Well, here it is. I kept the formatting as consistent as possible.
As you can see there are a few issues:
Tables have to be added manually (Iāll do that later)
Game list has no headers, does not show player colors or game results (Iāll raise this issue on the GitHub page, maybe the devs will be willing to add this functionality)
Game list does not display players properly. I was afraid this might be the case, since tournament records precede rengo on OGSās development (Iāll raise this issue as well).
Since the tournament went great (I wouldnāt say beyond my expectations, because it was well within my expectations ), I suggest playoffs to declare final positions, but maybe participants will prefer to use the result between the teams that tie.
I would like the teams who tie to play playoffs
I would like the teams who tie to use their played game outcome to decide positions
Edit: I just canāt cope with the extra confusion of trying to think about what my partner is thinking about when I canāt keep track of my own thoughts at the best of times.
Ideally in pair go you know your partner and have some idea how they play. In that case, the strongest of the two has the responsibility of āsteering the shipā, by playing moves that may be stronger but still expects their partner to follow up.
It is truly a team effort. I think you might have a better experience playing alongside someone you know reasonably well.
(I assume that the teams for this tournament were sort of quickly put together, but without having practiced with each other much, am I wrong?)
Donāt be disappointed by the results. Handicaps were H-2 (H-3 for team 6), so it was expected that stronger teams would get better results.
And yes, Rengo is a different game, you also need to understand your partnerās intentionā¦ Which we also failed to do several times in our team.
Iām afraid I might overwhelm you with reviews soon, but I think we should do it after the last game is over too. And that one could still take a while.
The results I donāt mind. Itās more the process of the game. I usually play fast correspondence and enjoy the flow of those games usually (regardless of the result!)
These games were fast enough but almost each move gave me a bit of a jarring sensation while I figured out what was going on.
I think playing on the app didnāt help where I had no idea about the sequence of play.
But I donāt mean to sound like I thought it was a terrible chore or anything. It was fun in a way but just not a type of game I have much interest in playing again.
In general I donāt seek to play go variants so this is not unexpected. Nice to try it out in a safe space but just not my cup of teaā¦
Edit: I should maybe add that my only other experience of Rengo is two IRL games. One abandoned due to not being able to keep up with the move order and the other played out but with similar difficulties at points. Online Rengo is at least an improvement from that point of view!
I wonāt overwhelm anyone, so here are quick impressions:
Team 1 vs Team 3: was surprised my partner didnāt follow up after the shoulder hit (move 19), but it turns out it wasnāt a big mistake. I was a bit afraid after move 81 which removed liberties. I thought a long time and believed my move 83 was the best moveā¦ but that move lost 20 points according to Katago. After we killed stones in the upper right corner, the game became easy.
Team 2 vs Team 3: the beginning was difficult after two failed josekis on the lower left and the upper left. I thought we needed to make bold moves around move 81. I was surprised that Martin let us capture 4 stones at move 100 but it was maybe calculated: overall I think Martin is a quite strong Rengo player, as he generally plays moves which are at the same time sharp and easy to follow for his partner.
Team 3 vs Team 4: Joseki mistake on the lower left at move 14; move 18 shouldnāt tenuki. Move 66 was a bad peep which removed liberties on the group C5. Move 78 was slow (no need to capture a stone since the white group was already quite safe) but fortunately for us, Black responded. Then I thought move 80 was necessary to repair the lack of liberties of C5, but it was a -9pt mistake! Move 82 should have been at R18 (corners are big, especially when itās about the safety of a group). I knew that but somehow continued with my partnerās idea instead of playing at R18.
Team 3 vs Team 5: Joseki mistake (move 18 should be at C2). But the main highlight of the game was the fight in the lower right. In a nutshell, my partner didnāt read the life and death status correctly, but our opponents didnāt either, so we got an advantage when I finally killed the corner at move 148 (despite having made big mistakes around move 122.
Team 3 vs Team 6: The beginning was difficult, until move 106 which should have captured with M3. The invasion (move 117) didnāt work and Giaās move 118 was a surprisingly good punishment. However move 126 was another big mistake and the game became easy for White after that. Then I felt that Gia tried many times to find sente moves, maybe she was afraid to make a mistake that I would punish just afterwards, however these āsenteā moves were often not very good because they generally helped White to repair its weaknesses, and at worst they werenāt sente at all like move 138.
I generally have no interest in go variants (go is hard enough), but I love rengo. This is consistent with my love of team participation in general. Ironically, my year-around sport starting in high school was distance running, but even then I preferred the cross-country team over track, where I liked the relays better than the individual competition.
Rengo with one or more stronger players is almost as good as a teaching game, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to live up to their expectations as I attempt to figure out what they want me to do. At the same time, playing with weaker teammates (most of mine have timed out) is an edifying exercise in tolerance, as I realize that I must appear the same to my stronger teammates.
In this tournament, as in previous games when I was uncertain about the choice of strategic direction, I have tried to play a sente move to shift the decision to my stronger teammate. This has usually worked. I am not revealing a secret here, as it is noted in the Malkovich logs of several completed games.