give an example pls
To prevent a board repetition, for example.
Or to commit suicide out of revenge after somebody refused to draw, making them lose.
2 Likes
But is there any benefit to not just pass?
For the purposes of superko, a non-pass move might be required to actually change the position (although in some rulesets, a pass lifts all ko-bans). In ordinary go, you will only make a suicidal eye-filling move if there are no other possible moves for you, and you have to make some non-passing move. This is extremely rare, especially on larger boards there will almost always be some territory where you can throw in a stone without doing any harm to yourself.
But in Diplomatic Go I imagine that this could happen in some more likely ways. Apart from the ārevengeā mentioned by Vsotvep above, I think it could be in your interest to give another player some extra points, to motivate them to play in a way which works better for you. Here Iām thinking about a big board where you have multiple alive groups, and you can afford to sacrifice one of them for strategic advantage.
Iām not going to bother trying to construct an example right now, because Iām not very good at constructing such positions even for normal go, and for Diplomatic Go there is the added issue that we havenāt completely defined player incentives in a lot of situations. If the only incentive is win > draw > loss, itās a lot harder to construct a position where rational play demands sacrificing an unkillable group than if (for instance) each player is trying to maximize their own score on the board. Or so I think. The third issue is that Iām a beginner at Diplomatic Go and might not know what Iām talking about 
Edit: Hereās the example that inspired my initial comment. It seems to be flawed in terms of the final score, but I think the basic idea works. Maybe here I should try coming up with a better example myself, to support my not-very-well-supported argument.
4 Likes
Round 30 has ended
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@Haze_with_a_Z submitted a pass - The other players all placed at their first choices (A1, A5, D7)
- Two stones at A6 and D7 are captured
Voting (round 30)
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@Haze_with_a_Z votes for a 3-way draw excluding
@le_4TC
- No other votes were submitted
Round 31 has begun and will end on 2020-09-26T00:00:00Z
Current board state
5 Likes
le4 has 28 pts atm. who should I team up with to make them have more points?
You can try to capture my group, if you want to. Iād rather try to proceed to scoring though ^^
I could get 28 points if I completely get all the area at the top, so you could help by playing G9 and let me eat you. Only Martin can prevent me from getting 28 points, then.
If you get 28 points, then my group gets captured and the game continues for another 20 or so moves between you and le_4TC. I propose we all pass, go to scoring and move on to the past-game discussion and possibly a new game 
Why deny us our fun just to finish this game more quickly?
Iām not very motivated to play another game if there are not some better rules motivating play when in a losing position. Itās kind of pathetic like this.
2 Likes
Apologies, I didnāt mean to deny your fun.
Edit: @Vsotvep, I understand that your long-term plans were to eventually capture whites group. Looking back at the game, you played A6 in Round 12 to shorten the eye-space, and B9 in Round 16 with the same intention. I presume you built your plan with the assumption that I would do anything to try and get a draw. But Iām convinced that a draw is impossible for me, for you and le_4TC would rather capture my group and fight for the top spot instead (especially if I insist on being part of the draw). I apologise for my wish to not get captured instead.
Not only the decisions at the end are important, but all decisions made across the game.
1 Like
It might not have been clear, but I meant it more that a game for another 20 or so moves between me and le_4TC sounds like fun, not that you are trying to block one of my plans (go ahead, thatās the game, right?).
I played A6 and B9 to make sure white was limited to two eyes, but not with intention to kill. That came only afterwards.
As stated, Iām not too sure a draw is impossible for you. The optimal way for me to capture you is this:
I donāt know if le_4TC would agree to playing that, since it looks like a distinct advantage for me.
In that position, if I donāt want to capture, wouldnāt the game go to scoring and be a draw between you and me? With me having 28 points already, I donāt see a way for a 3-way draw anymore.
1 Like
Oh, yes, youāre right.
Martin could threaten to play for suicide, but that might not be so bad for either of us.
I think Martin can also still try to make D8 an eye, and go for securing 28 points.
I donāt want to commit suicide.
1 Like
@Vsotvep, I salute your effort. Maybe you can still team up with Haze and cooperate to capture my group
I donāt want to capture your group, yet, Iām not sure I can win from le_4TC after that.
If I try that, I would have both you and le_4TC against me. That would be reckless by me and, frankly speaking, impossible.
I know you want me to think that I still have a chance to avoid a loss. And I praise your attempts to try and change my mind. Ironically the fact that my group is limited to two eyes (thanks to you) prevents me from going for any draw attempt.
No, I think that I wouldnāt have given up in your situation. If Iām going to lose anyway, why not try to do the impossible first?
I havenāt given up on avoiding elimination.