ADVERTISEMENT


4-8 July 2004, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

The ICGA is delighted to announce that this year's Computer Olympiad
takes place from July 4 to 8 and will be played at Bar-Ilan
University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. In close cooperation with Prof. Nathan
Netanyahu and Omid Tabibi, the Board of ICGA has agreed to bring the
Computer Olympiad to the city of Ramat-Gan, a lovely place in Israel,
near Tel Aviv.

The 9th Computer Olympiad is a multi-games event in which all of the
participants are computer programs. The purpose is to find the
strongest programs at each of the games, partly as an academic
exercise and partly because the competitions are fun. The organising
committee consists of: H.H.L.M. Donkers, J.W. Hellemons (chair), H.J.
van den Herik, N. Netanyahu, O.D. Tabibi, J.W.H.M. Uiterwijk, E.C.D.
van der Werf and M.H.M. Winands. We are planning tournaments for at
least 24 different games:

Abalone
Amazons
Arimaa
Backgammon
Bao
Bridge
Chess*
Chinese Chess
8x8 Checkers
Diplomacy
Dots and Boxes
10x10 DraughtsGipf
Go
9x9 Go
Hex
Lines of Action
6x7 OCTI
9x9 OCTI
Othello
Poker
Renju
Scrabble
Shogi

*) the 12th World Computer Chess Championship (4-12 July)

The game of Awari has been eliminated from this list, since the game
has been solved by Romein and Bal, as reported in the ICGA Journal,
Vol. 25, No. 3. In this capacity it follows the games: Connect-Four,
Qubic, Go-Moku, and Nine Men's Morris. The game of Renju, claimed to
be solved too, is still welcome since we have not seen a fully-
operational program on internet that plays perfectly. Moreover, we
are willing to host more games, such as Ataxx, Clobber, Dvonn,
Mediocrity, Onyx, Tamsk, TwixT and Zèrtz but we do not know
of the existence of adequately playing programs. We are awaiting
suggestions and proposals of programmers before we include them in
the official list given above.

For each game a tournament will take place provided that at least two
programs enter the tournament for that particular game. The detailed
tournament schedule will not be announced until the closing date for
entries which is 1 June 2004. Notification of entry acceptation will
be given before 23 June, 2004. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be
awarded to the leading programs in each tournament. Except for the
OCTI tournaments, there will be no cash prizes.

The chess competition of the Computer Olympiad will be a special
event, since it is adopted by the ICGA as the 12th World Computer-
Chess Championship (WCCC 2004).

During the Olympiad, the World Championship Computer-RoShamBo will be
organised.

The 9th Computer Olympiad will be held in conjunction with the
Computers and Games 2004 conference (CG'04).

The Tournament Director of the Computer Olympiad will be Professor
Jaap van den Herik from the Computer Science Department of the
Universiteit Maastricht.

The rules of the 9th Computer Olympiad will be published on the
website.

The entry fee for the chess tournament is as follows:
Amateur:euro 25
Semi-professional: euro 250
Professional: euro 500

The entry fees for the other tournaments are as follows:
Amateur: euro 25
Semi-professional: euro 100
Professional: euro 250

A participant is expected to be ICGA member (euro 40).

"Amateur": programmers who have no commercial interest in their
program, and are not professional game programmers. Applications for
amateur classification must supply information to justify their claim.

"Semi-professional": Any program submitted by an employee or
associate from a games-programming company. The program's name must
not be derived from or similar to a commercial product.

"Professional": A program whose name is the same as or derived from a
commercial product.

Any entry received after 1 June 2004 will be subject to a penalty fee,
doubling the above fees.

For more information: http://www.cs.unimaas.nl/olympiad2004/

OCTI
Challenger: Donald Green


OCTI is a simple, yet deep game of strategy designed to give humans
an edge
over computers. The basic premise of the game is that players build
their
pieces as they play. On each turn, a player must decide whether to
move a
piece, improve a piece, or add a new piece to the board. This simple
framework creates an extraordinary array of strategic options and
plays to
"human" strengths: long-term planning and heuristic reasoning. GAMES
MAGAZINE named OCTI "Best Abstract Strategy Game of the Year." For a
description of the game and other reviews, visit www.octi-online.com.


OCTI AI Tournament Computer Olympiad 2004

Competitions will be held for the following OCTI variants:

I. OCTI on a 6x7 board

II. OCTI on a 9x9 board, playing to capture all three enemy bases


Each game will be played under a two-hour time limit for each player.
Robot-designers need not be in attendance in order to compete. For
the 9x9
games, basic rules apply (i.e., no wrap-around board, no super-
prongs).

