# Do you like puzzles?



## Ingélou

Do you enjoy puzzles? Taggart loves sudoku & logic puzzles, & I love codeword, but we both love crosswords & 'target'. We do a target word daily & have challenged ourselves to make 20 more words out of the nine letters than the highest target set by the newspaper. The basic idea of target is a great one; if you're ever stuck in a hospital queue, for example, & bored out of your skull, just see how many words you can make out of 'dermatology' or whatever - it really does help make purgatory bearable.

Which puzzle gives you most enjoyment? For me there's nothing like the thrill of finally cracking a ferocious cryptic crossword. I love everything about words - which is why I don't do sudoku. It's too mathematical for me - too much like hard work. 

Thanks in advance for any replies.


----------



## Taggart

I love sudoku in all its many forms and all sorts of mathematical puzzles.

I love target as well, my mother used to do it when I was young. Weird thing, the Scottish 11 plus had a section on anagrams and I just couldn't get them. My mother drilled me in it and now I love getting the anagrams in crosswords.


----------



## Novelette

People are the greatest puzzles of all. I can never figure them out. 

I adore picture puzzles and sudoku.


----------



## GreenMamba

"Other," which for me is chess tactical puzzles.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

I do the odd cryptic crossword (my mum and dad are great fans, so I got this from them)

I did sudokus for a while - the Guardian runs a good weekly 'killer' sudoku where you start with none of the numbers at all - try it! But once you learn how to do this, there's no real challenge left.

My abiding 'puzzle love' is the chess puzzle, which I've been doing on and off since I was about 9. I still do one a week (in the Guardian on a Saturday)


----------



## cwarchc

No ..............................

Simple answer really


----------



## Ingélou

cwarchc said:


> No ..............................





cwarchc said:


> Simple answer really


That's all right - live & let live!


----------



## PetrB

Crosswords (American style - the English Cryptogram type elude me, or I would have to start with the earliest beginner level to get a grip on the loosely associative thinking required.)

Anagrams: 
Scramble -- find the five or so words from scrambled groups of letters, the 'finale' is then finding a phrase made up from an anagram of circle targeted letters from those words.

& Word ladder.

I have no knack (or affinity for) the puzzles using numbers.

Apart from the mild exercise of American style crossword puzzles, I say that if one solves one completely, a good part of the satisfaction is that they are about the only place in life where everything actually falls neatly into place _(because life ain't like that_ I suppose the same could be said for the numbers puzzles as well.


----------



## Tristan

Yes, word-related and logic puzzles. As a kid, a book of brain-teasers and a book about paradoxes were two of my favorite. I have also always loved anagrams, crosswords, word scrambles, word searches, and even cryptograms. 

I have never been into mathematical puzzles and Sudoku doesn't appeal to me at all


----------



## Taggart

Why do people think Sudoku has to be mathematical? You can do it with letters or symbols or even










The more difficult levels feature multiple octaves and enharmonic equivalents.


----------



## Ingélou

Aaaaaaaaghhhh!


----------



## PetrB

round two 

I'd have to go with Novelette, people and their behavior is one of the biggest puzzles of all.

For me, other than the word puzzles, the most engaging puzzle is one I've set for myself with a musical idea and trying to develop it into a piece. Not even knowing where the original idea came from, the rest is just as much, or more, of a puzzle.


----------



## aleazk

In the situations most people do puzzles (e.g., while traveling, with breakfast, etc.), I read physics/math books... which is more or less the same kind of thing


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

I like jigsaw puzzles, although I've done very few of them in the last few years. I did one this past Spring Break with family, and now we're bitten. I use to like sudoku too, but I've gotten tired of it and stopped doing them. Yeah, I guess I just don't do puzzles very much.


----------



## Chris

I love puzzles. I restrict myself to one cryptic crossword a day otherwise I'd do nothing else. I enjoy logic and mathematical puzzles as well. Here's a nice one I found on the internet:

Ten years from now Tim will be twice as old as Jane was when Mary was nine times as old as Tim.

Eight years ago, Mary was half as old as Jane will be when Jane is one year older than Tim will be at the time when Mary will be five times as old as Tim will be two years from now.

When Tim was one year old, Mary was three years older than Tim will be when Jane is three times as old as Mary was six years before the time when Jane was half as old as Tim will be when Mary will be ten years older than Mary was when Jane was one-third as old as Tim will be when Mary will be three times as old as she was when Jane was born.

