Game: Azacru

Thread: Re: Manchester Open Azacru Tournaments Saturdays 12th & 19th July 2008

Pacruman — 2008-07-13T10:19:06+00:00

Rapid competition on Saturday 12th. 7 rounds played in 2 hours (20 minutes allowed per game but generally taking 15 minutes or less. Competition between two of the longest playing Azacru players led to victory for inventor Mike Wellman who had 5 wins and 2 ties. Number of markers on the board at game close varied between 46 and 64.

Thread: Manchester Open Azacru Tournaments Saturdays 12th & 19th July 2008

Pacruman — 2008-07-08T07:29:18+00:00

Held in the unusual venue of Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station (UK) on the balcony.

More details via the Pacru website.

Thread: 3rd Azacru World Championship MSO 12 UK London Aug 2008

Pacruman — 2008-05-01T06:56:12+00:00

The 3rd Azacru World Championship will be held at MS0 12. The venue is Royal Horticultural Halls, 80 Vincent Square, (Westminster) London SW1P 2PE. The dates of MSO 12 are 15th August to 25th August. The Azacru events are very likely to be on the last weekend. As well as the World Championship where games are timed at 15 minutes per player there is likely to be an Azacru blitz event timed at 7 minutes per player.

More information on MSO site (not currently updated) http://www.msoworld.com or Pacru site http://www.pacru.com

Thread: 2nd Annual Michigan Open Pacru / Azacru Tournament

CDRodeffer — 2007-10-01T15:43:59+00:00

Date: Sunday, November 11, 2007
Location: U-Con Gaming Convention, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Cost: Free! (Official tournament, sponsored by Pacru Ltd UK)

Register to Compete

Participants will play several games of the exciting new British abstract games Pacru and/or Azacru. Information about Pacru and Azacru is available at www.pacru.com. Tournament structure will depend upon the number of players. All equipment will be provided, and each winner will get a copy of the game (MSRP approximately US$50)! This event is sponsored by Pacru Ltd UK.

Thread: 2nd Azacru World Championships (at MSO11 UK)

Pacruman — 2007-09-15T14:30:31+00:00

AZACRU

The Azacru Championships had six entrants and 5 rounds were played in which each player played every other once. Players had 15 minutes each and just one of the games were decided by the clock, though in several games one of the players was into their last 3 minutes. The vast majority of games were over in between 15 and 25 minutes. Players received 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

The tournament was won by Martyn Hamer who won each of his games, with margins varying from 2 to 7 fields. Alain Dekker came in second, recovering after a surprise outcome to his first match against Peter Horlock who went for an early exit in the game and defeated him 20-19. Third place saw three people tied on points but Bronwen Dekker won by virtue of her better field difference placing (Bronwen losing to Martyn and Alain by one and two fields respectively). Also on 6 points were David M Pearce & Matthew Hathrell).

Many of the players did not know at the end of the game whether they had won, concentrating on strategy and tactics rather than maintaining a count of field difference: and occasionally the result or margin of victory came as something of a surprise. It makes sense therefore that in none of the games did a player resign.

Appendix for those who like figures.

Just over half the games ended with 24 or less blank fields left on the board. The games which ended earlier (i.e. with more blank fields left) had an average (mean) difference between the players of 3.4 fields, whereas the longer games had a figure of 5.7. Within these figures there were considerable variations (one of the “shorter” games had a margin of 11, one of the longer game a margin of just 1).

Unfortunately we didn’t record who was the first player to say “I can’t move” and whether this player usually won the game. Two thirds of the games were won by the first player to move, and there may be some advantage to playing first, though it is hard to know from this size of sample (or know which player then goes on to say “I can’t move).

Thread: Re: 2nd Azacru World Championships August 25th 2007

Pacruman — 2007-08-11T17:06:19+00:00

Prizes¨:
1st 50 pounds sterling
2nd 30 pounds
3rd 10 pounds

If win both Pacru & Azacru and not a previous winner of either (which excludes 2 people) then get 101 series tile board in addition.

