This post follows this introduction.

Note: In Sygo white begins and coordinates are A-S (including both 'I' and 'J'). For obvious reasons a regular goban will be used here.

Sygo game Christian Freeling - Michael Stevenson
This game (as well as the rules) can also be found at mindports.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 1 4 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and are somewhat higher up than one would expect in Go. As Michael remarks: "the safety and territory reasons to play in corners are greatly diminished compared to go" (this being his second game).
I moved for that very reason but somehow triggered what I wanted to prevent when black moved . A local reply would leave the white stones to close to be effective in future growth (by getting in each others way), Blocking black's prerogative by growing, apart from being premature by current insights, would have the same drawback. And it would trade 'the initiative' for two crammed groups of two, which seemed even less desirable.

Note: For the sake of argument, 'the initiative' in te early opening is defined as 'being the player to move with an equal number of groups on the board'. White initially has the initiative and as long as neither player has made a growing move, the turn-balancing rule entitles him to hand it over to black for the benefit of growing a few stones, as it entitles black to forfeit it for the same reason.

So I decided to change the scenery with , not really expecting black to use his prerogative of growth and placement just yet. But he did, , and not to put too fine a point on it. The combined shape was, I confess, a bit intimidating, particularly the two groups bearing down on white's upperleft. I felt if black started a local fight he would build in the process while I would be caved in. So where strategy suggests that I should keep 'the initiative' and place a single, tactics led me to defend:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm7
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 X . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . 3 1 O . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . 4 2 X . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X 2 4 . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 6 . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

By this time I felt seriously outsmarted. Further growth seemed to be in black's favor so I needed more singles to establish some overall influence.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm13
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . 1 . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . O O O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X X X 2 . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 4 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X X X 2 . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X 2 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Here I felt black was stretching it a bit too far. White is one group up - that's one stone extra per growing turn - and would seem a target for attack and local initiative.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm19
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | 1 O O O . . . . 1 . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | 2 X X X X . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . 1 . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . 2 X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C X 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 X X X X X . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X X 2 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Connecting at Q8 would have robbed black of a growing option in subsequent turns, and he's behind already, so now we got life or death for two groups in the balance. Here's the subsequent fight.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 2 X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 1 O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | 5 . 1 . O X . . O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O . . 5 1 O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . 6 . . . 1 . . . . . . . 5 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . 5 O . . . . . . 2 X X O 1 5 . |
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . 5 X X 2 6 |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X X X X . . . . . O 1 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X X X 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The cuts are made and now it's a race for liberties.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm27
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 2 X X X X X 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 1 O O O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 1 . . 3 O X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O . 1 O O O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X 2 3 . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X . . . 1 . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X 4 . . O . . . . . . 1 O O . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . 3 . . O . 3 . |
$$ | . . . 2 O O 3 . . . . 4 X X X O O O 1 |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X 2 O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . 4 . . . . . O 1 2 . . |
$$ | . . . X X X X X X . . . 4 3 O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . X O 1 3 |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Note that connects two groups with two stones. That's legal as long as neither stone touches both original groups. Note also that does not grow at the rightmost group because that would speed up its doom. But it does not save the group because the bottom two liberties of the enclosed white group cannot be taken in one turn, so white has a killer.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . . . . . . 2 . . 4 . . . |
$$ | O 3 . O O X . . 3 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O . O O O O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . O . . . . . . O O O . . 3 . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . 3 O . . O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O 3 . . . X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X X O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . . . 3 O O X 1 3 |
$$ | . . . X X X X X X . . . X O O O X X C |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . X O O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

enables white to kill next move by growing at T6 and T7. Black can only take one liberty from the white group and decides to move the battle elswhere Note that at B16 prevents a potential 'Sygo seki': if white is cut of at E14 and black takes it, then white can take one of the invader's liberties, but not both.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm35
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . . . . . . X . . X 2 . . |
$$ | O O . O O X . . O , . . 2 . . , . . . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O 1 O O O O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X . . 2 O . . . . . . . . O . . 1 . |
$$ | . X X . . O . . . . . . O O O . . O . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , 1 O O . . O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O O 1 . 2 X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X X O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X 2 . . 1 O O O X O O |
$$ | . . . X X X X X X . . 2 X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . X O O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Top left the white group does the last sensible thing: connecting at E14 gives unconditional life to the group it connects to. White has no reason to capture the seven stones on the right yet because it would reduce growing options. And his growing options are already diminishing as it is, while black's are increasing. Time to invade.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X X 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . . . . . . X . . X X . . |
$$ | O O . O O X . . O , . . X . . , 6 . . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . 6 . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O O O O O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . X . . X O . . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X X . 6 O . . . . . . O O O . . O . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , O O O . . O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O O O 6 X X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X X O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X X . 6 O O O O X O O |
$$ | . . 6 X X X X X X . . X X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . X O O O |
$$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | . 6 2 3 . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . 5 4 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Invasions are still fairly uncharted territory. In this case the black heavy group hovering above it isn't a sufficient defense in the active sense, like growing towards the invader. So black follows suit in single placement till . And now white must follow suit.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm43
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X X X 2 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . . 1 3 . . X . 4 X X . . |
$$ | O O . O O X . . O , . . X . 3 , X 2 . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . X . O . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O O O O O . . 4 2 . O . . 3 . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . 1 . |
$$ | . X . . X O . . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X X 4 X O . . . . . . O O O . . O . |
$$ | . . 2 3 1 O . . . 1 O O O 2 4 O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O O O X X X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X X O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X X . X O O O O X O O |
$$ | . 2 X X X X X X X . . X X O O O X X . |
$$ | . 3 . . . . . . 4 . . . X . . X O O O |
$$ | 4 1 O , . . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | 2 X X O 1 3 . . . . . . . 2 1 O O . . |
$$ | 3 1 O X X 2 4 . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

