[Icehouse] Re: Ikkozendo is now on the Wiki... and needs a final name (re-send)

[Kory Heath]

David Artman wrote:

>I think I am confused a bit by this paragraph. I will try to answer 
>what I can, and perhaps you could re-ask what I do not address?
>  
>
I see now that the confusion was on my side. I thought that if the 
Master adjusted both koans, it would always be in order to turn them 
*both* into counter-examples to the guess. I forgot that sometimes the 
Master will have to adjust one side simply to get the necessary pieces 
to turn the other side into a counter-example. If I now understand the 
rules correctly, I imagine that a player might make a guess, the Master 
might adjust both koans, and then only one of the two resulting koans 
actually disproves the guess.

>Second, I sort of assumed the Master must setup a true and a false 
>koan--that's the fundamental starting condition in Zendo, right?
>
Right. I was talking about disproving guesses. It's sometimes impossible 
to set up both a white koan and a black koan that would disprove some 
particular guess.

>ANyway, could you try to re-explain your concerns, if they still exist 
>knowing that one can "legally" adjust one or both koans, now?
>  
>
My concern is mild, and hardly applies at all to the turnless variant. 
It's simply that there's a wide variation in the amount of information 
that the Master can provide when disproving guesses. It's wider than it 
is in Zendo, because in Ikkozendo you're sometimes forced to provide a 
"free" extra koan to go along with the counter-example.

It clearly doesn't break the game, and I think the rules you've settled 
on are best. If I were Mastering a competitive, turn-based game of 
Ikkozendo, I personally would try to be as "tight-lipped" as possible. 
I'd always adjust only one koan if I could, and if I had to adjust both, 
I'd make sure only one of the resulting koans provided a 
counter-example. And I'd try to make the other koan not give away new 
information.

Anyway, it's a minor point, and it probably doesn't matter at all in a 
turnless game. Especially if there's beer involved. :)

-- Kory