In game Ypercube - Hanfried_c, I wonder if Hanfried did not do a mistake in move 73 : 73.1.

Would it not be better to do d2-d3 instead of leaving a fast pawn with little fence in front?

Carroll meant that hanfried_c (Red) made a mistake after Blue's move 73: with move 74.1/d2xc2, moving the 1 from d2 to c2 (eating the Blue 4 stone).

The link is OK.

d2xc2 is way better than the other 2 moves.

Without d2xc2 there is no possibility to munch all blue stones.

Having the red 4 in front of the destination with the 6 behind as backup is not desired if you can have it there without a backup.

(A) After d2xc2 the best move for blue is c3-d2. Now Blue loses with prob. 4/6 (at 2,3,5,6). The other blue moves are worse (Blue loses in both cases with 31/36).

(B) After d2-d3 the best moves for Blue are quite obviously: 4c3-d2 with 52% for Blue and 6c2-d1 with 39% for Blue. So, Blue loses with nearly 50%.

© d2xc3 is the worst for red. Now blue moves to d1 and loses only with prob. 2/6 (at 2 and 3).

After d2-d3 (and d2xc3) Red can not win by eleminating all blue stones. But after d2xc2 the defender Red 6 is as strong as the attacker Red 3. Each of them makes the winning move with prob. 1/3.

Yes thanks you are right 2/3 versus 48%…

I'm playing in a ratings tournament with Mr. Hanfried (do computer programs have a gender?)

Anyway, should I be worried?

@David: No, you should not ;-)

At first: Hanfried does not play perfectly.

Second: By the nature of the game even a random player can win against a perfect one.

Yes, if computer programs can have a gender, than Hanfried is male. The original Hanfried that is “Johann Friedrich der Großmütige (* 30. Juni 1503 in Torgau; † 3. März 1554 in Weimar), Kurfürst of Sachsen” the founder of the university of Jena.

By the way, I hoped to play in a level 9 rated tournament. But obviously I am playing now in level 8. I guess the reason is that there are less than 4 1800+ players.

Correction:

“Johann Friedrich der Grossmuetige (* 30. june 1503 in Torgau; + 3. march 1554 in Weimar), Kurfuerst of Sachsen”

Mr. Hanfried wrote:

“@David: No, you should not ;-)

At first: Hanfried does not play perfectly.”

What a coincidence - neither do I!

Mr. Hanfried wrote:

“Yes, if computer programs can have a gender, than Hanfried is male.”

What amazes me is Hanfried's ability to converse with real human beings on a message board.. Now that's AI! ;-)