Stratego Riddle

[ricardo90]

i saw it inmediatly in the first time,
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[skywalker]

can't see how blue could win this...

any explanations???

[cosmo]

its simple skywalker blue moves first remember so he moves minor one to the left forcing red to move either sergeant to cover it would ofcourse most likely be the one to the right next blue moves scout to bottom row meaning red can then not move the left sided sergeant anywhere but downward to cover scout from moving below flag ( the red spy and minor are pointless and wont even be moved ) now blue moves miner over to left , red can do nothing as the right sergeant it on right of bomb and cannot get to minor he can only hold position as would be same for left sided sergeant so reds next move would be pointless blue then moves minor down one square and red is screwed if sergeant takes minor scout moves to below flag the on next turn gets flag if he doesnt take minor then flag is captured by minor its that simple

[acerimmer]

Hi cosmo

That was the obvious scenario that I first saw.......but if this was the case......red would win by 1 move......with spy taking flag.

For blue to win.......this is the series of moves blue would need to make......which would win the game.

blue: scout to I1
red: serg to D1
blue: scout to I7
red: spy to A8
blue: scout to A7
red: spy to B8
blue: scout to A2
red: serg to D2 (starting the 3 or 5 identical move rule)
blue: scout to A1
red: serg to D1
blue: scout to A2
red: serg to D2
blue: scout to A1
red: (serg cannot move to D1) so spy to B9
blue: scout to E1
red: spy to B10
blue: scout to E2 and wins game.


Simple really (blue wins on the blue's 9th move......11th move if playing 5 move rule)

An unrealistic scenario......as who would attack a flag with a spy.....with a scout on the opposing side. If the spy was any other movable piece...... then red would win this game.....no way blue would win if it was a miner or serg etc (3 spaces from the blue flag).

[ricardo90]

you are right ace, but you didn't see it on the first time did you ? oh the answer is no i saw in your first post, you thought red would win, but like stratego said it was tricky. so i was searching and searching and after 5 minutes i saw what was the solution.
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[acerimmer]

Yes, 2nd time for me.......my initial reaction was red.....that would teach me for looking at the most obvious solution and assuming the answer was straight forward.

In most games we do not have 5 mins to look for an answer......so most players will see no hope for blue.......unless spending 5 mins or more on a situation......then maybe an answer can come.

If this situation was played within a game........95 to 99% of time red would win.......only a knowledgable blue player would win from this position.

[gentleben]

My blue winning sequence was different guys and only takes blue 8 moves to win. It goes like this:

blue:scout to i8
red:miner to e10
blue:miner to e4
red:serg to f3
blue:miner to d4
red:miner to d10
blue:scout to i1
red:serg to d1
blue:miner to d3
red:miner to c10
blue:scout or miner to attack flag
red:serg takes out the attacker
blue:remaining scout or miner attacks flag
red:miner to b10
blue wins with red miner one step from flag

In the scenario you described Ace, if I were red, when the scout attacked my spy, I would move the serg back to d2 to prevent the 5 move rule. If blue then takes the spy, the red miner moves to e10. Blue must then move his miner to e4 and a sequence similar to mine still transpires. So there are actually 3 ways blue can win! But if Blue makes one wrong move, Red wins.

It is an interesting scenario and I agree with you Ace, unrealistic, but still a good riddle nonetheless.

[skywalker]

@cosmo:
this situation you described was the one i had in mind too. but it is obvious that red would win in this case.

@gentleben:
look at your post again. you made a mistake i think.

[ricardo90]

i agree with skywalker, i think you might made a mistake.
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[cosmo]

yep i screwed up there should have bought up two pages so i could see the layout as i wrote but the principle was right at least

[gentleben]

To Skywalker or Ricardo, if I made a mistake, tell me what it is. I went through it again and don't see one.

Cosmo did make a mistake however. He wrote, "the red spy and miner...won't even be moved" and "reds next move would be pointless." But that is not true. After cosmo's first 4 described moves, blue is still at least 4 moves from getting the flag. The spy is only 3 moves from winning for red so red's next move would be "spy to a8". The spy would get to the flag before blue unless prevented from doing so like in Ace's or my scenarios.

[ricardo90]

like i said, i might think. i can't see you situation very clearly so i can't decide.
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