I would like to start a game of Amazons+Go.
This has been discussed in that topic: Chess plus Go
Now the time for discussion is over, and the time to play has started! Rules may evolve in the future, especially as we learn from our experience. I have already sketched rules for this game in some detail below. However, since this is the first game and since I don’t exclude the possibility that what I wrote is nonsense, the rules can evolve during the game if both players agree.
Rules
- There are two players, White and Black. Black plays first.
- The game is played on a 11x11 goban.
- There are 4 types of pieces: White go stones, Black go stones, White Amazons and Black Amazons.
- The game begins with 4 Amazons of each colour already on the board, and no go stones.
- Black and White stones cannot move, and live and die as in standard go. Amazons move, are immortal, and are ignored for the purpose of counting liberties of go stones.
- A player’s turn is in two steps: (1) Move an Amazon. (2) Throw a go stone.
- A player who can make a move must make a move. Players cannot pass their turn, except as described below under “komi”.
- The game ends when either a player resigns, or the player on turn has no legal move. The other player wins.
- Komi: The White player is allowed to pass their turn, but only up to 7 times total during the game. The Black player is never allowed to pass their turn.
Making a move
On their turn, a player must take the following two steps in order:
- Move an Amazon
The player chooses one of their four Amazons and moves it on the board. The Amazon moves like a Queen in Chess: in a straight line orthogonally or diagonally. The Amazon must land on an empty intersection. The path of the Amazon must be empty: the Amazon cannot jump over other Amazons nor over go stones.
- Throw a go stone
The player plays a go stone of their colour on the board. The stone must be played on an empty intersection. The path from the moved Amazon to the played go stone must be a straight line, orthogonally or diagonally, that only contains empty intersections. In other words, the go stone is “thrown” by the Amazon that just moved, and cannot be thrown over obstacles.
After playing the go stone, standard go capturing rules apply, and suicide is allowed: if an enemy chain of stones has no liberties, it is removed. Then, if a friendly chain of stones has no liberties, it is removed. When counting liberties, only go stones are considered: intersections on which there is an Amazon count as empty. That is, a go stone which is adjacent to an Amazon always has at least one liberty.
End of game
The game ends when any of the following happens:
- A player resigns. Then, the other player wins.
- Black cannot move an Amazon on their turn. Then, White wins.
- White has already passed their turn 7 times and cannot move an Amazon on their turn. Then, Black wins.
Important note: if a player can move an Amazon, then they can throw a go stone.
Important note: it’s possible that this is broken and that we should use go scoring rules instead of this “no legal move” rule. Since this is the first game, I am open to changing the rules during the game if both players agree.
The board
We will play using Vsotvep’s multicolour go tool. Black and White stones are represented by Black and White stones. Black Amazons are represented by Blue stones. White Amazons are represented by Yellow stones.
The board begins in this position:
To make a move:
- Post a reply to this thread with the coordinates of the starting and landing intersection of the Amazon, and the coordinates of the played go stone. Example: “L4-D4, B8”.
- If possible, add a screenshot of the updated board, and a link to the updated board, using Vsotvep’s tool. If you don’t, that’s okay, I’ll update the board for you.
- If possible, ping the other player to tell them it’s their turn, for instance write “@ArsenLapin1” in your post.
Kibitz
Currently there is no rule against kibitz on this thread. This might change in the future. In particular, discussion of game rules is welcome.
The players
- Black: ArsenLapin1
- White: antonTobi
(I don’t have much Amazons experience)
