Truly random.
1. C2.5 c8.5 2. H2+3 h8+7 3. R1+1 r9.8
4. R1.6 a4+5 5. R6+7 h2+3 6. R6.7 c2+2
7. P7+1 r8+8 8. A6+5 a5+4 9. H8+7 a6+5
10. H7+6 c2.8 11. R9.8 c8-3 12. C8+7 a5-4
13. H6+4 h7-5 14. R7+1 h5-3 15. C5+4 a+-5
16. H4+5 e7+5 0-1
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
RJT chess -- General Ideas 2 (Attack series)
Here is a nice picture I made using screenshot and Qianhong (Go try it.), showing a position (well... yea) with red to move.
Red appears to be winning. However, if for example, R2=5, K5=6, and there is (for now) no mate! And in this game, that's a scary thought. It's tiring to think of a mate...
Instead, there exists a (hopefully I'm correct...) miraculous move in this situation! Can you find it? (Yes you can...)
C1-1!
This move prevents the shi from being any useful in the defence of the king. Amazing move!... right?
Let's assume black totally does not see the danger of this, and plays a random move!
... P5+1
Suddenly...
R2=5+
...K5=6 (K5=4 is just suicidal)
R5-1+
...K6-1 (forced)
C1=4, planning R5+1 the next move. Good game; well played!
Edit: Swapping the first and second moves totally appears to work better. Awww...
Red appears to be winning. However, if for example, R2=5, K5=6, and there is (for now) no mate! And in this game, that's a scary thought. It's tiring to think of a mate...
Instead, there exists a (hopefully I'm correct...) miraculous move in this situation! Can you find it? (Yes you can...)
C1-1!
This move prevents the shi from being any useful in the defence of the king. Amazing move!... right?
Let's assume black totally does not see the danger of this, and plays a random move!
... P5+1
Suddenly...
R2=5+
...K5=6 (K5=4 is just suicidal)
R5-1+
...K6-1 (forced)
C1=4, planning R5+1 the next move. Good game; well played!
Edit: Swapping the first and second moves totally appears to work better. Awww...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
RJT chess -- General Ideas (Attack series)
Notice that I did not call it strategies, as the ideas I shall mention are really quite vague, but nevertheless somewhat (surprisingly) applicable to a real match of RJT chess.
This post focuses on the attacking madness bit of RJT chess, and (hopefully) another post will eventually be made (might not be by me) on the defensive bits of RJT chess and its strategies.
Big strategies
--------------
1) Getting in sufficient firepower:
Firstly, it is practically impossible to kill with just a single piece, no matter how menacing it may look, under general conditions, as any piece may interpose and hence stop its rampage. *sad face*
Hence, an important attacking idea is to ensure that at least a few pieces (depending on how good your tactical skills are as well as how blind you think your opponent is) can get in to a threatening distance of your opponent's king. (usually as long as it restricts the movement of some of your opponent's defenders; for example, a cannon (pao), as denoted conveniently by C, may pin 2 pieces to your opponent's king. Similarly, A single well placed piece may disrupt the movement of advisors (shi, denoted by A) in the palace.)
Hence an important concern is how to get sufficient firepower next to your opponent's king.
2) Make your opponent commit:
With an action as simple as stuffing a chariot (R) in front of your opponent's king, you typically would have made him commit as to which side he is keeping open and which side is more closed to attacks. Hence, it is more convenient to marshall your forces as you know where they would want to go.
3) Remember your small (but not unimportant at all) BINGS (P):
When your attack looks like it's stalling, bring in the P if there are still open lines and 'ma's (H) if there are no open lines. Since you have 5*P, that can really tie down a good portion of your enemy's pieces especially if he does not defend strategically.
4) Crowd a place when all else fails:
If your normal attacks are not going through, it is possible (and has worked before with great success) to crowd out your last checks with pieces (power of the bing!) and hence win the game by claiming that you are left with no checks at all.
Small strategies
----------------
1) Attempt to get your C directly into the line of sight of your opponent's K with absolutely nothing in between. Since nothing may be stuffed in between, a final strategic single check may prove to be absolutely fatal. Plus this really messes up your opponent's defensive formation. Also, it sounds like a good idea to move your C rather far back to create a zone where your opponent absolutely cannot place his pieces. Happiness ensues.
