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Help For Zèrtz

Introduction to playing Zèrtz on Richards PBeM-server.

This is not an introduction to Zèrtz. If you don't know the game yet but want to learn then you can go and buy it or check the gipf-website (www.gipf.com) for the rules. In any case, you should check the gipf-website to know how the moves of a game are written down.

CHALLENGE

The challenge-command for Zèrtz is the same as for most games, just give the userid of both players and the fun can start.

Example:
zertz challenge useridplayer1 useridplayer2

options:

  • If you use the previous command you will play Zèrtz according to the tournament rules. If you want to play with the standard rules then you have to use the '-standard' option.

    Example:
    zertz challenge -standard useridplayer1 useridplayer2

  • If a player has only one possible capture-move, then the server will automatically make this move without user-intervention. If you you want to make these moves yourself then you have to use the '-noforcedmoves' option when starting the game.

    Example:
    zertz challenge -noforcedmoves useridplayer1 useridplayer2

    MOVE

    The move-command for Zèrtz is a little more complicated than most games.
    The basic command is of the form:
    zertz move gamenr userid password zertzmove

    When playing a game of Zèrtz, there are 2 possible actions. Depending on the situation on the board, the implementation will indicate what must be done to go on with the game.

    1. Normal move, bring a new marble into play and remove a tile
           ex.
               gc3,a1
      

      The first character of your move indicates the color of the marble (W for white, G for gray, B for black) you want to add to the board, followed by the position where you want to place it. Then a ',' and the position of the tile you want to remove.

      There are situations where you can't remove a free tile because there are none. In that case you should use 'xx' for the position of the tile to be removed.

    2. Capture one or more marbles
           ex.
               e1-e3-c4
      

      The first position indicates the marble that will jump over other marbles to capture them. After this come separated by '-' the positions it is jumping to.

    UNDO

    If you made a wrong move, you can correct this with the UNDO-command. But your opponent will have to agree with you.
    command:
    zertz move gamenr userid password undo
    your opponent will then get the question if he wants to accept the undo-command.
    if he agrees he should reply with:
    zertz move gamenr userid password accept
    if he doesn't want the undo to take place:
    zertz move gamenr userid password reject

    How to interpret the ASCII-representation of a zèrtz-game

    • Every hexagon represents one of the tiles that constitute a zèrtz-board. If a tile is removed from the board then the hexagon is replaced by a dot.

    • White, gray and black marbles are shown on the board as the letters W, G and B in the middle of a hexagon.

    • The following drawing shows a typical game-situation:
                         A4 B5 C6 D7 E6 F5 G4 
                                  __          
                               __/G \__       
                            __/  \__/  \      
                           /  \__/  \__/.  __ 
                         . \__/  \__/  \__/  \
                            . \__/  \__/  \__/
                         .  __/  \__/B \__/  \
                         __/  \__/  \__/  \__/
                        /W \__/B \__/  \__/  \
                        \__/  \__/  \__/  \__/
                        /B \__/  \__/. \__/  \
                        \__/  \__/  \   . \__/
                           \__/  \__/.        
                              \__/  \         
                                 \__/         
                                              
                         A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 
      

    • Coordinates on a zèrtz-board consist of a letter (A-G) and a number (1-7).

      The letter indicates the column, the number is the position within the column when you start counting from the bottom. The following drawing should make things clear:

                         A4 B5 C6 D7 E6 F5 G4 
                                  __          
                               __/D7\__       
                            __/C6\__/E6\__    
                         __/B5\__/D6\__/F5\__ 
                        /A4\__/C5\__/E5\__/G4\
                        \__/B4\__/D5\__/F4\__/
                        /A3\__/C4\__/E4\__/G3\
                        \__/B3\__/D4\__/F3\__/
                        /A2\__/C3\__/E3\__/G2\
                        \__/B2\__/D3\__/F2\__/
                        /A1\__/C2\__/E2\__/G1\
                        \__/B1\__/D2\__/F1\__/
                           \__/C1\__/E1\__/   
                              \__/D1\__/      
                                 \__/         
                                              
                         A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 
      

      The extension to the PBeM-server for playing Zèrtz was written by Kurt Van den Branden (kurtvdb@pandora.be). If you find a problem or a bug, let him know.

      o Zèrtz, (C) and (R) Don & Co nv, 1999. All rights reserved.

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