*How old are they now?*


----------



## Guest

I quite like crossword puzzles. But for those queues and waits at dentists, airports and so on I always have a book with me. In fact I *always* have a book with me just in case. Even in the car, when I have to just park and wait for a parking place to become available. A quick confession: even in restaurants when I'm eating alone I'll have a book or magazine to read whilst I eat.


----------



## elgar's ghost

I like the cryptic and general knowledge crosswords in the Daily Telegraph. I've a 1000-piece jigsaw of a painting of an African elephant awaiting my pleasure but I need to get a mat for it first.


----------



## aleazk

TalkingHead said:


> I quite like crossword puzzles. But for those queues and waits at dentists, airports and so on I always have a book with me. In fact I *always* have a book with me just in case. Even in the car, when I have to just park and wait for a parking place to become available. A quick confession: even in restaurants when I'm eating alone I'll have a book or magazine to read whilst I eat.


The "von Neumann style":

"_Despite being a notoriously bad driver, he nonetheless enjoyed driving (frequently while reading a book)-occasioning numerous arrests as well as accidents._"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann


----------



## shangoyal

Ingélou said:


> Aaaaaaaaghhhh!


Exactly!

.......


----------



## Katie

Here's toughie: It's Wednesday; the temperature is 86F; the dew point 102C; winds are 5mph SSE; Lincoln is president; and the price of tea in China is 650 RMB per pound. So, if you put me in a room with a cheesecake courtesy Two Little Red Hens from NYC's Upper East side, how many cheesecakes would you have after 3 minutes and 15 seconds? Answer: Crumbs


----------



## Guest

Wild shot : 1 cheesecake, 1 beefcake and a total fruitcake?


----------



## Weston

When I first got my Xoom tablet thingy (which I highly recommend over Microsoft's Surface tablet) I downloaded a bunch of crossword puzzles along with a crossword puzzle app. It was downloading from the Manchester Times. Wondering why it would download from the Manchester, Tennessee newspaper instead of the more local Nashville one, I had no idea, but I was thrilled there were so many puzzles to work. 

Then I realized they were from Manchester in the UK. And ya'll spell words funny! 

Still I enjoy the occasional crossword, and for social chilling out, a good jigsaw puzzle is therapeutic.


----------



## Guest

I prefer quizzes to puzzles. I'm in a local pub team quiz league.


----------



## Ingélou

Quizzes are also fab. Maybe we'll see you on one of the Quiz programmes we watch on TV? Let us know!


----------



## Guest

Ingélou said:


> Quizzes are also fab. Maybe we'll see you on one of the Quiz programmes we watch on TV? Let us know!


Er, no, the prospect of public humiliation at not knowing who won the Grand National in 1965 or the capital of Georgia is deeply off-putting.


----------



## Krummhorn

Crossword puzzles of medium difficulty level mainly. The easy ones are boring and I'm not enough of an intellectual to solve the really difficult ones. 

I do have a crossword dictionary for those times when I'm stumped. I also keep a book in the car and work them while dining alone (once a week between my personal practice session and the start of choir rehearsals at church).


----------



## Morimur

i don like no puzzzles an i don like no math neither!


----------



## Vaneyes

I occasionally do crosswords and word games in the bathroom/water closet. Otherwise, no.

FWIW I once knew a whippet named Puzzle. Neat dog.


----------



## ArtMusic

I enjoy jigsaw puzzles because it's fun working these through with other people I know.


----------



## brianvds

Chris said:


> I love puzzles. I restrict myself to one cryptic crossword a day otherwise I'd do nothing else.


I have never been able to make the slightest sense of cryptic crosswords. Most of the time, even when I see the solution I still cannot make out how it is in any way connected to the clue. And then, when someone familiar with such puzzles explains it to me, I can still not see the connection. 



> Ten years from now Tim will be twice as old as Jane was when Mary was nine times as old as Tim.
> 
> Eight years ago, Mary was half as old as Jane will be when Jane is one year older than Tim will be at the time when Mary will be five times as old as Tim will be two years from now.
> 
> When Tim was one year old, Mary was three years older than Tim will be when Jane is three times as old as Mary was six years before the time when Jane was half as old as Tim will be when Mary will be ten years older than Mary was when Jane was one-third as old as Tim will be when Mary will be three times as old as she was when Jane was born.
> 
> *How old are they now?*


I can deal with math, but not with convoluted language.


----------



## Ingélou

Cryptic crosswords take a lot of getting into, but once they're in your blood... 