The OCTI tournament is sponsored by prof. Donald Green (Yale
University). He
offers $1000 to the winner of each OCTI tournament.

www.cs.unimaas.nl/olympiad2004

Testme and I recently duked it out over play-be-email.  The game went
on for a few weeks and was quite interesting.  Testme did a nice job
of parrying my attacks and seized on my blunder after the two sides
had drawn to a standoff.  Cheers...Don

    White(o)      Black(x)
    don_green     jbacher
    1 33+a        2 37+d
    3 33          4 37
    5 33+b        6 37+c
    7 33          8 37d-46,37c-47
    9 33+c       10 57+d
   11 33a+b      12 57
   13 33c+a      14 57d+e
   15 33ab+e     16 46+f
   17 33abe-34,33b-44,33ac-43
                 18 57de+f
   19 33         20 57def+g
   21 34+h       22 77+g
   23 73+g       24 57+e
   25 73-63      26 57
   27 63+h       28 57+c
   29 34-32-54   30 57defg-56,57c-67
   31 33+b       32 47+e
   33 33+h       34 37
   35 33         36 46+e
   37 33+a       38 67+f
   39 33bh+c     40 67+e
   41 33-43      42 57+g
   43 44+h       44 77+e
   45 33+b       46 57+b
   47 53+a       48 47+d
   49 44+f       50 37+d
   51 43bch+a    52 56+a
   53 44+e       54 57+d
   55 44+a       56 47+f
   57 63+b       58 46+a
   59 43abch+g   60 57+f
   61 44+d       62 77-67
   63 43abcgh-53  64 56+h
   65 53abcgh+f  66 67eg-57
   67 43+f       68 57bdefg-47
   69 53-43      70 56-47
   71 43acf-53   72 47adefgh-56,47bdefg-36
   73 53acf-54   74 67-45
   75 54-32-34   76 56-45
   77 33-44      78 45cef-23x
   79 44-33      80 36-58-56-34-52x-74x
   81 54-36x-58x-56x
                 82 74-73

We're going to migrate octi.net over to a new ISP.  Sorry for the
inconvenience.  You can still find an on-line game at www.octi-
online.com.

Cheers,
Don

If you check out the game archive on 2/14, you'll see me fumble a
sure win (says testme, Jeff's bot) twice on move 16 before finally
figuring out a winning move on my third try.  Shows how subtle one's
intuitions have to be in order to win on bold tactics...Don

Now that I have (1) turned in my book manuscript (on voter turnout),
(2) turned in a mess of other overdue writing commitments, (3) gotten
over the initial shock of the start of the term, and (4) come to
grips with the new wave of election projects, it's time to get back
to gaming!

How is Saturday 2/28 for the 9x9 tournament (1-base and 3-base) and
the following weekend for the 6x7 tournament?

Cheers,
Don

I'm happy to send Octi wherever it's needed!  --Don

--- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, kassarfiles <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> I want to buy it in Italy but I can't find it.
> Only Funagain Games and is too costly ($19.95+45.00 for S&H).
> I'd like to have this fantastic game but at a lower price.
> Can you help me Don?
>
> Best Regards
> --- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, octimon <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> > Although the deal is not quite done, I believe that Octi has
found
> a
> > new distributor in North America.  That is quite a relief!  I
will
> > post more news as I get it, but I wanted to pass that one along.
> >
> > In the meantime, I have been shipping out Octi's to folks around
> the
> > country who are interested in teaching the game, using it in
> schools,
> > hosting game tourneys, etc.  So let me know if you have something
> > like that on your agenda.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Don

I want to buy it in Italy but I can't find it.
Only Funagain Games and is too costly ($19.95+45.00 for S&H).
I'd like to have this fantastic game but at a lower price.
Can you help me Don?

Best Regards
--- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, octimon <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Although the deal is not quite done, I believe that Octi has found
a
> new distributor in North America.  That is quite a relief!  I will
> post more news as I get it, but I wanted to pass that one along.
>
> In the meantime, I have been shipping out Octi's to folks around
the
> country who are interested in teaching the game, using it in
schools,
> hosting game tourneys, etc.  So let me know if you have something
> like that on your agenda.
>
> Cheers,
> Don

I live in Italy and noone seems to have Octi-X.
Does some of this list want to sell it to me?
Please, I think $19.95+45.00 for S&H from FunAgain Games online
store seems to be a too high price.

Please help.

