07.13c: Go, Do Something

[Joshua]

Anriki will nod, and clear all but one of the boards. He will ask if you wish the choice of first play or color*. He will smile... "The real game will begin once colors are chosen."
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*: A custom not uncommon. You can either choose to play the initial black piece and Anriki will choose then to be black or white; or he can play first and you can choose.

[Spellbinder]

Spellbinder smiles. "Well then, let's do it. I'll leave the first move to you."

After Anriki makes his move, Spellbinder will choose white. He will focus on shielding his thoughts and make his first move...

[Joshua]

The first play is balanced. Strong, but not taking complete advantage of first play. (It is theorized that the first player can always win. As the game is about 10^237* times more complicated than chess, it has yet to be proven.)

His play-style is dramatically different than it was before. He expertly mixes some of the solutions you came up with during the first game into his original style, and stepped it up to taking full advantage of his experience.

That being said, you can hold your own... Think of it as a swordfight, cause to Anriki, that's what it is. He starts out with a strong offensive posture, taking advantage of the early game to try to get small advantages over almost all of the board.

[Spellbinder]

To Anriki it is a sword fight, but to Spellbinder it is a magic duel. Despite his bluster, he's still young and growing in his power. In his (short) career he's faced off against many more powerful foes than himself. Fighting from the weaker position is nothing at all new to him. He changes up his playing style and tries some rather unorthodox gambits. Likely some will be effective and some not so much.

Lacking any magic to counter Anriki's abilities, he will focus on thinking on more than one level at a time to shield his thoughts. This is something he has experience with, but whether it is enough only time will tell...

[Joshua]

He plays to your weaknesses. Specifically, he gives you precarious advantage over a large part of the board, allowing you to capture small (and some large) areas that spread your control out and makes it more difficult to hold onto. Thankfully, you manage to catch onto what's happening before he turns your areas into easily toppled dominoes.

In terms of score, you're slightly ahead in the mid-game, but again, he made sure the advantage was easy to reclaim. Thankfully, the occasional (sorta) unexpected play has thrown off the worst of it as you intentionally skip capturing an area or two in order to shore up your defenses.

How do you want to play the rest?

(OOC: This is a battle. Anriki is using a power that gives him knowledge of tactics and weaknesses. Using these he devised a feint, which Spellbinder mostly fell for and caught himself at the last moment. If this was a sword-fight, think of it as giving up some advantage of footing and lashing out at a small opening that is almost impossible to see when Spellbinder overextends. Spellbinder has enough warfare that this isn't a fatal mistake.)

[Spellbinder]

Anriki's ploy leaves Spellbinder in a difficult situation. One never wins by playing totally defensively. On the other hand, the traps laid will easily defeat him if he just charges ahead. He takes what he feels is his only course at this point. He begins to play defensively to help secure his position and then abrupt switch to an aggressive style. He will go more so fast but weak strikes rather than one hard one, trying to force Anriki onto the defensive. This is going to be endgame, so we'll see how well it works out for him...

[Joshua]

Fairly well. Unfortunately Anriki does seem to anticipate the tactic, but not completely. Spellbinder puts in a very respectable showing, coming in only a handful of points behind the raccoon. He will formally stand and bow. "An impressive game. It has been a while since I have been uncertain of the ultimate outcome. If our experiences were closer, you would have stood a good chance of winning. Or, perhaps, had you properly prepared for the battle magically."

[Spellbinder]

Spellbinder will also stand and equally formally return the bow. "Thank you. That was a great game. You have a knack for challenging me and bringing out my best. I'm not sure I could have played as well against someone else. I'd love another game some time, but not tonight I think. You still owe Lyra a game, and it would be rude for me to dominate your time." Spellbinder grins. "..and I think certain people would be annoyed if I let you dominate mine." Spellbinder grimaces. "Well time to go schmooze. Have a good night my friend."

Spellbinder will turn and head back into the activities of the evening. If anyone wishes to catch him attention they easily can. If not, he'll find something new to stick his nose into.

[Joshua]

After bowing a respectful goodbye to Spellbinder, Anriki will look for Lyra, sending a page to let her know he is done with his game, if she wishes to speak.

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra's been watching patiently, though seems to have acquired a drink from somewhere. "This is a very interesting game. My thanks for offering me the chance to play with you and learn from a master. I have a friend I desperately want to teach this to, assuming he isn't already well aware of it." Lyra will take a seat at a nearby board if there is one already set to begin.