I was suggesting getting to a point where each player has 27 points, which is essentially a similar position to this.
It depends on if le_4TC would be okay with taking A9, and if Martin’s last eye was A6 or B6. I’m actually not sure if I would’ve tried to eliminate or taken the draw. I think I’m nudging towards eliminating Martin in this case.
Regarding the above position, there is also a question of how to reach it.
If Blue’s plan is to make a draw, then allowing White to fill up all the points seems indeed best, because then Red knows that Blue is not interested in trying to capture White to subsequently try to win, making a draw appear more likely.
However if Blue’s plan is actually to capture White, they should start grabbing points themself as soon as Whites points are at least as many as Red’s, in order to maximize their chances to win after White gets captured.
That is, unless Blue has learnt from White that this is the only plan they would agree with, thus making it the only plan Blue has to capture White.
Hm … I was assuming that White had to fill the dame points between White and Blue from the left to the right (or at least in a way such that White is connected at all times), meaning that even if White and Blue made an agreement to reach this position, Blue could break this agreement as soon as White has enough points to rival Red’s area.
Edit: And things get even more unclear when considering how Red may try to disrupt this plan.
I’m worried that Vsotvep will betray me and cut at C7.
Trying to help out Vsotvep a little bit with a (third choice) move at H5.
He’s not asking for help, so I won’t.
Me, Vsotvep, and Vagabond could do an alliance, but D4 has enough liberties so that even if the G3 is pressured, le_4TC will still be able to survive, so not much in it for me.
-Round 8
I think me and Haze will do a fight in the lower left, but I will ultimately win, as Haze can’t neglect their group in the right. -Round 9
I will play one more move to eliminate the Haze threat, and then do an alliance with Vsotvep and Vagabond to damage le_4TC / Haze. Since I will be leaving, I leave this to my successor. -Round 12
@martin3141. here are the private notes of @HHG regarding the Diplomatic Go game.
@HHG, please do not add more to this log, since you are now withdrawn from the game.
Round 13
I believe that Haze_with_a_Z and le_4TC collaborated in order to capture the two white stones in the lower left in round 12.
Round 14
I had envisioned a plan where all four opponents teamed up against le_4TC to try and capture his stones. That is why I intentionally collided with Yellow on E1 and told Haze to play J2. Vsotvep was in on it, but he ultimately betrayed our “alliance”. What a shame. I now believe that le_4TC is going to win.
Round 16
Given that Haze’s group is going to get captured eventually (which significantly increases Vsotvep’s territory), I believe that both Vsotvep and le_4TC have very good chances right now. In order to win, I will have to increase my territory, but I don’t know how. Maybe it’s possible if one of them is captured, but that seems far off.
Round 17
Le_4TC has close to 25 points, which is almost a third of the board. it’s not looking like we’ll be able to capture his group, and my group has bad eye shape. I feel like my chances are very low.
Round 18
The last Round was a pretty big turning point. It seems that Vsotvep trusted le_4TC’s word that le_4TC would play G5. This is why Vsotvep played 1. E8 (presumably expecting to collide with either me or Haze) and 2. J6, hoping to capture Haze’s stones.
But le_4TC did not keep his word and instead played 1. J3. I expected this move - if they had placed a stone there, le_4TC would become too strong. That is why I played 1. J3 to collide with them, and told Haze to play 1. E8 (expecting a collision with Vsotvep) and 2. J3.
I believe this worked out pretty well for me, but le_4TC still has a significant lead. I’m worried because I have both worse eye-shape and less territory.
Round 19
The last round was a pretty big set-back - only le_4TC profited. I realized that fighting for E8 is playing into le_4TC’s hands. Now I am trying to negotiate with Vsotvep and cooperate with them to try and get a draw.
The main idea to achieve a draw is to threaten the player with the most points with the cooperation of their opponents and make them vote for a draw. One clear-cut example that I thought of looks like this:
Orange has 29 Points and Blue has 27 Points in the top-right. However Orange cannot remove the three blue stones in the top-left from the board. If White refuses to take them off or mark them as dead during the agreement phase, then Blue wins with 30 points. White could also capture them, handing the win to Orange.
So White would be the kingmaker here and could try to make the other players vote for a draw. If either of the other players doesn’t vote for draw, then White would allow the other player to win. After all, if achieving a draw is impossible, White has no preference as to which opponent wins.
Round 23
I do not understand why Vsotvep played 1.J7 - instead I expected them to play 1.G5 or 1.H6. Now we’re in a dangerous situation where, if the two blue stones get captured, it is highly likely that le_4TC will win. Haze told me that he will cooperate with me and not try to capture the two blue stones, but if he decides to cooperate with le_4TC instead, then we’ll be in big trouble.
On the bright side, I believe that Vsotvep is now willing to cooperate with my plan to threaten to capture le_4TC’s group.
Furthermore I’m not sure what Maharani will play - they’re sort of a wild card at this point. I tried to start a discussion with them - they greeted me but haven’t responded since.
Round 28
I have given up on trying to avoid a loss. Instead I have set myself the goal to try and avoid my group getting captured. Let’s see if I can succeed.