Best Regards

I've been having a lot of fun lately playing testme2 in the full 3-
base game.  I used to think that computers couldn't be competitive in
this version, and now I'm forced to eat my words.  You'll see from
the games in the archive that testme2 batted me around a bit.
There's no goofing around with testme2; if you don't play a solid
tactical and strategic game, you'll get ground down.  I took my last
game very seriously and played for the grand strategic edge, waiting
for testme2 to commit its prong and then swinging to its exposed
flank.  That's a far cry from the usual smash and grab tactics that
formerly defeated bot players!

In an earlier game, we came to a draw situation, which makes me think
that we need to formalize the repetition rule.  I propose that in
tourney play, it loses to recreate the same board position (on one's
own side) three turns in a row.  Feel free to chime in if you have a
better idea.  I think draws are very un-Octi, so I'd like to force
players to move into uncomfortable positions in the event they have
no other prong options.

Way to go, Jeff!

Don

Those who like the one-base 9x9 game will appreciate this clever
combination attack...Don


   53 64h-55,64bcefh-62-44


You are playing Octi on a bounded board.
Short game: occupy one enemy base to win.

       9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1      |White(o)  Res Cap Prongs
                                              |          0   1   13
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   1 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  1 |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   2 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  2 |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |  /|   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   3 |   |   |-o-| o-| o |   | o |   |   |  3 |
     |   |   |/|\|/| |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |   |   |   | |/|   |   |   |    |
   4 |   |   |   |   |   |-o |   |   |   |  4 |
     |   |   |   |   |   |/ \|   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |    D E F
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |     \|/
   5 |   |   |   |   | o |   |   |   |   |  5 |    C-+-G
     |   |   |   |   |  \|   |   |   |   |    |     /|\
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |    B A H
     |   |   |  /|\ /|   |   |   |   |   |    |
   6 |   |   |-x | x |   |   |   |   |   |  6 |
     |   |   |/  |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |\|/| | |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   7 |   |   | x |-x | x |   | x |   |   |  7 |
     |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   8 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  8 |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
   9 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  9 |
     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
                                              |Black(x)  Res Cap Prongs
       9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1      |          0   1   11

As soon as things settle down for me (elections and election studies)
and Steve (newborn baby), we'll rev up this year's robot tournament.
If you're interested in competing and haven't already let me know,
please send an email to octimon@....  With luck, we'll get it
going sometime in January.

Happy holidays,
Don

Sorry if you've stopped by octi on-line but found testme (the
resident robot) out of action.  It tend to drop from time to time,
and Steve (at the Yale Statlab) restarts it.  Steve just had his
third kid (a boy!) so he's been out.  Congrats, Steve!

Cheers,
Don

Perhaps player 2 can improve on the previous move. Playing 46-44, stealing the
tempo. The prongs are then 4 to 5, and its player one's turn as well.

Jeff
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: octimon
   To: octiclub@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 7:19 AM
   Subject: Re: [OCTI Club] new 6x7 line of play


   That is definitely a line worth exploring.  Player 2 will need to add
   56d and 56g and 36g in order to capture the pod at 44.  Player 1
   needs to respond to this with 32h and 32f and 43f and 43a.  That
   seems to leave player 1 a turn short, but perhaps there is a
   shortcut.  We'll see...Cheers, Don

   --- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Bacher" <jeffbach@a...> wrote:
   > On move 21, I think player 1 could try 42-44 instead of 32+a. The
   prongs are now equal at 4 a piece, and the tempo advantage is now in
   player 1's favour. It is up to player 2 to demonstrate the advantage.
   >
   > Jeff
   >   ----- Original Message -----
   >   From: octimon
   >   To: octiclub@yahoogroups.com
   >   Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 7:23 PM
   >   Subject: [OCTI Club] new 6x7 line of play
   >
   >
   >   Dan and I have been exploring a 'standard' opening in 6x7, and it
   >   seems -- at least for the moment -- that player 2 can hold a
   narrow
   >   tempo advantage.  You might have a look to see if you can find
   unused
   >   opportunities for player 1, especially before move 15.
   >
   >   http://www.octi-online.com/index.py?
   action=archive&view=1749&start=0
   >
   >   Cheers,
   >   Don
   >
   >
   >
   >         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
   >               ADVERTISEMENT
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   >   octiclub-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
   >
   >
   >
   >   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
   Service.
   >
   >
   > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
               ADVERTISEMENT




   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   octiclub-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

