Regarding the rules of Minishogi: Repetition

@Toadofsky

Personally, I think it is hard to code for the situation b), but if u believe it could be done, I guess it is fine. Like, "there is a move that is not the repetition that is possible, but it would be disadvantageous for sente to play that." In this case, it should be decided that sente loses according to the rules, even if sente wants to argue that other moves are suicidal for him. Because, that was the rule of Minishogi, and the verdict should not be changed because of this claim by Sente.

As for the situation a), I think in the same way as b), sente should not use that as an excuse because that could be considered a strategy used by gote to win (Forced a 4-fold repetition). But I am more willing to accept this than the sub-situation I talked about above.

Hell, personally, I think it is better to keep it simple and Sente loses if it is a 4-fold repetition (Except for perpetual check by gote) regardless of what kind (easier to code too). That was just the disadvantage that sente has to accept for being the first mover of the game. But, of course, the Devs decide. I would not be too against it no matter what you decide about that as long as it is reasonable enough.

About your last point, in my opinion, that was actually the point of the rule. Gote would try to force a repetition to win (as one possible strategy). Sente would be forced to start the first attack when he sees the chance even if he is a bit disadvantageous as the first attacker. That is the point of that rule: To make a player starts an attack.

Legal 4-fold repetition is stupid in that games will always end in an easy and boring draw among the good players because no one is forced to start a bit of their disadvantegous attacks.

This is all just my personal opinion on the matter. All the final decision lies with the Devs.

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Interesting, this is the sort of explanation I was seeking... I suppose if being the first player is advantageous, your simpler rule works well.

31

@Toadofsky

Well, in the final analysis, Gote is a bit better because of this rule even after considering the first mover's advantage. (At the very least, among the top engines, but we are humans, aren't we?) However, this is the best we could (our predecessors could) do to make Minishogi fun and interesting, and not a boring draw all the times. The alternative to this little disadvantageous rule for sente is a boring draw, and I am sure no one wants that, especially, since being chosen as a sente or a gote is a completely random matter most of the time in Lishogi.

Of course, if the Devs think they could do a better job than the predecessors, I do not mind them thinking up and using a better new set of rules.

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