I agree with you about the math problem - my brain switches off at once! I remember when I was eighteen I took a general studies paper on the morning before I took my English A-level paper in the afternoon. The math part of the general studies was one of those awful problems about a reservoir with pipes letting *in* water at a certain rate, and pipes letting *out* water at a certain rate, and how much water would be left in, and how much water have gone out in a certain time, blah blah. Being young and earnest, I was determined to crack it, and I did - then was so tired in the afternoon, it felt as if my brain was trudging through porridge! Curiously, I remember the general studies paper better now than I do the English.


----------



## Kieran

This isn't a puzzle, as such, but it'll vex you just the same...

EDIT: but I like doing soduko puzzles on the phone...


----------



## Ingélou

Aaagh!  You are so right, Kieran. I haven't the foggiest what it even means!
I have alerted Taggart & I am now heading off to his computer den to watch him have a crack at it.


----------



## Taggart

Fascinating! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


----------



## Kieran

Basically, when two squares with the same numbers are side by side, you merge them. A 2 beside a 2, use the arrow key and merge them. You keep merging them until you get the magic moment when 2 squares of 1024 each are beside each other, to be merged.

Sounds easy. It's not. :lol:

There's a demo provided. Good luck with it! :tiphat:


----------



## science

Kieran said:


> This isn't a puzzle, as such, but it'll vex you just the same...
> 
> EDIT: but I like doing soduko puzzles on the phone...


I love that game!


----------



## Ingélou

Kieran said:


> This isn't a puzzle, as such, but it'll vex you just the same...
> 
> EDIT: but I like doing soduko puzzles on the phone...


Kieran, I am now hopelessly addicted - j'accuse!


----------



## SixFootScowl

I never liked puzzles and then discovered Sudoku 5 years ago. But I got to where I preferred killer sudoku and have been doing some that take hours to break into. My favorite Sudoku site (has Killer , Regular and other kinds of puzzles) is www.krazydad.com .

I also like the Sudoku with the big X where the the lines connecting opposite corners also have to have each of the nine numbers.

Tried some blackout Sudoku, and they were much fun. Each block, row and column has one black cell which does not represent a number (since if it did then it would not necessarily be the same number for the cell as for the row or even column). Which means there are only 8 digits in each row, column and block and you really don't know what one is missing.


----------



## Mahlerian

Kieran said:


> This isn't a puzzle, as such, but it'll vex you just the same...


Kieran, you have made/destroyed/enlightened/sucked away my evening!


----------



## Kieran

:lol:

It's a beaut, isn't it! It's more about strategy than anything. Anyway, make no plans for the next couple months! :devil:


----------



## Kieran

Anybody still hacking away at the 2048 game? getting any good scores?

More importantly, have you discovered "The System...?" :wave:


----------



## Ingélou

Yes - no - and no!


----------



## Kieran

Well, I got hooked on it and played it about a million times - I've gotten it out 3 times. And gotten scores over 10,000 a few times, including one over 16,000. When you get the 2048, you get a score higher than 20,000. One mistake I make is that I play it too fast, almost automatically, sliding things across and then jamming myself up.

There is a system I use and gets me better scores, I can pm it if you like...


----------



## Ingélou

Thanks, but no - that would take all the burning, excoriating frustration out of it...


----------



## Kieran

Ingélou said:


> Thanks, but no - that would take all the burning, excoriating frustration out of it...


:lol:

That's the spirit! :tiphat:


----------



## science

I did it. Boooooyaaaaa!

View attachment 39143


Of course I haven't done anything else for about three days.


----------



## Kieran

That is bloody quick! Of course, I'm jealous, my bragging rights stripped away after I mentioned my 3 wins. Took me a few weeks. 

To get 512! 

Then when I got 1024, I had to stand up and shake my hands real fast to release tension. Another week passed before I achieved what you did in 3 days! :lol:


----------



## science

Kieran said:


> That is bloody quick! Of course, I'm jealous, my bragging rights stripped away after I mentioned my 3 wins. Took me a few weeks.
> 
> To get 512!
> 
> Then when I got 1024, I had to stand up and shake my hands real fast to release tension. Another week passed before I achieved what you did in 3 days! :lol:


Yesterday morning I got 1024 and I was so happy... then I realized that I was only halfway... and that it was the easy half too!


----------



## Kieran

science said:


> Yesterday morning I got 1024 and I was so happy... then I realized that I was only halfway... and that it was the easy half too!


