Puzzle #55: Black to Play; Black to Tinue

Good evening Takkers!

This week's puzzle is a size 6 game I came across while doing research for my second book. It's probably a 7 or 8 out of 10 on the difficulty scale.

For the purpose of this puzzle, Tinue is defined as a board state in which no matter what the opposing player does during their turn (White, in this instance), a road win will be awarded to the other player (Black) on their next turn. If you are familiar with Chess, Tinue is very similar to Checkmate.

Please form your answer with PTN or a link to your solution via ptn.ninja. And, remember to add the r/Tak spoiler tag to your solution so as not to ruin it for others. To do this, put your answer in brackets and follow with (/spoiler). Ex:  [26. a3- Sa3](/spoiler).

To narrow things down to a single solution for this puzzle, I am looking for the board state of Tinue achieved in 9 moves (this would mean the win would occur in 11 moves).

I believe all responses by White are singular and forced. If the response is not singular and forced, then any response results in the same following move by Black or the defensive moves by White have ready responses by Black and those defense/offense pairs are interchangeable in regards to order. Of course, I could have made a mistake...in that case, let me know so I can fix it or, at least, apologize.

P.S.  If you find another Tinue, I'd certainly be interested in seeing it.

P.P.S  If you have suggestions for content, just let me know via comments on this blog, r/Tak, Discord, or email.


Thanks and enjoy!

Puzzle #54: White to Play; White to Tinue

Hello all!

This week's puzzle is a size 6 game I played today against FPABot. I was looking for something with lots of stacks, so I played level 6, which is prone to early and frequent capturing.

For the purpose of this puzzle, Tinue is defined as a board state in which no matter what the opposing player does during their turn (Black, in this instance), a road win will be awarded to the other player (White) on their next turn. If you are familiar with Chess, Tinue is very similar to Checkmate.

Please form your answer with PTN or a link to your solution via ptn.ninja. And, remember to add the r/Tak spoiler tag to your solution so as not to ruin it for others. To do this, put your answer in brackets and follow with (/spoiler). Ex:  [26. a3- Sa3](/spoiler).

To narrow things down to a single solution for this puzzle, I am looking for the board state of Tinue achieved in 3 moves (this would mean the win would occur in 5 moves).

I believe all responses by Black are singular and forced. If the response is not singular and forced, then any response results in the same following move by White. Of course, I could have made a mistake...in that case, let me know so I can fix it or, at least, apologize.

P.S.  If you find another Tinue, I'd certainly be interested in seeing it.

P.P.S  If you have suggestions for content, just let me know via comments on this blog, r/Tak, Discord, or email.

P.P.P.S If you are interested in seeing the game up until this point, Here's the link to it.

P.P.P.P.S.  Just kidding; another post script would just be ridiculous :)

Enjoy!

Puzzle #53: White to Play; Which Player Has the Better Position?

Hello Fellow Takkers!

This week's puzzle features the latest version of my 2D, grayscale representation of Tak that I plan on using in my next book (Mastering Tak:  Level II). Next week, I plan on going back to ptn.ninja interactive puzzles.

I would like for you to evaluate the board state below and determine which player is better off. You can use whatever criteria you like, but please explain your answer. Spoiler tags should not be necessary, though you can use them if you'd like. To do this, put your answer in brackets and follow with (/spoiler).

Ex:  [26. a3- Sa3](/spoiler).

I wanted to get 2 birds with 1 stone with this post; getting my weekly puzzle up and also getting feedback on the Tak representation. So, if you have any thoughts on the new board, please feel free to share.

And, as always, if you would like for me to focus on something different in the future, send me a message letting me know what you would like and I will see what I can do! I can usually get back to you within 24 hours of sending a message via the comments on this blog, r/Tak comments or message, or email (bill.leighton1@gmail.com).

Thanks and enjoy!!


The puzzle:

Here's another look at the 2D, grayscale representation with most of the normal combinations of stones, a large stack with secondary side view below the board, and some directional arrows I'm trying out for elucidation.

Puzzle #52: White to Play; Best Move

Evening all!

This week's puzzle is a little different, both in appearance and content.

Appearance:  I've been working on ways to get a solid representation of Tak that prints well in black and white for my next book. I'm learning just how difficult this is, tackling new software and trying to represent a 3D game in 2D. Thanks to all of those that have offered advice on the subject:  u/Arkanoid0, u/Brondius, u/john_k_lewis, and u/wronghead!

Content:  The last few weeks I have done Tinue puzzles. This one looks at the other side of things. Black has almost achieved Tinue. Your job is to decide which defensive option is the best for White to play.

Tinue is defined as a board state in which no matter what the opposing player does during their turn, a road win will be awarded to the other player on their next turn. If you are familiar with Chess, Tinue is very similar to Checkmate.

Please form your answer with PTN. Remember to add the r/Tak spoiler tag to your solution so as not to ruin it for others. To do this, put your answer in brackets and follow with (/spoiler).
Ex:  [26. a3- Sa3](/spoiler).

I wanted to get 2 birds with 1 stone with this post; getting my weekly puzzle up and also getting feedback on the Tak representation.

Firstly, the puzzle:

And now the size 6 representation, showing each combination of stones and an example stack:

To represent the larger stacks, I have added an ellipsis to the board, only showing the stones up to the carrying capacity. Then, under the bird's eye view, I plan on adding a side view of these larger stacks, still using the ellipsis as the breaking point between what can be carried and what would stay after a maximum stone removal.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks, and enjoy!!