Thread: 2nd Azacru World Championships August 25th 2007

Pacruman — 2007-06-18T21:54:20+00:00

will be held at the MSO (Mind Sports Olympiad) Potters Bar near London, England.

Thread: End of Game in Azacru - "I cannot move" - clarification

Pacruman — 2007-04-15T15:43:19+00:00

The AZACRU rules are that:

The start of the last turn in Azacru occurs when any player first (correctly) announces that they cannot move: all the other players then have one turn each.

Someone has raised a request for clarification from actual gameplay: what happens in the following example:

Player B announces "I cannot move"
Player C moves
Player D moves
Player A moves

Player B would be able now to make a legal move because player D's move has moved out the way a chevron that was preventing B moving.

Can player B take their turn?

The answer is "No" - the game is already over when player A has completed their turn.

Mike Wellman

Image

megamau — 2007-01-15T16:51:57+00:00

Thread: Re: Connection Jump across a borderland

Pacruman — 2006-12-27T14:30:44+00:00

Hi Bob

When you set your chevron down in a different borderland from the one was in when you commenced to move it, then you can always twist the chevron 45 to the left or right at the end of the move, whether that move is a connection or not, and whether that move has also crossed over another borderand in its course.

Terminology note: we tend to use the word "reorient" for turning a chevron on a square when it doesn't move (as in Pacru) and "twist" for turning a chevron at the end of its move (as in Shacru or Azacru).

There is already a Pacru rules FAQ on the website - we will add an Azacru rules FAQ this year!

Regards

Mike

Thread: Connection Jump across a borderland

bobm174 — 2006-12-25T05:02:21+00:00

When you decide to do a connection jump or a connection change
and you cross a borderland, can you also reorient your piece 45 degrees the same way you do when moving across a borderland?

Thanks.

Bob

Thread: 2006 Michigan Azacru Open

CDRodeffer — 2006-11-28T16:16:36+00:00

The first Michigan Azacru Open tournament was held on the evening of November 17, 2006 as an event at the U-Con Gaming Convention in Ann Arbor, MI. Sadly, despite wide advertisement and offering a new copy of the game as a prize (a US$50 value), only one person (Stewart T. of Ypsilanti, MI) registered to compete. As tournament host, it was my responsibility to sit in and play if there were an odd number of players. Neither of us had played Azacru before, but the rules are easy enough to pick up that someone can be playing within about five minutes. After waiting a few more minutes to see if anyone else would show up to compete, Stewart and I sat down to play. I played black, and Stewart, playing yellow, went first.

The game began a bit slowly, not only because it was the first Azacru game for each of us, but also because, at the beginning of the game, no one has any extra movement points in any of the nine borderlands. Stewart began by creating a line of yellow markers along one edge of the board, while I moved toward the center with a mind to surround territory there and squeeze Stewart against the edges. Unfortunately for me, my neglect of the outer borderlands, and in particular the very outer edges, soon allowed Stewart to gain a great deal of mobility there. With a few long connection jumps, my central territory was cut to ribbons, and I lost mobility of one of my four black chevrons. Nevertheless, making good use of borderland twists to set up a few connection jumps of my own, I managed to hold out for about a dozen more turns, and even regained some territory in one corner borderland and along an edge. But it wasn't enough. Before I knew it, all four of my black chevrons were immobilized, either up against a corner or facing an impenetrable wall of yellow markers, and I was staring out across a veritable sea of yellow.

With that overwhelming victory, Stewart T. of Ypsilanti, MI won the 2006 Michigan Azacru Open, and took home a copy of the 302 edition of Pacru / Azacru / Shacru as his prize.

Even though 2006 was the first year for the Michigan Azacru Open, the low turnout was discouraging. If I knew for sure that at least four players wanted to compete, I wouldn't hesitate to host another tournament in 2007. But as it is, the future of the Michigan Azacru Open is questionable. If you want to compete, or if you know someone who does, please send me a GeekMail saying so.