Richard's PBeM Server (Monthly Post)

From: Richard Rognlie <rrognlie@eiss.erols.com>

Date: Sat, 09 Nov 1996 00:00:00 +0000

Richard's PBeM Server (pbmserv@eiss.erols.com) exists so that we can
play a
variety of games by eMail. The games currently supported are:

Chess,
 Abalone     Andantino         Ataxx and    Backgammon       QuickChess,
                               Hexxagon                      Capablanca
and
                                                             GrandChess

Connect4    Connect4x4        Connexxions  Dots and Boxes   Entropy

Gomoku      Hex               Jungle       Lines-of-Action  Neutron

Oddthello   Othello and       Pente and    Philosopher's    Plotto
             Reverse-Othello   Keryo-Pente  Football

Quadrature  Qubic             Renju        Rings            Score4

Spangles    Survival          Susan        Tanbo, Tanbo3D   Terrace
                                            and Hexbo
 Trax,
 8x8Trax and Tug-of-War        TwixT
 LoopTrax

To play games via the PBeM Server, send mail to pbmserv@eiss.erols.com
with 'help' (sans quotes) as the SUBJECT line.

In Case of Fire, contact:

* Richard Rognlie <rrognlie@eiss.erols.com>

Games supported:

Abalone

On a hexagonal board (radius 5) two to six players have armies of
marbles.
Players take turns "pushing" 1, 2 or 3 linearly connected marbles,
attempting to push their opponents' marbles off the board.

The players take turns attaching pieces of their color to two or more
other
pieces (in a hex-like lattice) in an attempt to form a line of 5 or more
pieces of their color in a straight line, or to fully enclose a group of
one
or more opponents pieces.

Ataxx and Hexxagon

On a 7x7 board, the two players of ataxx fight to controll a majority of
the
board via growth and jumps that flip opponents pieces to their color.

Hexxagon is Ataxx played on a hexagonal board of radius 5.

Backgammon

A classic. Backgammon via eMail.

Chess, QuickChess, Capablanca and GrandChess

Chess is the classic game. QuickChess is a variant played on a 5x6
board.
Capablanca and GrandChess are variants with 2 extra pieces on 8x10 and
10x10
boards respectively.

Connect4

On a 7x6 board, two players alternate dropping their pieces from the top
of
the board, down a column, attempting to form four in a row.

Connect4x4

On an 8x8 board, two players alternate inserting their pieces from the
edges
of the board, across a row or up/down a column, attempting to form four
in a
row.

Connexxions (Copyright? David Gale)

On a 13x13 board, players take turns connecting posts of their color in
an
attempt to connect their sides of the board the board while preventing
your
opponent from doing the same.

Dots and Boxes

On a 7x7 board, players take turns connecting the dots to form boxes.

Entropy is played on a 5x5 grid. Each player starts with 7 pawns and
tries
to scatter them about.

A player wins if all 7 of his or her pawns are uncharged and unisolated,
unless the 7 opposing pawns are also uncharged and unisolated, in which
case
the game is a draw. If neither player can move and no one has won, the
game
is a draw.

Gomoku

On a 15x15 board, the two players of gomoku try to be the first to
create a
line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color.

Hex

On a 11x11 diamond board, players take turns placing stones of their
color
on the board. The object is to connect your sides of the board while
preventing your opponent from doing the same.

Jungle

Jungle is sort of a cross between Chinese chess and Stratego. It's
popular
in China as a children's "stepping-stone" to Chinese chess. It's also an
interesting game in its own right.

Lines-of-Action (LoA)

The object of the game is to move all your pieces into a configuration
where
they are in a single group connected horizontal, vertically, or
diagonally.
Pieces may move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, but they must
move
exactly the number of spaces as there are pieces on the row they are
moving
in. You may not jump over opponent's pieces, nor may you land on your
own
piece. If you land on an opponent's piece, it is captured and removed
from
the game.

On a 5x5 board, the two players of neutron fight to either move the
neutron
to their back row or trap it so the opponent cannot move it.

The winner is the player who is able to trap the neutron or gets the
neutron
to his or her own back row. It does not matter if it is your opponent
who
moves the neutron to your back row -- you still win.

Oddthello

On a dynamic hexagonal lattice, two players play othello without a fixed
board. And with 6 directions for tile flipping.

On a 8x8 board, the two players of othello fight to control the majority
of
the board by outflanking and flipping their opponents pieces.

Reverse-Othello (ROthello) uses the same command structure and move
movement
notation as othello, but the object to to control the fewest points on
the
board.