That is definitely a line worth exploring.  Player 2 will need to add
56d and 56g and 36g in order to capture the pod at 44.  Player 1
needs to respond to this with 32h and 32f and 43f and 43a.  That
seems to leave player 1 a turn short, but perhaps there is a
shortcut.  We'll see...Cheers, Don

--- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Bacher" <jeffbach@a...> wrote:
> On move 21, I think player 1 could try 42-44 instead of 32+a. The
prongs are now equal at 4 a piece, and the tempo advantage is now in
player 1's favour. It is up to player 2 to demonstrate the advantage.
>
> Jeff
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: octimon
>   To: octiclub@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 7:23 PM
>   Subject: [OCTI Club] new 6x7 line of play
>
>
>   Dan and I have been exploring a 'standard' opening in 6x7, and it
>   seems -- at least for the moment -- that player 2 can hold a
narrow
>   tempo advantage.  You might have a look to see if you can find
unused
>   opportunities for player 1, especially before move 15.
>
>   http://www.octi-online.com/index.py?
action=archive&view=1749&start=0
>
>   Cheers,
>   Don
>
>
>
>         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>               ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>   octiclub-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
>   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On move 21, I think player 1 could try 42-44 instead of 32+a. The prongs are now
equal at 4 a piece, and the tempo advantage is now in player 1's favour. It is
up to player 2 to demonstrate the advantage.

Jeff
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: octimon
   To: octiclub@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 7:23 PM
   Subject: [OCTI Club] new 6x7 line of play


   Dan and I have been exploring a 'standard' opening in 6x7, and it
   seems -- at least for the moment -- that player 2 can hold a narrow
   tempo advantage.  You might have a look to see if you can find unused
   opportunities for player 1, especially before move 15.

   http://www.octi-online.com/index.py?action=archive&view=1749&start=0

   Cheers,
   Don



         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
               ADVERTISEMENT




   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   octiclub-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dan and I have been exploring a 'standard' opening in 6x7, and it
seems -- at least for the moment -- that player 2 can hold a narrow
tempo advantage.  You might have a look to see if you can find unused
opportunities for player 1, especially before move 15.

http://www.octi-online.com/index.py?action=archive&view=1749&start=0

Cheers,
Don

I see that if you google "octi" under groups, there is a post that
calls for Octi robots.  Cheers, Don

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=octi&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-
8&scoring=d&selm=bac3081.0310130423.67dca1b1%
40posting.google.com&rnum=1

Although the deal is not quite done, I believe that Octi has found a
new distributor in North America.  That is quite a relief!  I will
post more news as I get it, but I wanted to pass that one along.

In the meantime, I have been shipping out Octi's to folks around the
country who are interested in teaching the game, using it in schools,
hosting game tourneys, etc.  So let me know if you have something
like that on your agenda.

Cheers,
Don

Hi.  My new game, Jumpin' Java, has now rolled off the assembly lines
and into the stores.  Pretty exciting, since the game is nicely made
and packaged.  See

http://www.boardgames.com/jumpinjavagame.html

Cheers,
Don

--- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, octimon <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> The rules say that pods stacked together ignore each other on a turn
> in which they BOTH move.  So if one pod stays, the other can't
> return to that square.
>

I thought that's what that meant, but I wasn't completely sure.
Thanks for clarifying.

Cheers,

Charles

Hi, Charles.  The Octi-X were written to try to clarify this rule.
(I admit, though, that it's pretty subtle.)

The rules say that pods stacked together ignore each other on a turn
in which they BOTH move.  So if one pod stays, the other can't return
to that square.

It happens every once in a blue moon.

Cheers,
Don


--- In octiclub@yahoogroups.com, charles44944 <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Sorry if this has been asked before--
>
> It is sometimes possible for a pod to jump in a circle, and end on
> the same square.  Suppose there's another pod also on the starting
> square, but that one doesn't move.  Is the circular jump still
> allowed?  (Ordinarly, you can't jump onto an occupied square, even
if
> you're the occupier.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Charles

I just found the post about the robot tournament.  (My summer's
was... a bit hectic.)  I remember the idea had come up to require
programs to be able to play on the server, so that it would be easier
to run the tournament.  What do people think?  Would that be too
onerous a burden?  (If so, perhaps it could be a request rather than
a demand.)

Cheers,

Charles

Sorry if this has been asked before--

It is sometimes possible for a pod to jump in a circle, and end on
the same square.  Suppose there's another pod also on the starting
square, but that one doesn't move.  Is the circular jump still
allowed?  (Ordinarly, you can't jump onto an occupied square, even if
you're the occupier.)

