Forehand and afterhand

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Forehand and afterhand are terms from the board and strategy game area that also appear in many card games and are often a fundamental concept of games in general.

In the case of strategic or tactical decisions, forehand often means a threat that has to be answered by the opponent and can bring the advantage of the activity, the initiative . The opposite is the aftermath.

Basics

The concept of forehand and afterhand is a fundamental principle of many games, namely those in which there is an order in the plays . Game theory describes this as an extensive form : Every player who has a move - also known as the attractive player in chess and other games - knows his or her opponent's decision to play. Therefore, the order in which it is the players' “turn” is of decisive importance for the course of the game.

Forehand means that the player has the freedom to set tactical or strategic game processes in motion or to keep them going, afterhand that the player who is in this situation has to react primarily to the game decisions of his opponent. This aspect is central to primarily strategic (long-term planning) games such as chess, checkers or go. On the other hand hind does not necessarily mean a disadvantage when the decision at the same time a disclosure of a mystery is how the example in card games with leaf is (the cards "in the hand"): Then there is a certain advantage to be able to make the decision later .

Losing the forehand means falling into the afthand. When playing with two opponents, the forehand is automatically transferred to the opponent.

Of particular importance is the question of who has the forehand at the beginning of the game. In general, it is the player who “starts” - which can then be an advantage. A balanced concept of a game ensures that it is part of the course of the game that the forehand changes. A game principle of whoever begins, wins makes a game uninteresting, a problem in games with complete information ( tic-tac-toe ).

While in many strategy games the distribution of forehand and successor can only be understood from the game situation, in card games the situation is usually fixed in the set of rules: For example, in games with a trick ("hitting" cards on the table) the forehand usually changes the next round to the stabbing. Here, too, the tactical considerations, if for example maintaining the forehand is of particular importance, are one of the central aspects of the game. In front of the start of the game is typically the place after the dealer in the direction of the game (e.g. in Skat ).

In some games, the reference to the decision of the predecessor is deliberately bypassed in that all players react at the same time ( rock-paper-scissors principle ), which creates the appeal of fast-paced puzzle-and-fight games ( e.g. Spit , or in modern board and card games like nobility obliges , hauls the vulture ).

Forehand and afterhand in the go

In Go , the forehand (Japanese: Sente ) is a move that forces the other to react immediately. The forehand is the central game advantage in this game, which has no weighting of the pieces. An aggressive style of play (Japanese Kiai ) keeps the forehand. A Goth is a move that causes the player to lose his forehand, he gets into the afterhand.

The rapid change of forehand and hindquarters, as well as the possibility of forehands of the opponent explicitly reject ( Tenuki , so the pressure to act not to follow but to put elsewhere on the board even more menacing forehand) makes one of the main attractions of this game out.

Forehand in the bridge

In contrast to other card games such as Jassen or Schnapsen, in bridge it is not the declarer who leads - i.e. the player who has bid the highest and plays the contract, and whose teammate then puts his hand on the table - but the opponent to his left. The German word forehand stands for the English second in hand , and the declarer is actually in the afterhand at the beginning. This regulation gives the opposing party the opportunity to agree on a complicated code of conduct about a common strategy against the declarer and offsets the advantage of the declarer who, through the hand at the table, gives his subsequent opponent little opportunity to play forehand.

See also

literature

  • Hans Hoppe: Games Finding and Inventing. A guide to game practice. Lit, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9651-X .