By this time it's clear that black is more successful topright than white is bottomleft.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm51
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X X X X X . . . 2 . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . 2 O O 1 . X . X X X . . |
$$ | O O . O O X . . O , . . X 1 O , X X . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . X . O . . 1 . |
$$ | O O O O O O O O O . 2 X X . O . . O . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X . . X O . . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X X X X O . . . . . . O O O . . O . |
$$ | . . X O O O . . . O O O O X X O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O O O X X X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . 1 . 2 . X X O X X X X |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X X . X O O O O X O O |
$$ | . X X X X X X X X . . X X O O O X X . |
$$ | 1 O . 2 . . . . X . . . X 2 . X O O O |
$$ | W O O , 1 . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | W W W O O O 2 . . . . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | O O O X X X X . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White is now forced to capture the rightmost group, further hampering his growing options. The bottomleft white group is dead.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm53
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X X X X X X X X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | O O O O O X . X O O O 1 X 1 X X X . . |
$$ | O O . O O X . . O , . . X O O , X X . |
$$ | O . O . O X . . O . . . X . O . 1 O . |
$$ | O O O O O O O O O . X X X . O . . O . |
$$ | X X X X X X O . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X . . X O . . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . X X X X O . . . . . . O O O . . O . |
$$ | . . X O O O . . . O O O O X X O . O . |
$$ | . . . X O O O O O X X X X X X O O O O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . O 1 X . X X O W W W W |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X X . X O O O O W O O |
$$ | . X X X X X X X X . . X X O O O W W 1 |
$$ | O O . X 1 . . . X . . . X X . X O O O |
$$ | O O O , O . . . . , . . X X X X O . . |
$$ | O O O O O O X . . . . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | O O O X X X X . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Of course at E5 is quite useless. The applet count is now w110 b83, but the applet only counts stones. The 17 stone dead white would turn it to w93 b100 and black has the majority of the vacant territory under his control. It would seem clear that being a good Go player is no great obstacle for playing Sygo. White resigns.

My own efforts at Symple and Sygo are as one would expect: slightly disappointing. Maybe being an inventor is indeed a handicap for a player. At best the two seem unrelated. I'm deplorable at Chess, mediocre at Draughts, unable to contribute anything significant to Go, and it took me years to reach an acceptable level in Havannah.
But I enjoy playing just the same, thanks Michael and congrats.

_________________
cogito ergo erro

Christian, would you like a Sygovich game?

It's one move a day using diagram code, right?
We won't need a prisoner count, but we will need the stone count. If you register at mindsports I can mirror the game there (the applet keeps the stone count, if nothing else, it's a check).

I marvel at how you do it, playing so many different games and analyzing too. I hate analyzing and forget a game the moment it ends. I'd like to say that despite that I'm not a bad player, but that would be too forgiving I fear. At the moment I play Symple because I'm intruiged by its strategical width, Sygo because it's far enough from Go to be its own game, yet close enough to be considered a variant, and fast, and othelloanian without the usual drawbacks, and Havannah because I got myself into a predicament regarding its programmability, ten years ago .
That's quite enough for me, never mind analyzing.

Please start a Sygovich and I'll find it .

_________________
cogito ergo erro

I enjoy lots of games, mostly as intellectual challenges of thinking about things in a new way - I find it could practice for my professional environment and my life generally

Loaded: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=5583

These are general thoughts about Sygo, but I'm hiding them because they might indirectly bear on Topazg and Christian's game. I don't know what the protocol is for strategic insights about such a new game when there's a Malkovitch going on.

_________________
Occupy Babel!