Updated the link to Games @ Mumbai on my conferences page (http://kyleburke.info/CGTMeetings.php) to the new link that works: https://www.ieor.iitb.ac.in/Combinatorial_Games

#CombinatorialGames

@doctroid You can kinda form a loop by making a move that could have been from either end of the existing path, but if you explicitly say which end it was from, and you don't "close the loop", then I think it's well-defined.

#CombinatorialGames

CC: @CGTKyle

Updated my list of #CombinatorialGames academic meetings: http://kyleburke.info/CGTMeetings.php. I added the upcoming Games at Mumbai and added JCDCG^3 (Japan Conference on Discrete and Computational Geometry, Graphs, and Games) going back to 2016, when Games was added to the title.

Are there more CGT meetings I'm missing on the list? Let me know!

The #Sprouts2024 webpage is up: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2024/ Our keynote speaker will be Michael Fisher from West Chester University of PA.

You can play around with writing a Gorgons player for our computer player tournament: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2024/sprouts2024ComputerTournament.php

We haven't yet picked a Saturday in April for the conference, but we're working on it. If you know any undergrads who will be working on anything related to combinatorial or mathematical games, please have them consider giving a talk! If you have a student who might be looking for an AI project, suggest to them to take part in the Gorgons player competition!

#SproutsConference #AI #UndergraduateResearch #CombinatorialGames

We have a game for next year's Sprouts! Gorgons, which is quite similar to Amazons. Each turn you choose one of your (non-stone) Gorgons to move, pick a direction a Chess Queen can move and then move it in that direction (or keep it still). Before your Gorgon moves, it uses its gaze to turn a space to stone. If there is another Gorgon in the direction it's chosen, it turns that one to stone. Otherwise it turns the last clear space in that direction to a stone block. (You can't choose a direction where there isn't any free space.) It's a normal play game, so you lose when you can't make a move.

Gorgons is playable here: http://kyleburke.info/DB/combGames/gorgons.html The basic AI is terrible (they needlessly turn their own pieces to stone a lot). I've been enjoying playing as just one gorgon against a team of many.

We don't have a date yet for #Sprouts2024 (it'll probably be a Saturday in April). There will be a human tournament and an AI tournament. I'll work on getting the webpages up with instructions to submit your own AI player.

#Sprouts2024 #SproutsConference #CombinatorialGames #Gorgons #UndergraduateResearch

Forced Capture #Hnefatafl . I'm playing as the defenders. #CombinatorialGames

@plektix I think Richard Nowakowski did a bunch with that a while ago. He's a big name in #CombinatorialGames. I think I saw a good talk about a variant in 2017.

I always have to be reminded about how the game works. :-P

Another update to our playable implementation of Forced-Capture #Hnefatafl: http://kyleburke.info/DB/combGames/forcedCaptureHnefatafl.html
There is now a message when there's a forced move.

Prior updates: https://mathstodon.xyz/@CGTKyle/110680576339198284

#CombinatorialGames #TaflGames #Tablut

@peterrowlett You do not need the star before the zero, because 0 = *0. I do recommend using \ast instead of just * in #LaTeX. #CombinatorialGames

This winter I did some cool stuff with #Hnefatafl, an unsymmetric #viking board game that's been recreated. Our version forces the current player to make a capturing move if one exists. It's playable here: http://kyleburke.info/DB/combGames/forcedCaptureHnefatafl.html There is a deterministic path to victory on the Brandubh board for the Attackers in three moves. See if you can find it!

I've been having fun playing against the Medium "AI" on the Ard Rí board. (I lose most of the time.)

We showed that the general game of Forced-Capture Hnefatafl is PSPACE-hard: https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.06127

#CombinatorialGames #Tablut #Tafl

The number of people who have spoken to Drew Carey about boolean formula #CombinatorialGames is not zero: https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/j60_De6rS4cihZ8OlWn6vJ909IsTO8YZ/ (You don't have to watch too far into the episode.) Good job, Matt!

CGSuite version 2.0 is now available! https://www.cgsuite.org/ #CombinatorialGames

Oops! Forgot to tag in #CombinatorialGames

Notebooks for in-person attendees are looking great! #Sprouts2023 #CombinatorialGames

I am so lucky that we have a good schedule for Sprouts on Saturday! Here's the agenda: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/#agenda If you're interested in attending any part of it, follow the registration instructions on the above page. (It's free!)

We also got our first Flag Coloring computer player submission! I'm expecting one more, so we should have an actual competition!

#CombinatorialGames #Sprouts2023

#Sprouts2023 update: We currently have 4 talks + our keynote (http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/index.php) and a little bird has told me to expect two more talk proposals today. Thanks to everyone for sending in their proposals!

We should be nailing down the times for the tournaments soon! #CombinatorialGames

Playing Myopic Col against my #datastructures students. #CombinatorialGames

Update on #Sprouts2023, the #CombinatorialGames conference for #undergraduateresearch: We have 15 registered attendees and 4 scheduled speakers, with 1 or 2 more people who we expect to submit abstracts. http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/

We still don't have any submissions for the AI Flag Coloring tournaments. We are extending the due date by an extra day: Thursday of next week. That will give us enough time to set up the tournament page. Also, by popular request, I have provided the FlagColoring javascript source code. It is at the bottom of the tournament page: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/flagColoringComputerTournament.php At this point, any player has a good chance to win! Submit something!

(At what point of not having any submissions am I allowed to write my own player for the tournament? Maybe by Monday?)

#Sprouts2023 update: We are very excited to have info about our Keynote speaker on the site: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/ We also have abstracts for two of the contributed talks listed. Keep submitting abstracts and we'll keep reviewing them!

Are you an undergrad who likes to play a combinatorial or abstract game? Speaking here is a great way to get experience giving an academic talk!

Also, please remember that the AI players are due on Wednesday, March 29.

#CombinatorialGames #undergraduateresearch

Update on #Sprouts2023: for the AI competition, I added functionality to the site so you can test two full players against each other: http://kyleburke.info/sprouts/sprouts2023/flagColoringComputerTournament.php (Scroll to the bottom.) No submissions so far, but I have heard from three people/teams working on it! Sprouts is April 1 (no joke) but AI players are due a few days ahead of time. #CombinatorialGames