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Help For Philosopher's Football
Introduction
Welcome to the network Philosopher's Football server. The rules of Philosopher's Football are below. The Phutball "challenge" command has a -handicap option which is described here. Other commands are the same for all pbmserv games.
- phutball challenge [ -handicap=number ] userid1 userid2
- Start a new game between userid1 and userid2.
If a handicap is specified and positive, the initial position of the phutball is moved number spaces towards userid2's goal. If negative, the initial position is moved number spaces towards userid1's goal. Positive numbers make it more difficult for player 1.
Since whole-number handicaps add rows to one player while subtracting them from the other player, half-point handicaps can also be used. "-handicap=0.5" will add an extra row to the top of the board, which gives player1 an extra row to go, without subtracting any rows from player2. This results in a handicap halfway between 0 and 1. Handicaps of 1.5, -0.5, -1.5, etc. are done similarly. (hint: Before you issue a challenge command, you can send "phutball preview new 2 -handicap=0.5" to be sure of what will happen.)
Because phutball has a noticeable first-move advantage, handicaps of 0 and +0.5 will count towards ratings. All other handicaps are unrated.
Rules for Philosopher's Football
Object of the game:
On a 19x15 board, players take turns either adding men to the field, or moving the football. (There is no difference between the men placed by player one and those placed by player two.) The football moves by jumping lines of adjacent men and then removing all jumped men from the board. The football can jump diagonally as well as straight. The object is to move the football to (or past) your goal line.
Initial board layout:
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ^
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 |
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10 Ohs Eks
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 |
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 v
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
The Ohs player is attempting to move the football ('@') to row 19 or 20. The Eks player is attempting to move the football to row 1 or 0.
Movement:
You may...
- Add a new man to the board. Simply specify the Row and
Column of the new man's location.
or
- Move the phutball. Specify the phutball's location and the path of spaces it follows while moving.
Here is a sample game opening:
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11 2 J12
12 . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11 2 J12
12 . . . . . . . + + . . . . . . 12 3 H12
11 . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11 2 J12
12 . . . . . . . + + . . . . . . 12 3 H12 4 K11
11 . . . . . . . + . + . . . . . 11
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11 2 J12
12 . . . . . . . + + . . . . . . 12 3 H12 4 K11
11 . . . . . . . + . + . . . . . 11 5 H14
10 . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
14 . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . 14 Ohs Eks
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 H11 2 J12
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3 H12 4 K11
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 5 H14 6 H10-H13-L10
10 . . . . . . . . . . @ . . . . 10
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P