It is. The vexing part is when there might be two other large and compatible numbers - separated by a lot of very small ones. Trying to align everything at the end can get tricky. Have you fallen into my worst habit - of playing too fast?


----------



## aimee

Thanks Kieran for the game, but ...not so much  (just kidding)

It's so addictive! I tried it the last 2 nights, it was so tough to quit, one game after another and another..., the highest number I reached was only 1024 after many tries... and the next morning I couldn't open my eyes  
Lesson learned: I have to stay away from it during weekdays and hope the fun would be multiplied in the weekends


----------



## science

Kieran said:


> It is. The vexing part is when there might be two other large and compatible numbers - separated by a lot of very small ones. Trying to align everything at the end can get tricky. Have you fallen into my worst habit - of playing too fast?


At least occasionally I find that I played too fast; usually what that means is that I failed to notice a combination that would happen and it creates some inconvenience for me. I beat it again today, so I think I know what you mean by "the system." But you definitely don't want to make any mistakes once you've got a few big numbers making the space tight!

(I could probably explain that but it'd be giving hints to people who might not want any hints! I'll only give this hint - with this game or any game like this, look for patterns when you lose. Like, why did you lose? What happened that led to the loss? Eliminate those, and you win! But it's so easy to say something like that, isn't it?)

Edit: I just beat it a third time. It's definitely just a matter of getting your strategy right and then not making any mistakes. But every time I think I got a bit lucky too.

BTW, has anyone figured out how to tell where a new number will appear?


----------



## Ingélou

'Only 1024', Aimee - after doing my head in on the game, the most I've reached yet is 512! 

And yes, Science - don't hint; how can I possibly go to rack & ruin properly if you *help* me?


----------



## science

Ingélou said:


> 'Only 1024', Aimee - after doing my head in on the game, the most I've reached yet is 512!
> 
> And yes, Science - don't hint; how can I possibly go to rack & ruin properly if you *help* me?


I understand... it'll click... but a few days ago I was thinking, "So this is how I'm going to spend my 40s."


----------



## Kieran

Science, you're at legendary status now! You see, your question is the pertinent one - do we know where a new number will appear? Sometimes the patterns repeat, especially at the start, or if we're boxed off with - say - only 3 squares in the right hand column left, go down and a two appears, go back up and a two pops up at the bottom. Better hope these two's find comrades, who then find comrades, who then find....


----------



## Ingélou

So - do I take *Kieran's* advice, play slowly & thoughtfully, build up a really good score - and then it goes 'phut' and I've wasted 15 minutes?
Or do I play quickly, 'just one game', to get it out of the way & waste less time - it goes phut almost at once - I feel frustrated, have another go - then another - and I've wasted 15 minutes.

*What a dilemma!*


----------



## Kieran

Ingélou said:


> 'Only 1024', Aimee - after doing my head in on the game, the most I've reached yet is 512!
> 
> And yes, Science - don't hint; how can I possibly go to rack & ruin properly if you *help* me?


How's Taggart doing with it? Has he engaged with it at all?


----------



## Kieran

Ingélou said:


> So - do I take *Kieran's* advice, play slowly & thoughtfully, build up a really good score - and then it goes 'phut' and I've wasted 15 minutes?
> Or do I play quickly, 'just one game', to get it out of the way & waste less time - it goes phut almost at once - I feel frustrated, have another go - then another - and I've wasted 15 minutes.
> 
> *What a dilemma!*


Well, the going slower part comes later, when the squares get tighter and you have to join them in a smaller space. At first, I whizz about but I try assert a principle strategy early on and stick to it. But yeah, trying to play fast later in the game in a recipe for _*game over...*_


----------



## Ingélou

Kieran said:


> How's Taggart doing with it? Has he engaged with it at all?


Yes, he's hooked too - but as he's beavering away in his little computer den, the extent of his addiction is less obvious. 
(But I have my suspicions, she added darkly. :devil


----------



## Kieran

I got it again! Just now. Oh bright and sunlit day, you just might get to meet me! :tiphat:


----------



## shangoyal

Oh you guys have been playing 2048? I have been too, haven't been able to complete it yet, have gotten to 1024 a few times.


----------



## Taggart

Congratulations.









I'm not addicted, just enjoying it.


----------



## Ingélou

Taggart said:


> Congratulations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not addicted, just enjoying it.


