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Sample game of chess pool, v. 0.50

This document has been prepared as a clarification of some of the points of Chess Pool for two players, version 0.50. It is a supplement to the document that gives the rules to that game, not a recording of a game that was actually played.

In the pool table diagrams that follow, the pieces will be represented thus:

	r = 1  R = 9
	n = 2  N = 10   O=cue
	b = 3  B = 11   8=8
	q = 4  Q = 12
so that capital letters belong to Stripe and lowercase to Solid.

Also, a minus sign (-) will be placed to the left of pieces which are to be removed before the next shot occurs, as the result of a capture.

The diagrams are so positioned that, on my particular Compaq winCE thingy, a PgDn will get neatly from one to the next. A one-line caption appears *below* each diagram, with running commentary to the right. Proper resizing of your browser window will preserve this effect.

Shot notation

[the following is of an unnecessarily confusing nature. Reader discretion is advised.]

At the end of each digram caption after the break, a shorthand will be used to tell which balls collided, followed if necessary by explanatory verbage on the next caption. The simpler shots will look something like this:

  O-R-q-X3
Which means that the cueball hit Stripe's rook (9), which hit Solid's queen (q), which landed in the upper-right corner pocket from the perspective of the diagrams. I number the pockets arbitrarily:
  X1--X2--X3
  |        |
  X6--X5--X4
The dash ("-") denotes that the ball named on the left struck the one named on the right, and that the latter was at rest. "=" is used to denote that both were in motion. Separate strings of collisions are separated by commas.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | 
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | Here's the empty table.
|  \                                        /  | Player 1 breaks.
|  |                                        |  |
|a |                                        | a|
|  |                                        |  | [PgDn]
| -|                                        |- |
| -|                                        |- |
|  |                                        |  |
|b |                                        | b|
|  |                                        |  |
| -|         \/                  \/         |- |
| -|         /\                  /\         |- |
|  |     O                                  |  |
|c |                                        | c|
|  |                                        |  |
| -|                                        |- |
| -|                                        |- |
|  |                                        |  |
|d |                                        | d|
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+
Fig 0 [ABOVE] - empty pool table with ranks and files numbered.



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | No balls were pocketed.
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 1 chooses to be Solids.
|  \                                        /  |
|  |       N                                |  | Stripe chooses to call 
|a |                                        | a| "Queen takes King", and
|  |                           B          q |  | places the cueball at the
| -|                                        |- | "." in d6, a space his
| -|                          r             |- | queen (Q) could reach.
|  |                                        |  |
|b |                                 8      | b| Stripe attempts to send
|  |                                        |  | Q slightly to its right
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | after the collision to 8,
| -|         /\            O     /\         |- | so that it can capture
|  |            n                           |  | Solid's queen also.
|c |                                        | c|
|  |                            Q           |  | 
| -|                                        |- | 
| -|                          .    b        |- |
|  |                                        |  |
|d |                                        | d|
|  |                       R                |  |
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | | Result: O-Q-8-q, Q-r
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--+                  [PgDn]
Fig  1: Stripe to move.  Immediately after break. |



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Prev result: O-Q-8-q, Q-r
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                      q /  | The capture was successful
|  |       N                                |  | because the declared cap-
|a |                                        | a| turer struck the declared
|  |                           B            |  | target before any other.
| -|                                        |- | The notation shows at a
| -|                       -r Q             |- | glance that four col-
|  |                                      -8|  | lisions occurred; and that
|b |                                        | b| two of them were between
|  |                                        |  | opposing pieces (the 8-
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | ball is considered to
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | belong to Solid for this
|  |            n                           |  | shot because Stripe de-
|c |                                        | c| clared it as target.)
|  |                                        |  |
| -|                                        |- | Thus, r and 8 are removed.
| -|                               b        |- | Stripe chooses to replace
|  |                                        |  | the captured 8 with b.
|d |                                        | d| q might have been a better
|  |                       R       O        |  | choice, but Stripe feels
|  /                                        \  | that q is close enough
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | | to the pocket that it will
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  | die sooner or later.
+----------------------------------------------+-------------+       [PgDn]
Fig 2a: After Stripe's shot before removal of captured pieces|



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Here's the board after the 
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | removal of r and 8, and
|  \                                      q /  | the swapping of b for 8.
|  |       N                                |  | 
|a |                                        | a| It is now Solid's move. He
|  |                           B            |  | fears for the safety of
| -|                                        |- | his queen and considers
| -|                          Q             |- | declaring q*R just for
|  |                                        |  | the opportunity to move it
|b |  .                                     | b| away from its perilous
|  |                                        |  | position.  However, the
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | best cueball position for
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | that is b8, which would
|  |            n                           |  | likely result in the loss
|c |                                        | c| of q or a scratch.  Thus
|  |                                        |  | Solid declares n*R and
| -|                                        |- | moves the cueball to "."
| -|                               8        |- | in b1, which is a knight-
|  |                                        |  | hop away from c3.
|d |                                        | d|
|  |                       R       O        |  | Result: O-n-R, n-8
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+
Fig 2b: Solid to move.



