Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

I received the following in an email from Dave in Michigan. I encourage
people to both discuss and compete in this tournament. I'd also like to
point out we do have a 'live' play option with Game Courier.

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I came up with an idea for a project, and I would like to solicit input
and find potential players.  It's a project that includes, but is not
limited to, Chess variants.

I would like to hold a competition that involves playing board
games,specifically abstract strategy games, on the internet. There are some
great sites out there hosting free games, and while playing on one of them
(boardspace.net) an idea hit me, What I wanted to do was have a competition
that spanned several games and a few web sites, which would prompt me to
learn a few new games.

So, I gave it some thought and came up with the following proposal.

The Internet Abstract Games Decathlon

The plan is to select 10 games playable on various internet sites that
meet the following criteria.

1. Abstract Strategy Games
2. Free
3. Live play (i.e. no PBEM or turn based)
4. Rated.

Players would play each of the 10 games over a set period of a few months,
and try to get the highest rating possible. At the end of the set period,
the ratings of the players would be used to compute a score and assign a
number of points. The highest rating achieved would be worth 100 points.
Other players would receive fractions of 100 based on how their rating
compares to the max rating.

So, the next question was what games to play? This is where it gets
tricky. I looked around for appropriate sites, and found a few that were
quite good, I especially liked Playok.com, Boardspace.net, and
IGGameCenter.com. There were other sites that were excellent, but
specialized in only one game. (e.g. Chess.com and clubxiangqi.com for those
two games.)

At this point, I decided to throw the question open to potential players.
If this sounds like fun to you, what games would you like to play? To get
the conversation started, I picked some of the most popular games played at
the sites I liked. Based on that, here's a list. This list is just a
starting point. Please, feel free to suggest games you would prefer, or say
that you absolutely hate one or more of the games below.

Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) http://playok.com
Shogi (Japanese Chess) http://playok.com
Hive http://boardspace.net
Zertz http://boardspace.net
Palago http://boardspace.net
Fanorona http://boardspace.net
Hex http://iggamecenter.com
Crosslet http://iggamecenter.com
Havannah http://iggamecenter.com
Connect4 http://iggamecenter.com

Again, I emphasize this is NOT the list we will play. It's a starting
point for discussion, based on what games are popular at these sites.
I want suggestions from potential players. For my part, I would throw out
Connect4, and possibly a couple of others I am not familiar with, and add
in Chess and/or another Chess variation. (Grand Chess, anyone?) However,
that's my preference. I want to hear from others who like this idea.

And since I'm posting this at chessvariants.org, I'll note that as far
as I'm concerned, we could just make it a chess variants decathlon and I
would be happy.  I think there are enough free, live play sites to come up
with 10 Chess variants pretty easily.  However, I want to see where I get
positive responses, and what games people wish to play.  I'll insist on at
least two chess variants, and i would prefer at least 3 variants and Chess
itself, but that's my preference.


To administer all this, I'm working on adding a page to my web site (
http://gamesinmichigan.com) where players can sign up, and another one for
reporting and tracking scores as the competition goes on. The web site will
be up by October 1. For what it's worth, the only private information
I'll collect is an email address, and I don't share private information
with anyone for any reason.

I don't need hordes of people to participate in order to make this work.
email me (dave@gamesinmichigan.com) if you're interested.

Meanwhile, I've prepared a web page that puts more flesh on this idea.
You can find it at http://gamesinmichigan.com/decathlon .

So, please make suggestions for tournament suggestions or games you would
like to play or sites you would like to play at.   I'm sorry to leave this
site off the list, but for me, personally, I only play in 'live'
tournaments.  It's my own failing that causes that.  I'm too obsessive,
and check my messages/game status too frequently when playing on turn based
sites.  I hope to see some kindred spirits in some internet gaming rooms
within a month or so.