Pente

On a 19x19 board, the two players of pente try to be the first to create
a
line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color *or* try to capture 5
pairs
of their opponents stones. You capture a pair of stones any time you
sandwich the stones between a pair of your stones.

Keryo-Pente

On a 19x19 board, the two players of keryo-pente try to be the first to
create a line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color *or* try to
capture 15 of their opponents' stones. You may capture 2 or 3 opponents'
stones any time you sandwich the stones between a pair of your stones.

Philosopher's Football

On a 19x15 board, players take turns either adding men to the field, or
moving the football. The football moves by jumping lines of adjacent men
(and removing them from the board). The object is to move the football
to
(or past) your goal line.

The players take turns placing one hex shaped piece in turn onto an open
space (no board). Pieces are numbered either 1, 2, 3 or 4 and you may
play a
piece of any number at each turn. The object is to place a pair of
pieces
with your number in a straight line with two pieces in between.

Starting on opposite sides of an 11 by 11 board, players take turns
moving
their checkers a single space forward, diagonally forward or sideways.
Quadrature employs a unique aggressive maneuver called "squaring". To
"square" your opponent, you move to form a rectangle on the board with
four
checkers: three of your own checkers and one enemy checker. Upon doing
this
you "convert" the enemy checker to one of your own, by removing it from
the
board and replacing it with one of your surplus off-board checkers.

Qubic

On a 4x4x4 grid, two players alternate placing their pieces, attempting
to
form four in a row in any direction.

Renju

On a 15x15 board, the two players of renju try to be the first to create
a
line of 5 stones in a row of their color.

On an unusual hexagonal board, the players of Rings, place pieces on the
board in an attempt to convert other pieces to their color and to
control
the more rings than any other player.

Score4

On a 4x4 grid of pegs, two players alternate dropping their pieces from
the
top of a peg, down a column, attempting to form four in a row in any
direction.

The two players of Spangles take turns adding triangular pieces of their
color to the board in an attempt to create a 4 piece triangle with their
pieces as the three corner pieces.

Survival is played on a hexagonal board made up of 19 numbered hexagons.
Two
players take turns placing pieces on the board with the "arrow" of the
piece
dictating the direction in which the next piece played by that player
must
be played. The first player who can not move loses the game.

On a hexagonal board (radius 5) two players take turns placing or moving
a
marble in an attempt to completely surround a opponent's marble with a
combination of marbles.

Tanbo, Tanbo3d (Copyright (c) 1995 Mark Steere) and Hexbo (Copyright (c)
1996 Rognlie/Steere)

Played on a 19x19 Go board, Tanbo crudely models a system of plant
roots.
Roots which are growing, competing for space, and dying. In beginner
play,
the roots grow much as the roots in a garden. Over time, the roots
become
shrewd and calculating.

To win, a player must eliminate all eight of his opponent's roots. One
player will always win. It's impossible to repeat a board configuration
in
Tanbo. Therefore a game cannot result in a draw.

Tanbo3d extends the game of Tanbo into three dimensions.

Hexbo is Tanbo played on a hexagonal board.

Terrace is played on an 8x8 board consisting of 16 'L' shaped terraces.
Two
corners of the board are "High" and the other corners are "Low". Each
player
has pieces of 4 sizes ('A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'). 'A' pieces are the
smallest,
'D' pieces are the largest. 'T' pieces are the same size as 'A' pieces
and
are each player's "key" piece.

The object of the game is to capture your opponent's "T" or move your
"T" to
the lowest square on your opponent's side of the board.

Trax is a game played with square tiles. Each tile is identical to all
other
tiles, one side has a white line connecting opposite edges and a black
line
connecting the other edges, and the other side has a white line
connecting 2
adjacent edges and a black line connecting the other edges. The object
of
the game is to create a loop of your color while preventing your
opponent
from doing the same. An alternate winning condition is to create a line
extending from one edge of the board to the opposite edge of the board
when
the board is at least 8 tiles wide (or tall). 8x8Trax limits the board
to
8x8. LoopTrax is simply Trax with no line wins. Only a loop wins.

Tug-of-War (ToW)

Up to four players take turns placing "bids". High bidder gets 1 goal
point
from each other player. First player to take an average of 5 points from
each other player wins.

TwixT (Copyright (c) Avalon Hill)

On a 24x24 board, players take turns placing pegs of their color on the
board. Any time a peg is placed a "knight's move" from another peg of
the
same color, a strut is placed, connecting them. A strut can not cross
over
(through) another strut. The object is to connect your sides of the
board
while preventing your opponent from doing the same.

--
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