He *s-a-y-s*! :lol:

But well done, Kieran! All that thinking about strategy prompted by our posts must have paid off. Brilliant!


----------



## Kieran

Ingélou said:


> He *s-a-y-s*! :lol:
> 
> But well done, Kieran! All that thinking about strategy prompted by our posts must have paid off. Brilliant!


It's interesting you say that, because in the middle of this one I was forced away from my strategy, just because of the way the tiles loaded, and only blind fluke got me back on track, but I was in disarray and winging it. I'm gonna leave that page open for a bit and not play any more today.

Okay, I just lied there, I'm gonna play again now...


----------



## science

After you beat it, don't stop playing. It'll let you pile up points until you're finally defeated. I hit 29492 - a palindrome! So I'd better stop before I ruin that forever.


----------



## Kieran

science said:


> After you beat it, don't stop playing. It'll let you pile up points until you're finally defeated. I hit 29492 - a palindrome! So I'd better stop before I ruin that forever.


What do you mean? We can't make any more moves after we get the You Won sign. Can we?


----------



## science

Kieran said:


> What do you mean? We can't make any more moves after we get the You Won sign. Can we?


You can! You can just keep playing until things get gummed up.


----------



## Kieran

Cool! I'll tell you in about three months when I win another one! :lol:


----------



## Ingélou

Science's revelation seems to take the gilt off the gingerbread. :lol: Why don't I just give up?!?


----------



## science

Ingélou said:


> Science's revelation seems to take the gilt off the gingerbread. :lol: Why don't I just give up?!?


You just have to figure it out. And you will!

Don't give up! But if you do give up, PM me and I'll give a hint or two.


----------



## Kieran

I had a very vexing one yesterday. I had 2x256, 1x512, and 1x1024 - I couldn't get them together in time. I was ready to gloat, folks, I was ready to gloat! 

:tiphat:


----------



## shangoyal

Kieran said:


> I had a very vexing one yesterday. I had 2x256, 1x512, and 1x1024 - I couldn't get them together in time. I was ready to gloat, folks, I was ready to gloat!
> 
> :tiphat:


That's almost a daily story with me. I have to get organazized!


----------



## Kieran

Look at this one, just now! I had them lined up great and I made a foolish move...


----------



## brianvds

I can't even work out what they mean by "getting to 2048", i.e. I cannot even work out what the purpose of the game is in the first place...


----------



## Ingélou

brianvds said:


> I can't even work out what they mean by "getting to 2048", i.e. I cannot even work out what the purpose of the game is in the first place...


You know, that's a pertinent, maybe even a *philosophical*, question!


----------



## Kieran

Well, you use the arrows on the keyboard to move the numbers around, and when two of the same number collide - they merge. 2x2 join up to become 4. And so on, until you get 1024x2 to join and make up a 2048...

EDIT: the purpose of the game is a mystery. Spend time doing something useless, I suppose! :lol:


----------



## Ingélou

It's like playing patience or solitaire - a pleasant diversion just to flex your mind for a while; or that's the theory.


----------



## Kieran

Exactly. And the definition of the word "while" varies from person to person!


----------



## brianvds

Kieran said:


> Well, you use the arrows on the keyboard to move the numbers around, and when two of the same number collide - they merge. 2x2 join up to become 4. And so on, until you get 1024x2 to join and make up a 2048..


Ah, okay, now it makes more sense. I never noticed that the numbers joined up; they looked like they just disappeared, with new numbers mysteriously appearing, seemingly at random.


----------



## brianvds

Kieran said:


> Exactly. And the definition of the word "while" varies from person to person!


It may also depend on what the definition of "is" is.


----------



## Taggart

Thanks Kieran for a fascinating puzzle. It "just fell into place" today - more by luck than good judgement:










I then tried Science's tip and found that you could continue playing, although I soon got stymied:










Still, I added a couple of thousand to my score.

Thanks again to everybody. I can now get on with my life (and get a new keyboard - the arrow keys are worn out).


----------



## Kieran

:lol: :cheers::tiphat:

Great stuff, Taggart! It's a fascinating one, isn't it? On a Bob Dylan site I found this:

2048 Bob Dylan Edition

Now, if only they made a Fulfie one, I'd become a recluse and keep chasing the top score!


----------



## Taggart

Well 4096 is possible:










But I couldn't get much beyond there:


----------



## Ingélou

:tiphat: What it is to have a clever husband!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I haven't even got 1024 yet. But never mind. Who cares about wasted hours when you can become a solitary sedentary obsessive? (Thank you *very much*, Kieran! )


----------



## aimee

Congrats, Taggart.

