Now Wargamer you have to give the devil his due. Freidenberg literally wrote the book on odd circuit counterplay.
Positions like this make me wish I hadn’t spilled beer right on chapter 29!
Holborn to Ruislip is over my head. I’ll sit this one out with Bricker.
Armitage Freakin’ Freidenberg. Holy moly!
I’m still a bit amazed that I had the trip with him. Each station reminded him of some famous play which he went on to explain to me. He talked about the odd circuit counterplay when we went through Croydon South, of course, using the Paris '98 Masters as the example, but I must confess I didn’t really understand. I just nodded. If anyone did follow that play, I’d really appreciate an explanation I can follow.
I’ll play Euston.
Just an aside from the current game, what is the prevailing opinion concerning Oyster cards? Can they be used to avoid shunts and knips like expired bus tickets were in such memorable games such as Philbin vs. LaMont (Ceylon, 1911) or Mrs. Edna Bradshaw vs. Lance Corporal Lance Bradshaw (no relation) (Highgate, 1962)?
As for the game, I would like to play Chalk Farm and declare Chides. that should put a brief stop to **Martini Enfield’**s march on the Northern Line. there are several ways out, lets see if he can find one.
Oxford Circus.
Aha! That means I can play for Oyster Touch!
Tottenham Court Road
TwistofFate’s declaration of Chides is most impressive; as is my feint on the Northern Line which has led him to fall into my trap!
Playing Monument station at this late stage would be far too obvious- even though the ploy worked brilliantly for Williamson in the controversial 1904 Madras Invitational- when I can instead invoke the Imperial Prerogative (as per the rulebook for the Pan-Commonwealth Mornington Crescent Cup Tournaments and held to be valid when played by any citizen of a Commonwealth Country provided they are not currently in armed rebellion against the Sovereign) to allow a change onto the Docklands Light Rail and play Royal Victoria instead!
Your move, gentlemen. 
Well, Martini Enfield’s Royal Victoria play has put me out.
Still, I can’t be too disappointed. I don’t think I’ve made it this far in such a cut-throat game in years.
Nice game, you all. I’d pull for Wargamer, but he called me a Tarheel, and one can’t allow such slights to slide.
Tar Heel - two words. I was referring to a native of the great State of North Carolina, not a supporter of UNC. (Altho’ I confess to being both.)
Hmmm, speaking of obscure moves, I remember the '85 UNC-d00k MC matchup, where Smith took out Alarie in 17, by topping Royal Victoria with a shunt to the East London Line at Grange Hill. I know American collegiate matches are under-reported, but it was a subtle play for such inexperienced, nay,even callow, players.
Right, I believe I can now score three birdies by playing anywhere on the Central line provided it is not less than two stations from a terminus. But I don’t like Bricker’s cunning silence; I feel he’s preparing a real zinger for me if I go for something as obvious as that. I like Mangetout’s neat avoidance of the Dollis Hill loop, though some may question its viability.
Regarding Oyster cards, they are valid only if there is insufficent credit to reach the station that you play when starting from Piccadilly. Since I own an Oyster card that still has an uncompleted journey on it, I can take a penalty fare exemption pass by playing Chalfont and Latimer (following Fotheringay’s Excursion of 2003). Even Bricker may have overlooked that!
Younger players, perhaps, but the Dollis Hill Oyster Break was tested and ratified as valid at the Ettelbruck symposium in early 2005.
I’ve just received a letter from a Mrs. Trellis of North Wales. She remembers the Great Tube Strike of 1973. Sometimes she moped between stations.
I’m sorry, that should have been “sometimes she rode a moped between stations” :smack:
Tooting Bec
Well, if you had to walk the Tube to get to your station, instead of riding, you’d mope too!
Swiss Cottage, revisited, with Bus Pass placement.
(Let’s see if THAT will get Bricker to break his silence.
Overlooked it? I’ve been waiting for it.
I will play Arnos Grove, declare Snaresbrook on blocks, and that revokes the penalty fare exemption pass and closes the following:
Tottenham Court Road
Crouch Hill
Canonbury
Swiss Cottage
Sorry, all. Too good a chance to pass up.
Oh, cruel fate.
By a matter of two minutes… TWO MINUTES!!!
Rats.
Well, well played, Wargamer. And Swiss Cottage, the ultimate blow. Had I merely finished typing two minutes faster, your play would have been ashes.
Instead, obviously, my entire clever scheme is not only exposed, but no longer possible.
::sigh::
Very well, Bromley-by-Bow, and a loss of all tokens for me.
Just one question, Wargamer – perhaps it’s obvious from your user name, but how in the blazes did you figure out the orthogonal block would collapse at Swiss Cottage? I assume no one’s communicating behind the scene here, and I don’t suggest otherwise, but to divine that block ahead of time and undo it is… well, I almost feel as though we should begin quoting the Wargamer’s Gambit at the SDMB '08 !
It was a masterful stroke. I’m in awe of the plays going on today.
Thanks, Wargamer - to echo my PM of a few hours ago. Only kidding, collusion in Internet MC was outlawed at the Verona Congress in 2006 - the punishment if caught is to be forced to stand in the ticket queue at Victoria every Sunday night for 2 years, with only one cashier available and a line of 25 people - so it has to be a pretty high-stakes game before you can even contemplate it.
Bromley-by-Bow is a very subtle move, played in such a carefree, innocuous fashion that I think there must be more to it than Bricker is letting on. I think I can paradox the situation by calling for an early Putney Bridge, which gives me Segmentation Options.
Elementary my dear Bricker, I certainly think that Fermat’s Last Gambit should easily point you to the inescapable logical conclusion that, eventually, ALL orthogonal blocks collapse on Swiss Cottage. The higher order loop formed by the junction of the Docklands and Jubilee lines, have, as Fermat showed, resulted in the mathematical paradox. I know that most true grognards forsake something so mundane as mere maths, when they play MC, but in a game as high level as this, I find myself struggling for every token and scrap I can find.
So, where are we? Hmmm, I believe I will now take my Pass, and forswear a play at this particuliar moment, as my astrologer tells me the Moon is in the wrong house to make a station jump-straddle-hop. I will await more propitious omens before proceeding.
If unlocked after Putney Bridge in doubleoughts, I never miss an opportunity to play Cockfosters. It may not appear terribly strategic, but it’s a near superstition of mine you’ll have to forgive.