Life In 19x19

What's the feasability of turn based Batoo via the forums? Seems doable to me.

Both players hide moves during base building, then mutually unhide after both are ready.

If player A knows his or her own hidden move, and it's been declared in a hidden comment, then player A could referee his own hidden move.

Are there any gotchas?

I don't know if I know the rules well enough to play in the first game - but maybe.

I don't know if when you play the probe the opponent sees where you probed. If he doesn't, you'd need a referee, like most hidden information games.

Other than that, I think it would work.

I think it's, at best, barely feasible, but could be interesting. After base building, there is the komi negotiation which could bring a lively discussion. However, scores would need to be kept track at every post which could be tedious, and maybe the temptation of peeking into the hidden before using the Scanner is too great ? Only half-kidding on the last point.

It sounds insane to me, but if you guys get enough participation to need a separateMalkovich Batoo sub-forum, let me know and I'll create one.

I think it would just be better to allow an impartial judge to do everything hidden.

Komi betting is really weird turn based...

I hope this happens, because it would be really fun to watch.

For people that are interested in Batoo, it might be worthwile to check out the pro games on YouTube (there are about 7 of them online). For instance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxS7pfnr ... re=related is a pretty good one. You'll figure out the rules fairly quickly. Some things that I noticed about the strategy:

- Keep your base stones together. They are worth 5 points, and you don't want to get into any problems with having to defend them.
- Your hidden move is very important. But do not play it too early, however big the temptation might be! As long as you still have your hidden move available, your opponent must be very careful to minimise the number of open ko threaths, lest he be caught by some sneaky tactics. This approach is similar to a thousand-year ko in normal go. Once your hidden move is exposed, he can freely work towards the goal of scraping out a small win (score counting is very important in Batoo).
- The plus points are more important than they seem. Taking a plus point not only gains you 5 points, it also prevents your opponent from taking those 5 points and is therefore equal to a 10 point endgame move. If you can take a plus point in sente, it's often good even if the exchange harms your position somewhat - after all, points are quite important in Batoo.
- A scan costs 2 points, so think before using it - can you really afford to scan wrong and still have enough points to win?

I just finished my first ever Batoo game with gaius, and I enjoyed it.

I'm looking for another opponent for a game of Batoo.

anyone/any rank is fine with me.

I'm up for a game!
Batoo seems to be fun!
If you accept, just open a thread!

done. I started Batoo(-kovich) #3