2) Liberate your horses! They are typically the pieces which finally gets in the important check, as it is rather simple to block off checks from all other pieces with just... well 6 defenders (2 on each side) of the king.
That's all the attacking ideas I can think of for now, and I will (may) return to give more details on each of the strategies at a later date when I finally manage to conjure up semi-professional-sounding ways to explain the how and why of each strategy. That or when I get bored again.
This post focuses on the attacking madness bit of RJT chess, and (hopefully) another post will eventually be made (might not be by me) on the defensive bits of RJT chess and its strategies.
Big strategies
--------------
1) Getting in sufficient firepower:
Firstly, it is practically impossible to kill with just a single piece, no matter how menacing it may look, under general conditions, as any piece may interpose and hence stop its rampage. *sad face*
Hence, an important attacking idea is to ensure that at least a few pieces (depending on how good your tactical skills are as well as how blind you think your opponent is) can get in to a threatening distance of your opponent's king. (usually as long as it restricts the movement of some of your opponent's defenders; for example, a cannon (pao), as denoted conveniently by C, may pin 2 pieces to your opponent's king. Similarly, A single well placed piece may disrupt the movement of advisors (shi, denoted by A) in the palace.)
Hence an important concern is how to get sufficient firepower next to your opponent's king.
2) Make your opponent commit:
With an action as simple as stuffing a chariot (R) in front of your opponent's king, you typically would have made him commit as to which side he is keeping open and which side is more closed to attacks. Hence, it is more convenient to marshall your forces as you know where they would want to go.
3) Remember your small (but not unimportant at all) BINGS (P):
When your attack looks like it's stalling, bring in the P if there are still open lines and 'ma's (H) if there are no open lines. Since you have 5*P, that can really tie down a good portion of your enemy's pieces especially if he does not defend strategically.
4) Crowd a place when all else fails:
If your normal attacks are not going through, it is possible (and has worked before with great success) to crowd out your last checks with pieces (power of the bing!) and hence win the game by claiming that you are left with no checks at all.
Small strategies
----------------
1) Attempt to get your C directly into the line of sight of your opponent's K with absolutely nothing in between. Since nothing may be stuffed in between, a final strategic single check may prove to be absolutely fatal. Plus this really messes up your opponent's defensive formation. Also, it sounds like a good idea to move your C rather far back to create a zone where your opponent absolutely cannot place his pieces. Happiness ensues.
2) Liberate your horses! They are typically the pieces which finally gets in the important check, as it is rather simple to block off checks from all other pieces with just... well 6 defenders (2 on each side) of the king.
That's all the attacking ideas I can think of for now, and I will (may) return to give more details on each of the strategies at a later date when I finally manage to conjure up semi-professional-sounding ways to explain the how and why of each strategy. That or when I get bored again.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Last Minute Vocabulary Mugging
parochial: A narrow view on things
squander: Waste
beset: Trouble or threaten persistently
stiflying: Restraining
rabid: Fanatical
wanton: Deliberate and unprovoked
craven: Completely lacking in courage
ebullience: Exuberance
insinuate: Suggest or hint in an indirect or unpleasant way
felicity: Intense happiness
cutthroat: Fierce and intense, often ruthless
misanthrope: A human who dislikes mankind and avoid society
audacious: 1) Imprudent 2) Showing a willingness to take risks
indubitably: Undoubtedly
pontificate: Expressing one's opinions in a very pompous manner
purport: To claim to be or do something, often falsely
Ok I got lazy. Good luck for GP tomorrow!
squander: Waste
beset: Trouble or threaten persistently
stiflying: Restraining
rabid: Fanatical
wanton: Deliberate and unprovoked
craven: Completely lacking in courage
ebullience: Exuberance
insinuate: Suggest or hint in an indirect or unpleasant way
felicity: Intense happiness
cutthroat: Fierce and intense, often ruthless
misanthrope: A human who dislikes mankind and avoid society
audacious: 1) Imprudent 2) Showing a willingness to take risks
indubitably: Undoubtedly
pontificate: Expressing one's opinions in a very pompous manner
purport: To claim to be or do something, often falsely
Ok I got lazy. Good luck for GP tomorrow!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Comments on statement "Instead of the pursuit of the truth, science has become the pursuit of profit."