Ingélou, I'm in the same boat here. I did it very slowly, calculating every possible ways but still couldn't get pass 1024, but not give up yet


----------



## science

I was just going to come and declare that 4096 is possible. I haven't done it yet, but my wife did it last night. Today I got very close....


----------



## Taggart

science said:


> I was just going to come and declare that 4096 is possible. I haven't done it yet, but my wife did it last night. Today I got very close....


Congratulations to your wife!


----------



## science

I know this is just unacceptable bragging but my excuse is that a lot of us here are probably patzers and this is something that my fellow patzers may find interesting. As you'll see, I don't actually have much to be proud of anyway.

(Incidentally, some people here are actually pretty good, and if I remember correctly someone here once was something like the youth champion of the Netherlands. Among that kind of company....)

There is a trick that I learned about 20 years ago from a book titled _How Not to Play Chess_, and I've been waiting to use it ever since then. And today, for the first time I was able to do it.

I'm playing the white pieces of course:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 h6

View attachment 40859


I've seen this a lot in the last couple of years. Is some famous player using it or something?

4. d4 exd4
5. c3 dxc3

I do like a sacrifice here and there. I figure, hey, 50/50 chance I lose anyway, I'm going down shooting. Last blunder loses.

6.O-O d6
7.Nxc3 Bg4

View attachment 40860


My opponent declines the pawn sacrifice and pins my night against my queen. (That means, if I move the knight, "his" bishop can take my queen.)

8.Ne5

View attachment 40861


Bad news for me is, this is actually a horrible move. If he captures my knight with his knight, I'd just lose, as far as I can tell. Maybe in 20 more years I'll be able to do this trick without finding such an obvious problem with it. (I actually considered "knight captures knight" before I made the move and I planned for whatever reason to capture his bishop with my queen. Obviously that's stupid. In my defense my wife was talking to me about something at the time so I only had about 97% of my attention on the chess game.)

In short, I really should've lost the game (and my wife should probably throw a plate at me). Fortunately my opponent is as bad as I am - last blunder loses! - and has probably never seen the following mate:

8. ... Bxd1
9.Bxf7+Ke7
10.Nd5#

View attachment 40862


It's a pretty mate but one thing to notice is that the black queen and black bishop need to be on their home squares for it to work.

So that was fun until I started to review it. But the mate is interesting....


----------



## Tristan

My 8th grade teacher used to post these complex puzzles on the white board of our classroom at the beginning of the week. The puzzles would usually be multi-faceted (paragraph long) brain teasers with several answers that all related. I wish I could think of an example, but it was too long ago. Either way, not to brag, but I was often the first one in the class to solve them (I was also a major teacher's pet). Anyway, I love puzzles like that and it's a pity I don't seem to come across them anymore.


----------



## GreenMamba

science said:


> I know this is just unacceptable bragging but my excuse is that a lot of us here are probably patzers and this is something that my fellow patzers may find interesting. As you'll see, I don't actually have much to be proud of anyway.
> 
> (Incidentally, some people here are actually pretty good, and if I remember correctly someone here once was something like the youth champion of the Netherlands. Among that kind of company....)
> 
> There is a trick that I learned about 20 years ago from a book titled _How Not to Play Chess_, and I've been waiting to use it ever since then. And today, for the first time I was able to do it.
> 
> I'm playing the white pieces of course:
> 
> 1. e4 e5
> 2. Nf3 Nc6
> 3. Bc4 h6
> 
> View attachment 40859
> 
> 
> I've seen this a lot in the last couple of years. Is some famous player using it or something?


I don't think so. Maybe someone got stung with the Two Knights Defense (...Nf6, 4. Ng5) so tried h6. Online chess (especially blitz), people sometimes play weird things just the surprise factor. But h6 isn't very good.


----------



## Ingélou

*Finally...!
Things take just that little bit longer with me. 
Maybe now I can get my life back?
*


----------



## science

View attachment 40942


I got 4096.

Then I died pretty soon.


----------



## Taggart

Still - you did it


----------



## science




----------



## science

I should add - there is a video you can get to from that one which shows a computer program playing the game - _do not watch that unless you want hints about how to solve the game_!

On the other hand, if you don't care whether you get hints or not, and are prepared to be humiliated by a computer, then by all means enjoy.


----------

