TwixT

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TwixT
shortly after the start of a TwixT game
shortly after the start of a TwixT game
Game data
author Alex Randolph
publishing company 3M (1962)
Avalon Hill (1976)
Schmidt Spiele (1979)
Klee Spiele (1990)
Kosmos (1998),
u. a.
Publishing year 1962, 1976, 1979, 1990, 1998
Art Strategy game
Teammates 2
Duration 30-45 minutes
Age from 10 years on

Awards

Game of the year 1979: shortlist

TwixT is a board game with strategic and tactical elements, which was invented in 1957 by the American game inventor Alex Randolph in the Viennese coffee house Hawelka as a paper-and-pencil game. The first issue was in 1962 by the Minnesota Mining Company 3M , now a coveted collector's item. After 3M sold the game line to Avalon Hill in 1976 , the game was then produced by Avalon Hill. Some of the strongest players live in Germany, including the multiple world champion Klaus Hussmanns. Cabaret artist Herbert Feuerstein is one of the most prominent TwixT friends .

TwixT belongs to the group of the compound games and is closely related to games such as Hex , Havannah and Y . Two players try to connect the opposite sides of a board with a square grid. A 24 × 24 grid is used as standard, in which the corner points are missing. One player has to connect from top to bottom, the other from right to left. Whoever succeeds first wins. In each turn, each player places a piece of his color. Game pieces of the same color, which are in a knight's leap apart, are connected with bridges that only fit this distance. Enemy bridges cannot be built over. Each player can remove any number of bridges of his own before his turn. In this way, the likelihood of mutual blocking and thus a tie result is reduced. A draw is theoretically possible, but in practice it does not even occur in one percent of all games.

Despite its simple rules, this game has an amazing depth of play . An AI has existed for a number of years, which now usually defeats even the strongest human players.

notation

TwixT trains are noted with train number, letters, numbers and connection identifiers. The letters indicate the column, the numbers the rows. So L1 would be a move in the middle of the top row, A12 a move in the middle of the leftmost column and M13 a move in the middle of the board. If the move creates a connection to another of your own game pieces, this is indicated by a minus sign: K12-. A sequence of moves could be as follows: 1.I11 (white), 2.I13 (black), 3. K12-, 4.K13-. If a player removes his own bridge in his turn, this is indicated by the position description of the bridge in brackets in front of the actual move: 5. (I11-K12) M13.

strategy

Alex Randolph (right) plays Twixt at the 1998 Göttingen game designer meeting
3M edition by Twixt (mid-1960s)

The opening, which roughly comprises the first seven moves, is of central importance for the course of the game. Both players must try to control as much of the board as possible with their starting moves. TwixT is mostly played with the so-called cake rule, i.e. H. the second player can decide whether he wants to swap with the starting player after the move. The first move is therefore almost always placed at the edge of the game board, so as not to give the opponent too much advantage in a possible swap. 1.D3 is already a strong opening move today and is swapped by many experienced players.

Level equalization

TwixT is considered a very "tough" game. A single wrong move can lead to defeat much faster than most other games. For this reason, TwixT beginners in particular can easily experience frustration: They lose every match, but ultimately don't know why. In contrast to Go , for example, there is no established procedure with which the differences between different strong opponents can be leveled out. One suggestion is to reduce the distance to be covered for the weaker player from 24 to 22 or 20, for example. The stronger player can give the weaker one a move or two ahead. Even with a handicap of three moves, even experienced players should no longer have a chance of winning.

literature

  • Erwin Glonnegger : The game book: board and placement games from all over the world; Origin, rules and history . Drei-Magier-Verlag, Uehlfeld 1999, ISBN 3-9806792-0-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hasbro - Brief History ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at about.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / boardgames.about.com
  2. ↑ Little Golem. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .

Web links

Commons : Twixt  - collection of images, videos and audio files