Thanks,

Charles

Although GATCO is no longer distributing Octi, I'm committed to
keeping the websites that sell Octi (or Octi-X) on-line in stock.  I
noticed that funagain.com sold out of Octi-X, so a shipment is
headed its way.  Same for fairplay.com.  If you notice others,
please let me know.

Cheers,
Don

One nice thing about Octi is that handicapping is really easy.  Just
offer your opponent X prongs; if he/she wins, use X-1, ... and so on.

Another approach, which works especially well in the 6x7 game or the
one-base 9x9 game, is to give your opponent a handicap of X prongs
but YOU put them in yourself.  That sometimes creates an interesting
dilemma for them: build up pieces that your opponent has started for
you, or ignore them and pursue your own strategy?

Cheers,
Don

I introduced Octi (1-base) today to some fellow software developers
at work (one is an experienced Go player, for what it's worth).  They
both enjoyed it, and are eager to play more.  We'll likely work it
into our lunchtime gaming rotation.

We played two handicap games.  In the first, I gave my opponent 6
free prongs to place before the game.  I was quickly defeated.  The
next game I gave one forward prong to each of my opponents pieces,
and gave him the first move.  I lost again, but it was close enough
that I think next time we will begin with the same setup, only I will
take the first move.

Has anyone else played with any other handicapping systems against
beginners or inferior players?

Don, I haven't been reading the message board lately, but it appears
that you have excess Octi sets that you are giving away... I can know
some folks who would use them.  Drop me a line.

Bryan

The AI high score table for the robot that Aaron hooked up at
www.octi.net has logged its 2700th recorded game (many games, of
course go unrecorded, as people decline to give their initials).  So
far, the AI has a pretty decent record, at least at the higher
levels.  Kinda cool.

Thanks for the suggestion to restrict membership on the site.  I send
friendly queries about Octi to all those who express an interest in
the group.  Interesting how pending members with colorful Yahoo email
addresses never reply to my chatty little notes.  They must have
other interests besides abstract strategy gaming.

Cheers,
Don

Belated thanks for this posting, which really made me feel good.
Things in the world of Octi have been a bit rockly lately.  On the
good side, Octi continues to grow in Israel, thanks to the Mind Lab
program there.  On the down side, Great American Trading Co. is no
longer selling games, which means that Octi needs a new US
distributor (and a distributor in Europe, for that matter).  I have
an agent on the case, so we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I have the rest of the Octi inventory from the GATCO
warehouse.  I'd be happy to ship anyone a carton of games; just send
your mailing address to octimon@....  My only requirement is
that you make sure that the games get into the hands of folks who
will play.

Cheers,
Don


> Checkers, Chess, Backgammon, Go, ...
>
> What comes next?  OCTI!!!
>
> Although the traps, the freezing, the pushing, and pulling are all
> moderately unique ideas for a chess variant...  Arimaa is
> still "just" a chess variant.
>
> (The set-up-your-pieces-anywhere-you-want thing in Arimaa is an old
> idea, though.  It just feels like a tacky way to make the game more
> difficult for computers to me.  )
>
> Octi, on the other hand, is more than just a "variant".  Octi
> introduces a whole new class of games.
>
> No other game quite matches Octi's mix of simplicity, tension,
> explosive action, daring escapes, and unexpected opportunities.  In
> Octi, Don chose to increase the options by forcing you at every
turn
> to choose between building up by adding power, building up by
adding
> numbers, and taking initiative by begining the attack.  These are
> very elegant ways to undermine the computational advantage of the
> computer.  The stack rules, the wrap-around board, and the super
> prong add additional possibilities to the game.
>
> IMO, it is multi-dimensional depth of the game that makes Octi so
> much more superior to everything else out there.  Yes, it is
> somewhat reminiscent of off-beat checkers variants like Lasca and
> Emergo.  But the sum total of Octi's design decisions make it
unique
> without making it seem contrived.  I believe Octi should be the
> number five classic board game of all time.
>
> (I'm biased... buy hey, this IS the Octi board!!)

On Mon, Jul 07, 2003 at 05:46:17PM -0000, octimon wrote:
> I put up a post on the new tourney. If you have questions or spot any
> problems with the post, please let me know.

I find it a little ironic that Octi, a game that was designed to be
hard for a computer play, is already having its 4th tournament...

8^)

--
  /  \__  | Richard Rognlie / Oracle Prophet / Gamerz.NET Lackey
  \__/  \ | http://www.gamerz.net/rrognlie/    <rrognlie@...>
  /  \__/ | The past is the future
  \__/    |                  Nobody expects the spammish inquisition