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pretzalz, on 2011-January-10, 13:10, said:
Are there different variations of the rules or was I just taught the wrong rules?
Yes.
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a) The scoring is completely different from how I learned it.
There are two basic types of scoring: area (chinese) and territory (japanese). Given normal play, the results will be the same +/- 1 Point. However, Territory-scoring rules are much more complicated as they require the use of hypothetical sequences, rather than allowing players to play it out in case of disagreement.
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Are suicide moves legal? I had learned that they were explicitly illegal, but the rules seem to explicitly endorse them.Yes, they are legal in these rules. The tactical implications are small, making a difference at most 1 game in 1000.
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c) The end of game rule seems a complete mess. You agree the game is over, disagree on dead stones, disagree on whose turn it is, thereby throwing the scoring into complete chaos. Additionally the method of deciding the game is over seems confrontational[instead of say two consecutive passes ending the game]. Can players pass back and forth in a game of chicken while not agreeing the game is over thereby extending the game indefinitely?
In practice, if both players pass, they effectively agree that there are no further worthwhile moves. They can of course pass indefinitely, if both are happy to do so, but neither has an advantage from doing so (there is a mathematical proof for this for an even more formalized version of these rules).
If it matters whose turn it is, then there are still worthwhile moves to be played, so you should not have agreed to end the game. If you would not be perfectly happy for opponent to resume play, then play on. If both players missed something big enough to swing the game, then neither deserves to win. In practice, this does not happen except possibly with people who have been playing for less than a month.
