The idea is that the players get limited information here from the referee (me).
This is the only thread they can look at.
Spectators are welcome to read this, but should not post here.
There will be a game thread, which the players cannot look at, but the spectaors can - and that’s where spectators can post.
Confused? Well that’s Kriegspiel for you!
Oh, and I have my first player (Meeko) - who wants to play him?
Sign up here!
I’m going to have my ass handed to me anyway I look at it, so let me look at it when I am NOT playing Mafia and Fold Em. I would need to set up the board over here, etc.
Honestly didn’t think Glee would be this accepting of the idea.
**
Looks like the first game is going to happen with out me. Not a problem here. **
Makes me wonder if he will play Bughouse, or that other version, where you get to set up your half of the board (any way you like), before you start.
I’m not that good at kriegspiel, I had about a 1500 rating in it on ICC which is a bit below average. I think it would be fun to do a Krieg match online, especially having spectators watch the krieg players make moves that seem stupid with perfect information.
If someone else wants to play as well, I’d be happy to try it. It’s a lot of fun reviewing the moves after the game is over too, I always did that after ICC matches.
I have some strategies I’ve used in the past. Generally involving being able to recapture pieces take as much as possible (capture-recature wars happen a lot in Krieg), and using mobile pieces such as rooks and queens to identify where the opposing king is. Rook columns seem particularly good in Krieg.
A lot of strategies will be different in a slower paced game though. I would look for moves online where I could test a series of moves of, say a rook, which would allow me to identify exactly where a piece was obstructing more rook from moving further. (For instance, trying Rh8, then Rh7, then Rh6 and so on). Of course these moves can be foolish.
My strategies also include keeping things defended and using a ‘pawn wall’ to defend my pieces. So I might start d2-d4, h2-h3, Ng1-f3 (safe from pawn attack), g2-g3, Bc1-e3 (safe from pawn attack) etc.
Yeah the pawns can be very important in Krieg because highly mobile pieces can do a lot of sneaking around without the opponent knowing what is up, whereas, in variants that use pawn-tries at least (like the one I played), pawns are great at detecting these major pieces moving about.
And its harder to break through a good pawn wall of course.
I play pretty defensively as well, and work towards building an attacking force, but I’ve played with some players who really had a sense of the game to a much greater extent. I played one of the best Krieg players on ICC once, and he told me that he has studied Krieg endgames extensively, which have their own intricacies and judgements as to what is winnable.
EDTA:
Also because you can have pretty crazy pawn attacks as you noted
OK, my rules are a little different from the Internet ones.
Mine are based on refereeing this variant for over 30 years and are designed to give the players clear information. (This is important on the SDMB, where each move may take a day or more.)
The referee will tell each player when it is his turn to move.
All possible pawn captures by the player to move will be listed, e.g. after 1. d2-d4 c7-c5 … “White has a pawn capture on c5”
(If the potential capture is an ‘en passant’, that will be stated too.)
The player does not have to capture.
When a piece or pawn is captured, the referee will announce it e.g. “a White man has been captured on e6”.
The precise identity of the man taken is not stated.
(If the potential capture is an ‘en passant’, the arrival square of the pawn capturing is given.)
If a check is given, the referee will announce it and what is checking e.g. “Black is in check from a knight”.
N.B. Promotions are not announced.
A player can try various moves, one at a time (this is a big part of the game). The referee will either announce “that move is not legal”, or play the move (and annnounce any ‘consequences’).
Suppose White plays 1. e2-e3, Black replies and then White tries 2. Bf1-a6 and is told “that move is not legal”, then White knows Black must have played 1. …b7-b5. He can now try 2. Bf1-b5 (when the referee will announce “a Black man has been captured on b5”).
The referee will announce checkmate, stalemate or when there is simply not enough material left to checkmate.
The SDMB players are on their honour not to look at the moves in this Game thread.
Players should send me a ‘menu’ of moves, in order of preference.
For example:
Try Bf1-a6 / b5 / c4
Try g2-g3
etc
As soon as they make a legal suggestion, I post it in the Report thread (and on the Game thread for spectators only).
(I can PM you back if you want, but hopefully your ‘menu’ will be extensive enough to practically guarantee success).