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Prev res: O-n-R,n-8 
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                      q /  | The capture was successful
|  |       N              .                 |  | and R is tagged for
|a |                                        | a| removal. Its resting place
|  |                           B            |  | is shown here, but it will
| -|                                        |- | be plucked from the board
| -|                          Q             |- | before Stripe makes the
|  |                                        |  | next move.
|b |                   -R                   | b| 
|  |                                        |  | *note that 8 was not cap-
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | tured.  Since it was not
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | declared capturer or tar-
|  |            O                           |  | get, it has diplomatic
|c |                                        | c| immunity, counting as
|  |                              n         |  | neither player's piece.
| -|                                        |- | 
| -|                                   8    |- | Solid calls Q*8, moves
|  |                                        |  | cueball to ".", and
|d |                                        | d| fires.
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  | 
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | | Rslt: O-Q-n O-B Q-8-q 8-X4
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
Fig 3 : Stripe to move..  "-R" means R is removed before Stripe's shot.|



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | O-Q-n, O-B, Q-8-q, 8-X4
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/q| | 
|  \                                        /  | Stripe's shot went some-
|  |       N                                |  | what awry.  The cueball
|a |                           B  O  8      | a| caromed off n before
|  |                                        |  | hitting 8, so the capture
| -|                                        |- | was unsuccessful.  But
| -|                                        |- | the 8-ball did land in the
|  |                                        |  | pocket legally, since
|b |                                        | b| there was no foul or
|  |                                        |  | scratch. Stripe chose to
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | swap it with q, which he
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | dropped into the pocket.
|  |                                        |  |
|c |                                        | c| Solid cannot capture with
|  |                                        |  | 8 because he still has a
| -|                          n             |- | friendly piece (n).  Thus
| -|                                        |- | he tries n*8 from the ".".
|  |                                        |  |
|d |                                        | d| Unfortunately, he sneezes.
|  |                 .               Q      |  |
|  /                                        \  | 
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | | Result: O-8-X4
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+-----+
Fig 4 : Solid to move. q was swapped into the pocket.|



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | O-8-X4
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/8| | 
|  \                                        /  | Solid's cueball missed his
|  |       N                                |  | knight entirely, instead
|a |                           B            | a| hitting and pocketing the
|  |                                        |  | 8-ball. This is a foul be-
| -|                                        |- | cause Solid still has a
| -|                            O           |- | friendly piece, and it
|  |                                        |  | must be hit first.
|b |                                        | b|
|  |                                        |  | Thus Stripe may place the
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | illegally-pocketed 8ball
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | (at the position marked ')
|  |                                        |  | before shooting.
|c |                                        | c|
|  |                                        |  | He calls Q*8 and places
| -|                          n         .   |- | the cueball at ., hoping
| -|                             '          |- | to bank Q off the bottom
|  |                                        |  | rail and capture both 8
|d |                                        | d| and n. This he fails.
|  |                                 Q      |  |
|  /                                        \  | 
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | | Result: O-Q-8-n
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+-----------------+
Fig 5 : Stripe to move.  Solid has fouled.  Stripe places 8 at '.|



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Result: O-Q-8-n
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                        /  | Stripe's shot only cap-
|  |       N                                |  | tured the 8.  This he
|a |                           B            | a| swaps with n, having no
|  |                                        |  | other option.  Thus n
| -|                                        |- | is immediately removed.
| -|                                        |- | It is depicted at left to
|  |                                        |  | show where 8 originally
|b |                                   O    | b| came to rest.
|  |                         -n             |  | 
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | Now there are no solids
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | left, and no pieces are
|  |                                        |  | adjacent to the 8-ball,
|c |                                 Q      | c| so Solid slops, hoping
|  |                      8                 |  | to hit the 8-ball from
| -|                                        |- | the bottom rail and pocket
| -|                                        |- | N.
|  |                                        |  | 
|d |                                        | d| 
|  |                                        |  | Result: O-8-N
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Fig 6 : after swap of captured 8 with n -- n to be removed; Solid to move.|



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Result: O-8-N
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                        /  | The shot did not have the
|  |                               O        |  | intended effect, but the
|a | N                         B            | a| 8-ball happened to land
|  |                                        |  | out of the capturing range
| -|              8                         |- | of every striped piece.
| -|                                        |- | 
|  |                                        |  | Thus, Stripe slops, trying
|b |                                        | b| for O-B-8-X1.
|  |                                        |  | 
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | 
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | Result: O-B-8-N
|  |                                        |  | 
|c |                                 Q      | c|
|  |                                        |  | 
| -|                                        |- | 
| -|                                        |- | 
|  |                                        |  | 
|d |                                        | d| 
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Fig 7 : Stripe to move.