Science was once a branch of philosophy, but has evolved into a field of its own, defined by the pursuit of truth through the scientific method, which fundamentally derives from the method of scientific induction, which predicts phenomenons through past observations. What science pursues is not the absolute truth, but rather a workable truth, in fact the simplest truth, that is consistent with our observations, a philosophy known as Occam’s razor. The other defining characteristic of science is the setting up of experiments to observe specific phenomenons while complying to the principles such as reproducibility, which ensure that science is the same throughout the universe and any truths found are universal. Ever since leaving the branch of philosophy, science has been “contaminated” with various less philosophical aspects to it, such as applied science, which revolves around making science more applicable. This has also attracted firms to take up research in order to utilise science in their pursuit of profits, be it through the increase of competitiveness through product innovation, or to increase the efficiency of their workers and hence maximise their profits. Examples of firms utilising science for a profit motive include GlaxoSmithKline, Monsanto, and more ubiquitously, Airbus.
Instead of exclusively pursuing truth, science has now been utilised by companies in their pursuit of profits. This largely stems from science’s effectiveness in producing visible results in the real world. This effectiveness can be said to stem from a unique characteristic of science, as new generations of scientists build upon the observations and theories of the past, leading to the constant and rapid improvement of science. Furthermore, science is now in a golden age; ever since the advent of computers and especially the Internet, the storage and transmission of information from scientific research and experiments has never been so easily archived and shared, and building upon another’s work has never been so convenient. As such, firms today tend to find it irresistible to engage in scientific research. This is evident in how companies such as GlaxoSmithKline pour billions of dollars into developing cures to specific diseases in order to reap the profits that come with a monopoly on the production of a medicine.
Furthermore, for scientists, research is now a globally accepted field which has been known to come with huge financial remuneration, as firms gradually recognise how scientific research can put their balance sheets in better light. In today’s materialistic world, there has undoubtedly been more than just a handful of scientists who forsake the pursuit of pure science for applied sciences for the sake of financial remuneration. In an extreme case, in order to secure his job as a researcher Huang Woo-suk had faked numerous papers about his stem cell research in order to impress his employers. This can, to a certain extent, explain why scientific research is trending towards the goal of profit seeking.
However, there remains strong support for the “pure” sciences, especially in fields such as physics, where physicists all over the world are currently devoting great efforts to find out about the fundamental nature of the universe, and the search for elementary particles, while not having much obvious practical use, has called for extreme measures such as the development of a cross-border project: the famous Large Hadron Collider. Such research is clearly for the sake of the pursuit of truth, and it would be a sweeping statement to conclude that science has degenerated into the search for profits.
Besides, the pursuit of profits in science may not be totally without its merits. The science of today contrasts from science of the past in one superficial but nevertheless striking way: that it is much more elaborate and hence expensive. For example, while a basic physics lab fifty years ago might have been equipped with rulers, stopwatches and mirrors, the basic physics lab of today involves more sophisticated instruments such as the travelling microscope, the data-logger and polaroids. At the advanced level, this distinction is particularly glaring as modern physicists today have spent billions of dollars creating extreme conditions such as freezing temperatures close to the Absolute Zero, where no heat exists, the acceleration of electrons to near-light speeds through large potential gradients, as well as the creation of extremely powerful lasers which require large quantities of tailor-made lenses and surfaces. Without the commercialisation of science, the traditional sources of funding such as donations will definitely be insufficient to fund the extravagance needed for the optimal progress of science today. Hence, the commercialisation of science does indeed bring about its own benefits.
Instead of exclusively pursuing truth, science has now been utilised by companies in their pursuit of profits. This largely stems from science’s effectiveness in producing visible results in the real world. This effectiveness can be said to stem from a unique characteristic of science, as new generations of scientists build upon the observations and theories of the past, leading to the constant and rapid improvement of science. Furthermore, science is now in a golden age; ever since the advent of computers and especially the Internet, the storage and transmission of information from scientific research and experiments has never been so easily archived and shared, and building upon another’s work has never been so convenient. As such, firms today tend to find it irresistible to engage in scientific research. This is evident in how companies such as GlaxoSmithKline pour billions of dollars into developing cures to specific diseases in order to reap the profits that come with a monopoly on the production of a medicine.
