by e-mail.


Dave
-- 
gt4719b@prism.gatech.edu
From: mjd@saul.cis.upenn.edu ("[*] Fan of the Efts")
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: anybody know this game?
Date: 12 Nov 92 17:24:14 GMT
	<1992Nov12.140302.17198@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>
Organization: Eaters of Wisdom
In-reply-to: ry32@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de's message of 12 Nov 92 14:03:02 GMT

In article <1992Nov12.140302.17198@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> ry32@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Vieser Christian) writes:
>   |> This game goes like this:
>   |> 
>   |> ***
>   |> *****
>   |> *******
>   |> 
>   |> There are 15 stones total in three rows. You and your opponent take some
>   |> stones in turn. The stones you can take each time must be adjacent and
>
>   This game is called Nim and very old.

   No, it's not.  If you could only take stones from the same row, it
would be nim.  But if you are allowed to take stones that lie in the
same column or in the same row, it is very different from nim.

> [Nim is] a first player win for every number of rows and stones per row.

Oh?  Let's play the version where the player to take the last stone wins.

     *
         *

You can go first.  Where's your win?

You don't like that?  OK, let's play the version where the player to
take the last stone loses. 

     *

You can go first again.

--

                And for to se, and eek for to be seye
Mark-Jason Dominus 	  			    mjd@central.cis.upenn.edu 

Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: ry32@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Vieser Christian)
Subject: Re: Abalone.
Keywords: abalone new game
Organization: University of Karlsruhe, Germany
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 14:35:40 GMT

In article <1992Nov13.003340.154616@zeus.calpoly.edu>, jplee@zeus.calpoly.edu (Jason Lee) writes:
|> 
|> If you know the site, could you post it?  Thx.
|> -- 

I found abalone.zip on ftp.uni-regensburg.de (132.199.1.17) 
in /freeware/software/windows/games/denk.

-Christian
From: gimble@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (David Caruso II)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Hey you.  Read this.
Date: 10 Nov 92 03:06:12 CST
Organization: America, Planet Earth

	Someone post something here.  This sounds interesting ...
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell)
Subject: Re: Move
Organization: Cold Spring Harbor Labs
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 15:50:07 GMT

In article <1dscpqINNd30@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> nate@cats.ucsc.edu (Nathaniel Douglas Renwick) writes:
>
>neilb@scs.leeds.ac.uk (Neil Bowers) writes:
>>boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell) writes:
>>>King's pawn to queen's duck thirteen. Soprano.
>>Zebedee takes the staff car, with the candlestick!
>>Do not collect $200.
>Ahh... but having forfeited your right to pluck the chicken,
>I have put sleeves on my vest.  Wrong number.
Talking. Three cards. Failure to give the Mao your home address
and a box of melons.

-- 
Tom Boutell, boutell@cshl.org

Clausthaler is the best non - alcoholic beer in the known universe.
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: hachipma@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Hugh Chipman)
Subject: Re: Kalah
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:16:49 GMT

In article <92315.101306JAR129@psuvm.psu.edu> Jeff Raven <JAR129@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
...stuff deleted...
>
>Next, does anyone know of any companies which sell some of the
>less widespred games? You know, someplace where I could maybe get
>a Kalah board, or maybe Nine Men's Morris?
>

There is a book put out by the Klutz press (they also market
do-it-yourself juggling books) that has rules and boards for 15 games,
including mancala, go, backgammon, checkers, hex, 9 men's morris, 3d
tic tac toe, a fox and hound variant, Brax, Fandango, roundabouts, Cat
& Dog (I'm pretty sure they made this one up), as well as several
others I can't remember. Some of the names may be made up - I'm not
sure. It comes with playing counters (35 or 36 of black and white
each), and 2 dice.  It's about $22 (canadian), but a real deal,
considering all the games in it. If anyone is interested, I can get
more info. It'd be in the chidren's section of a bookstore, because
some of the games (like go) are simplified.


Hugh Chipman -- grad student --  Department of Statistics & Actuarial Science
hachipma@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca   University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON., N2L 3G1
From: boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: New Topic
Date: 10 Nov 92 14:57:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: phage.BxI9KA.C3v
Organization: Cold Spring Harbor Labs

In article <1992Nov10.051058.15154@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> npalmer@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Nicholas P Palmer) writes:
>We're talking no paper, no dice, just a GM and some people starting
>a story and interacting and seeing what's what???

Yes. I've done this. It's an enjoyable way to GM. The only thing is that the
GM had better be well-rested and in the mood to think clearly, because 
it's more challenging; you can't fall back on a module or a random
monster table.

-T


-- 
Tom Boutell, boutell@cshl.org

Clausthaler is the best non - alcoholic beer in the known universe.
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract