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[pbmserv] New game: Visavis
Visavis, another nice connection game by Michail Antonow, has been added to
the server. Like TwixT, players place bridges between pegs on the board in
order to join their edges.
visavis challenge yourname camb
visavis challenge camb yourname
camb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help For the Game Of Visavis
Introduction
Welcome to the network Visavis server. The Visavis challenge command
is described here. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv
games.
visavis challenge [-size=n] userid1 userid2
Starts a new game between userid1 and userid2 of the specified board
size (range 5..25, default 25).
Rules
Two players, X and O, take turns placing a bridge between any two of
their adjacent pegs not blocked by an existing bridge. The first
player to complete a connected chain of bridges between their sides
wins. Ties are not possible.
For instance, X has placed a bridge between the two 'x' pegs C5 and E3
in the following example. This move blocks O from playing a bridge
between the two 'o' pegs at C4 and E4.
X
A B C D E F G H I
1 x x x x 1
2 o o o o o 2
3 x x x x 3
O 4 o o/ o o o 4 O
5 x x x x 5
6 o o o o o 6
7 x x x x 7
A B C D E F G H I
X
The next example shows a game won by X, who has completed a continuous
chain of 'x' bridges from the top edge to the bottom edge.
X
x x x x x x x x x x x x
o o o o o o \o o o o o o o
x x x x x x x---x---x x x x
o o o o o o \o/ o o \o o o o
x x x x x x x x x x x x
o o o o o o o o o/ o o o o
x x x x x x x x x x x x
o o o o o o/ \o o/ o o o o o
x x x x\ x x---x x x x x x
o o o o o \o o o o o o o o
x x x /x x x x /x\ x x x x
o o o---o o/ o o---o o---o---o o o
O x /x x x x x x x x x\ x x O
o---o---o o \o o o o o o o o o
x x\ x x x x x---x x x\ x /x
o o o---o \o o o/ o \o o o o o
x x x\ x---x---x /x\ x x x\ /x x
o o o o---o o---o o \o o---o o o
x x x x\ /x x x x /x x x x
o o o o o o o o/ o o o o o
x x x x x x---x x\ x x x x
o o o o o o \o o---o o o o o
x x x x x x x x x x x x
o o o o o o/ o o o o o o o
x x x x x x x x x x x x
X
Notes
Visavis is a Shannon switching game on the edges and belongs to the
same class of connection games as Bridg-It and TwixT (and to some
extend Trellis). Even though a trivial winning strategy has been found
for Bridg-It, Visavis consists of a more complex system of overlaid
triangular grids allowing richer variety of play, and no winning
strategy is known.
Michail Antonow points out that different tactics must be applied when
blocking an opponent's rightward path as opposed to a leftward path.
The path can be abruptly cut by a single piece in one direction only;
in the opposite direction a single bridge will only divert the path
and two bridges are needed for a successful block.
The rules state that a bridge can be placed between any two adjacent
pegs of the same colour. However since it can never help to place a
bridge between the opponent's pegs, then it is assumed that all moves
are made between the current player's pegs. This also simplifies the
board notation.
The original rules only provide 120 bridges (60 per player). After the
120th move players would have to scavenge an existing bridge of theirs
from the board and play it elsewhere. This feature has not been
implemented.
Syntax
Horz (O) moves first. The move syntax is:
visavis move board# userid password coord
where "coord" specifies an empty and unblocked bridge position between
two of the current player's pegs (eg F4) not the pegs themselves.
References and History
Visavis was invented by Michail Antonow in 1995 and copyrighted in
1996. It was originally called Nexus.
Implementation and help file by Cameron Browne, December 2003.