fandomhigh | Logically Speaking, Period 6, 26 May '09

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Logically Speaking, Period 6, 26 May '09

Small desks were scattered throughout the classroom when the students arrived. On the desks were a checkered board, a stopclock, two closed boxes and two handouts.

"Computer programming is heavily logic based," said Mohinder. "Some of the earliest programs were written to simulate already existing games. The first chess-playing software was written in the fifties and forty six years later a computer beat a world champion under competition conditions." He backtracked into a quick summation of the rules of the game.

"Rather than using intuition or experience, these machines were programmed to sift through millions of possible outcomes several moves ahead, assess those and play the one with the best possible outcome. And on a more human scale that's what you're going to do today. Now, chess is only one of several logic heavy games - ones that have a limited or no dependence on chance - there's checkers, stratego, go..."

"Your boards are set up ready to play, so choose your game."

[OCD is up. Have at!]

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There are boards set for checkers and for chess, for as handwavy a game as you want.

Ino poked a bit dubiously at the chess board--it wasn't totally unfamiliar, but she was more used to Shogi or Go--and she wasn't no Shikamaru besides.

She sighed. Ewww.

Edited 2009-05-26 17:18 (UTC)

"You look like the board insulted your family," Valentine couldn't help noting, hoping that the other girl wouldn't mind at least a distraction, if not a game partner.

Ino wrinkled her nose cheerfully at the other girl. "Maybe it did," she said, "I'll I know is that they're close enough I can tell the basic idea, but have no clue how to actually play them. Valentine, right?"

Ino paid attention!

"Right," Valentine said with a nod. It took her a moment to think back a little, sort through retained information a moment before coming up with the other girl's name. "And you're Ino. I can teach you how to play if you want. And the real way, not the version I used to play with my brother that basically involved making up rules on the spot."

Based on actual political movements and military campaigns, but that wasn't the point.

"It wouldn't be nearly as fun," she said idly, "learning the wrong way if I didn't know it was wrong after all. Can't break rules properly 'less you know them. Sure, impart your knowledge, oh wise one."

"Gladly," Valentine said, grinning a little. "So, basically," Valentine said, as she started setting up the pieces, "what we have here is a metaphor for war, in 32 pieces and 64 squares. You'll notice that the most abundant piece is this little guy, the pawn. Their numbers make them more expendable, but they're use is also not to be underestimated. They sit in front of all the...we'll say...fancier pieces."

"Ranking officers?" she suggested, studying the board. "Which means there's got to be a leader and a second in command?"

"I think that would be us," Valentine said with a grin, "since we direct all the action without ever really getting into it personally. We do have knights, though," she pointed out the horse shaped pieces. "Their movements are restricted to an L-shaped pattern like this, or this, or this." Her finger danced over the squares as she explained. "And bishops," moving along to the one with the little balls on top, "move diagonally. The rooks here," she pointed to the castle towers, "at the end move in straight lines."

"How do the pawns move?" Ino asked, poking one. "And the leaders back home would be terribly offended at the idea that they don't go into conflict at all, but I see your point."

"The leaders back at my home would be terribly offended at the idea that they should," Valentine muttered. "And the pawns move forward. On the first move, they can move forward two spots, but after that, only one. And, unlike the other pieces, when they take another piece, they have to do it diagonally; they can't take a piece directly in front of them."

Ino looked amused. "If that's how it is, then they probably won't stay leaders for long in more than name. Nature abhors a vacuum. Why do the pawns get an extra space in the first round? Because they're the backbone of your army?"

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Liir blinked at the boards. All of them.

This really wasn't his thing.

"Have you ever played checkers before?" Yakko asked, bouncing up to Liir.

He had literally bounced across the room on his bottom. He was an odd one.

He shook his head.

"No."

...the bouncing wasn't so bad. He'd grown up around flying monkeys. It didn't look that odd.

Yakko took a seat at one of the desks and said, "Well, pull up a chair and I'll teach you how to play! Don't worry about the handout, it's easier to just jump into it."

Yakko was totally planning on making up rules that made it impossible for him to lose. It was entirely logical to do so!

Liir looked at Yakko for a moment before shaking his head and pulling up the sheets.

"Sorry. I learn best slowly."

"Well, while you're learning, I'm just going to start stacking the pieces on top of each other to make a mega king," Yakko said. And he started doing exactly that.

He kept reading.

"...it doesn't mention a mega king."

"It's probably in there at the end," Yakko said. "It should be right after the part on super kings since you need two of those to make the mega king."

"...there's not enough to make more than one megaking," he pointed out, starting to get the feeling that something was awry here.

"It doesn't matter. You couldn't beat a mega king anyway," Yakko pointed out.

"And how do you get one right off? It says here that you have to get to the other side just to make a king!"

Claire by-passed the chess and went for checkers instead.

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