As expected, the Great Golden Empire moves armies to G4
Next is @martin3141
1 Like
Is the outcome of this game already determined?
If so, do we want to call it instead of playing it out?
1 Like
To the Blue empire @martin3141, will you allow the Green empire @yebellz a chance to outlast the Red empire?
1 Like
I’m not entirely sure. I think that you’ve raised the key question here:
@martin3141, would you be willing to help me get to 2nd place? I think we could share some points in the middle, and perhaps you could help clear the Orange and Cerulean stones in the bottom-left. I believe that we could both have enough to outlast Red.
@NeilAgg, I think that your stone at A1 puts you already in a tenuous position to be unavoidably eliminated next. For the best potential outcome, I think I have to play at J5 in order to ensure further access to some central area to help outlast Red. I hope that you understand. Thank you for all of your help in this game.
2 Likes
I understand I am in 4th place. That is not a problem.
Looking at the board carefully, I think it might be a bad idea for Blue to allow Green to outlive Red. Red can suicide their large group and give Green the win.
2 Likes
Yeah, I saw that too, but didn’t want to say it out loud…
I was anticipating that Red might speak up and offer that threat in response to my proposal to deter Blue, but Red has been quite silent lately, so I was hoping that they might not.
2 Likes
Oops, sorry!
1 Like
I was too lazy to think about diplomacy recently 
Is it actually possible for Blue to limit Green enough that Red gets 2nd place? It seems to me that Green is already ahead of Red in territory.
So it seems like my correct play is this: For now, I will continue to fill in territory. When I’m down to two eyes I will, if possible, place a stone inside Blue’s territory in a way that keeps 2 liberties:
My suggestion to Blue is to keep the whole F2-H2 area empty for this purpose (so that I have 3 available moves there), and to refrain from taking the D5 liberty (so that Green cannot capture at D1).
If Blue puts my stones into atari, I will fill one of my eyes on the next move to give Green the victory. Thus it is not in Green’s interest to follow up a Blue atari by capturing me, since that would only give Green second place.
Once Green is eliminated, Blue does not have to worry about me taking the first place, since even if Green suicides one of the groups adjacent to me, Blue can simply capture G1 to eliminate me.
I believe that if I act according to this plan, Blue can ensure first place by giving me second place, and if Blue does not cooperate with the plan, Blue will not get first place.
Any flaws in that reasoning? 
(I should note that there are some subtleties in the endgame and it’s a very close call whether Red can outlast Green even with Blue’s cooperation. Thus I encourage Blue to leave as much margin as possible for Red inside the Blue territory)
3 Likes
I want to answer in detail, but have no time right now. I will have time in a couple of hours though.
2 Likes
This game just got more interesting 
2 Likes
1 Like
P7
@NeilAgg
1 Like
Red @antonTobi, thank you for highlighting the potential of Green to take 2nd place even without Blue’s help. I had not considered that until you stated it here – That is definitely a downside to not allowing private discussions!
The Great Golden Empire is facing defeat, there is no way to avoid that. But, we might still be able to create a lasting effect on the battle. Therefore, we move armies to G1 to make a final attempt to disrupt other generals’ plans:
Next is @martin3141
2 Likes
Now that is
3 Likes
Thank you, that was my goal. I think I should get some credit for assisting to defeat several of the other empires.
2 Likes
Haha, I realized only when making my last move that you had this option. So maybe in hindsight I should have waited a little longer before sharing that plan
I will still act in the same way as stated before. Perhaps Blue can find some way to make it work anyways.
3 Likes
I had not even considered that play until you stated it, so your unfortunate timing looks like it will end up being detrimental to yourself. But, having said that, I think it makes the game much more interesting so that is a bit of a silver lining.
1 Like
This is Blues analysis:
Blue is (almost) guaranteed to place second or first. Yellow will likely place fourth. Both Green and Red can suicide one of their groups to give the other a very good chance at first place. And both can use this as a means of negotiation against Blue.
It is because of this that, in the current situation, Blue cannot easily agree to either of your proposed plans.
However there is a way to change this.
Green (@yebellz), Red (@antonTobi), Blue extends the following proposal to both of you: Put the life of your stones in Blues hands. This will 1.) guarantee that Blue gets first place, and thus 2.) invalidate any possible threats of suicide. Then Blue can and will agree to help you try to reach second place.
With this message Blue plays F1:
Over to Green (@yebellz)
3 Likes
What do you mean by extending this proposal to both of us? Do you promise to help whoever puts a stone in your hands first?
3 Likes