Conclusive Chirality (2b's final project)

came back for 4 seconds to update the name. bye again

shoutout to Ducky for the name

If this gets accepted, add a Thermopylae-style desc that goes along the lines of this:

"Red must capture both of Yellow's sergeants to get 2 dabbabas, then place one j3 and the other on j4, before finally capturing the green pieces in front of the royal pawn to allow it to reach the hill and win.

Yellow must get at least one sergeant to the 7th rank, the hill, to win.

All pieces and pawns, with the exception of Yellow's sergeants, cannot be replaced onto the board after being captured."

Revision of #2050

somewhat important note: the games where I didn't paste the "how-to-play" in the chat are rematches.

somewhat also important note: I, unfortunately, had to include some poor-play games due to VW counting resigns during the 9-move checkmate sequence (as late as move 30) as an "early resignation."

so clearly, combining Double-Move vs Multi-Royal imbalance and Divergent Objectives isnt gonna work. RB too powerful? Solution: remove RB.

So yeah this is a Divergent Objectives imbalance. Can 2b properly make an imbalance, or will he fail like every time before? Knowing me, probably the latter lol.

Goal Red:

Defend your second rank and win pieces through forks, skewers, or pins. Do not trade unless necessary. Capture both sergeants at all costs, but try to trap them, then capture with a low-value piece.

Goal Yellow:

Trade down Red's defense and get a sergeant to the hill. Attempt to force a desperato when a sergeant is beyond saving. Each of Yellow's pieces are inherently worth 1-2 points less than Red's pieces.

An alternative layout is to have 2 royal bot bricks and sergeants promotedfrom wazir, allowing Red to checkmate both bots for points and claim win, while Yellow would checkmate both bots when winning via koth. But I feel like adding bots just to make the mechanic work adds too much visual clutter and unnecessary complication, which is why I used a 9-move checkmate system. You can't argue that the losing players being sore and refusing to move during this 9-move sequence is an issue because losing players are already sore when in an M1 trap.

Yellow is easier to play for humans, but I don't find it a large issue, as Thermopylae is easier to play as Green. The difference is the Red in this variant tries to win material while Red in Thermopylae tries to trade.

Additionally, Red must keep their queen and/or general to not risk losing a huge advantage.

Also, as a general rule, place your dababas down after you have both of them to not lose moves doing so.

Even though Yellow is easier to play, Red actually has more pieces. Both Yellow and Red have 7 major pieces, but Red's are stronger individually (Yellow's are stronger when they work together). Red also has more pawn-likes than Yellow (7 pawns vs 4 pawn-likes). However, Red still needs to be careful because 2 pawns is not enough to completely stop 2 sergeants, even after promoting. I was tempted to give Red the rook promotion option, but decided against it since it would make Yellow's goal confusing.

Another factor influencing which side is easier to play is the players' playstyles. A passive playstyle suits Yellow better because Yellow has to trade pieces. An attackative playstyle suits Red better because Red has to exploit weaknesses.

Games seem to have a 50/50 result with Fairy Stockfish.

At depth 15, Red wins in 29 moves. At depth 16, Yellow wins in 64 moves. At depth 17, Yellow wins in 41 moves. At depth 18, Red wins in 63 moves. At depth 19, Yellow wins in 61 moves. At depth 20, Red wins in 44 moves.

At depth 21, Blue won in <10 moves. And by that, I mean my PC bluescreened.

Both players have a development stage. Red develops their pawn structure while Yellow develops their piece layout. Red and Yellow both have undevelopedly placed pieces, being the knights for Red and rooks for Yellow.

While Yellow may be at a disadvantage due to having 2 royals, Red also essentially has 2 semi-royals (queen and general) that they must keep in order to maximize the chance of winning. While it is possible for Red to win without the queen and/or general, it usually requires a number of pieces to trap the sergeants and win.

QnA:

Q) Why did you use a 9-move hill-unlock double royal system rather than a royal bot brick double royal system?

A) Bots add unnecessary visual clutter, and its "shuffle box" can interfere with either the game or the checkmate mechanic.

Q) What if Red captures both of Yellow's sergeants and mess up the checkmate?

A) That's what we call a skill issue. First of all, if Red placed the dabbabas on the main board, Red can still attempt to win via stalemate. Second of all, if Red does know where to place the dabbabas, they can place both dabbabas via setup first, then unlock the checkmate.

Q) Most of your games were won by Red. Doesn't Red have an advantage?

A) In the games I played as Red (most of them because I host the games), I, being the one that knows everything about the game, obviously won. My opponents often hung pieces or even their royal and refused to accept takebacks. When I lost as Yellow, it was because of sloppy play on my part. In the game against Tuna (game 2), I literally hung both sergeants. He did wreck me pretty hard and probably would've won anyway, but still: the main reason I lost was hanging my pieces.