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Result: O-B-8-N
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                        /  | Solid immediately calls
|  |  8                                     |  | 8*N and looks for a good
|a |         .                  O           | a| position for the cueball.
|  |                                        |  | Placing the cueball just
| -|                                        |- | behind the 8 would make
| -|                                        |- | for an ideal shot, but is
|  |                                        |  | illegal because a Chess
|b | N                                      | b| king cannot reach a1 from
|  |                                        |  | a1.  Thus Solid chooses
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | the position marked "."
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | in a2.
|  |                                        |  | 
|c |                                 Q      | c| He attempts to strike
|  |                                        |  | the 8-ball just right
| -|                                        |- | of center so it will bank
| -|                                        |- | and hit N.
|  |                                        |  | 
|d |                                        | d| 
|  |               B                        |  | Result: O-8-N, O-B-X5
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Fig 8 : Solid to move.



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Result: O-8-N, O-B-X5
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                        /  | The outcome was better
|  |                                        |  | than expected.  Not only
|a |                                        | a| was the capture successful
|  |                                        |  | but the cueball also
| -|                                        |- | managed to put B into the
| -|                                        |- | side pocket.
|  |   8                                    |  | 
|b |                                        | b| Stripe has only a single
|  |                                        |  | piece remaining, and it
| -| -N      \/                  \/         |- | is not in a position to
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | make a capture.  He must
|  |                                        |  | slop, and attempts to do
|c |                                 Q      | c| so in such a way that his
|  |                                        |  | queen stays out of the
| -|                                        |- | King's reach.
| -|                                        |- | 
|  |                                        |  | 
|d |          O                             | d| Result: O-Q foul
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Fig 9 : Stripe to move (after removal of N)



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  | Result: O-Q foul
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | 
|  \                                        /  | The cueball hit Q as
|  |                                        |  | planned, but the shot was
|a |                                        | a| a foul because no ball hit
|  |                                        |  | a rail or pocket.  A
| -|                                        |- | somewhat more forceful
| -|.                                       |- | shot was in order.  Now
|  |   8                                    |  | Solid may move the cue-
|b |                                        | b| ball whether he slops or
|  |                                        |  | captures.  Since there
| -|         \/                  \/    Q    |- | are no captures possible,
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | he chooses the former.
|  |                                        |  | 
|c |                                        | c| Sensing the time has come
|  |                                        |  | for decisive action, he
| -|                                  O     |- | places the cueball at
| -|                                        |- | "." and attempts to pocket
|  |                                        |  | Q with 8.
|d |                                        | d| 
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  | Result: O-8-Q
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Fig 10: Solid (8) to move.



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  |
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | Result: O-8-Q
|  \                                        /  |
|  |                                        |  | The attempt backfires, and
|a |                                        | a| the king finds itself
|  |                 .      Q             8 |  | staring down the Queen's
| -|                                        |- | barrel.
| -|                                        |- |
|  |                                        |  | Stripe quickly calls Q*8,
|b |                                        | b| puts cueball at "." and
|  |                                        |  | shoots.
| -|         \/                  \/         |- |
| -|         /\                  /\         |- |
|  |                                        |  | Result: Q-8=Q
|c | O                                      | c|
|  |                                        |  |
| -|                                        |- |
| -|                                        |- |
|  |                                        |  |
|d |                                        | d|
|  |                                        |  |
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------+-----------------------+
Fig 11: Stripe to move |



+----------------------------------------------+
|  _  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4/--\5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  _  |
| | \-----------------|  |-----------------/ | | Result: Q-8=Q
|  \                               -Q       /  |
|  |                                        |  | The shoddy work by Stripe
|a |                                        | a| has cost him the game.
|  |                       O                |  | His Queen nailed the 8
| -|                                        |- | as planned, but the 8
| -|                                   -8   |- | hit the rail and bounced
|  |                                        |  | back to hit Q.  The 8 was
|b |                                        | b| a hostile piece because
|  |                                        |  | it had been named target,
| -|         \/                  \/         |- | so it was capable of
| -|         /\                  /\         |- | causing capture.
|  |                                        |  |
|c |                                        | c| The game, disappointingly,
|  |                                        |  | is a draw, since no pieces
| -|                                        |- | remain on the table.  As
| -|                                        |- | happens occasionally in
|  |                                        |  | Chess, the player with a
|d |                                        | d| clear advantage has thrown
|  |                                        |  | away his win.
|  /                                        \  |
| | /-----------------|  |-----------------\ | |
|  -  1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4\--/5 <> 6 <> 7 <> 8  -  |
+----------------------------+-----------------+
Fig 12: Game over - stalemate|

Written by Robert Price.
Webpage made: January 24, 2000.