Furthermore, for scientists, research is now a globally accepted field which has been known to come with huge financial remuneration, as firms gradually recognise how scientific research can put their balance sheets in better light. In today’s materialistic world, there has undoubtedly been more than just a handful of scientists who forsake the pursuit of pure science for applied sciences for the sake of financial remuneration. In an extreme case, in order to secure his job as a researcher Huang Woo-suk had faked numerous papers about his stem cell research in order to impress his employers. This can, to a certain extent, explain why scientific research is trending towards the goal of profit seeking.
However, there remains strong support for the “pure” sciences, especially in fields such as physics, where physicists all over the world are currently devoting great efforts to find out about the fundamental nature of the universe, and the search for elementary particles, while not having much obvious practical use, has called for extreme measures such as the development of a cross-border project: the famous Large Hadron Collider. Such research is clearly for the sake of the pursuit of truth, and it would be a sweeping statement to conclude that science has degenerated into the search for profits.
Besides, the pursuit of profits in science may not be totally without its merits. The science of today contrasts from science of the past in one superficial but nevertheless striking way: that it is much more elaborate and hence expensive. For example, while a basic physics lab fifty years ago might have been equipped with rulers, stopwatches and mirrors, the basic physics lab of today involves more sophisticated instruments such as the travelling microscope, the data-logger and polaroids. At the advanced level, this distinction is particularly glaring as modern physicists today have spent billions of dollars creating extreme conditions such as freezing temperatures close to the Absolute Zero, where no heat exists, the acceleration of electrons to near-light speeds through large potential gradients, as well as the creation of extremely powerful lasers which require large quantities of tailor-made lenses and surfaces. Without the commercialisation of science, the traditional sources of funding such as donations will definitely be insufficient to fund the extravagance needed for the optimal progress of science today. Hence, the commercialisation of science does indeed bring about its own benefits.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Poem Writing Exercise 2
Driving By Woods on a Hungry Morning
There was once a bear called Barr
Who likes to drive a big red car
He drives the red car through the woods
Foraging around for food.
One day, he met a honey bee,
who got frightened, and stung his knee.
But Barr the Bear was undefeated,
"ME WANT MORE FOOD", he repeated.
So though the forest the bear roamed,
In search for the honey hive
At last he spotted what he seeked
And into the hive he dived.
But alas, it was not to be,
For angry wasps were waiting for him.
Basically, he got pwned
By the nasty little wasp stings.
Hungry, beaten, stung and stunk,
Barr the Bear was still unfazed.
"I'll BE BACK", he chanted,
There're still ten acres for him to raze.
There was once a bear called Barr
Who likes to drive a big red car
He drives the red car through the woods
Foraging around for food.
One day, he met a honey bee,
who got frightened, and stung his knee.
But Barr the Bear was undefeated,
"ME WANT MORE FOOD", he repeated.
So though the forest the bear roamed,
In search for the honey hive
At last he spotted what he seeked
And into the hive he dived.
But alas, it was not to be,
For angry wasps were waiting for him.
Basically, he got pwned
By the nasty little wasp stings.
Hungry, beaten, stung and stunk,
Barr the Bear was still unfazed.
"I'll BE BACK", he chanted,
There're still ten acres for him to raze.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Poem Writing Exercise 1
How does Marken write such nice poems? I want to learn!
Ok let's try.
Scrambled eggs are cool
Cos when they splatter
They make a good meal
On your platter.
Unsheath your sword!
Charge across the landscape!
Kill those minions!
Oops, its runescape!
Beware of dragons
for they breathe fire
that will surely melt
those plastic tyres.
Bleh, looks like it's not working :(.
Ah well, let's tell a knock-knock joke instead.
A: Knock Knock!
B: Who's there?
A: You know.
B: You know who?
A: Yes.
Ok let's try.
Scrambled eggs are cool
Cos when they splatter
They make a good meal
On your platter.
Unsheath your sword!
Charge across the landscape!
Kill those minions!
Oops, its runescape!
Beware of dragons
for they breathe fire
that will surely melt
those plastic tyres.
Bleh, looks like it's not working :(.
Ah well, let's tell a knock-knock joke instead.
A: Knock Knock!
B: Who's there?
A: You know.
B: You know who?
A: Yes.
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