This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Publishers | Sofronio H. Pasola Jr. |
---|---|
Publication | 1970 |
Genres | Board game |
Players | 1 versus 1, plus an optional arbiter or referee |
Setup time | 2 to 3 minutes |
Playing time | 30 to 120 minutes (player-dependent) |
Chance | Yes |
Age range | All ages |
Skills |
|
The Game of the Generals, also called GG or GOG or simply The Generals, is an educational war game invented in the Philippines by Sofronio H. Pasola Jr. in 1970. Its Filipino name is "Salpakan." It can be played within twenty to thirty minutes. It is designed for two players, each controlling an army, and a neutral arbiter (sometimes called a referee or an adjutant) to decide the results of "challenges" between opposing playing pieces that have their identities hidden from the opponent.
The game simulates armies at war trying to overpower, misinform, outflank, outmaneuver and destroy each other. It optimizes using logic, memory, and spatial skills. It simulates the "fog of war" because the identities of the opposing pieces are hidden from each player and can only be guessed at by their location, movements, or from the results of challenges. The game allows only one side's plan to succeed, although a player may change plans during the game. In addition, there are two different ways of winning the game (see below). Certain strategies and tactics, however, allow both sides the chance of securing a better idea of the other's plan as the game progresses. Players can also speak or gesture to their opponents during matches, to create a false impression about the identity of their pieces or their overall strategy.
Sofronio H. Pasola, Jr. invented this game with the inspiration of his son Ronnie Pasola.
The Pasolas first tried the Game of the Generals on a chessboard. Even then, the pieces had no particular arrangement. There were no spies in the experimental game; but after Ronnie Pasola remembered the James Bond movies and Mata Hari, he added the Spies. [1] Making the pieces hidden was the idea of the Pasolas after remembering card games.
The Game of the Generals' public introduction was on February 28, 1973. After the game was made, it angered many Filipino chess players thinking that Pasola was trying to denigrate or supplant chess. [2]
The game's objective is to eliminate or capture the opponent's Flag or to maneuver one's Flag to the far edge of the board (the opposing back rank), subject to the following conditions. [3]
The Flag, if challenged, is eliminated by any opposing piece, including the opposing and challenging Flag. If a player's Flag is eliminated by a challenge, that player loses the game. The Flag that challenges the opponent's Flag wins the challenge and thus wins the game.
When the Flag successfully reaches the opponent's back rank, it has to survive one more turn without being challenged before it can declare a victory. If a Flag reaches the opposing back rank and there is no adjacent opposing piece that can challenge it, the Flag wins the game immediately. If a Flag reaches the opposing back rank directly adjacent to an opposing piece, and that piece does not challenge the Flag immediately on the opponent's subsequent turn, then that Flag wins the game. Any player may reveal their Flag at any time and for any reason, although most often a player reveals their Flag after it has already secured victory at the opposing back rank.
Most games end in a victory for one of the players. One player may have lost so many pieces or their pieces are impractically positioned on the board that they feel they can no longer win the game. However, any player may propose a draw at any time; the opponent can either decline, so play continues, or agree, and thus the game ends in a tie.
At the end of a match, whether as a draw or as a victory for one player, it is courteous but not required to allow the opposing player a view of the surviving pieces before they are taken off the board and of the eliminated pieces.
The player's set of pieces represents 21 soldiers (combatants) with a hierarchy of ranks and functions. A higher-ranking piece (usually the officers) will eliminate any lower-ranking piece, with the exception of the 2 Spies; the Spies eliminate all pieces except the 6 Privates. [4]
Apart from the Flag (the Philippine Flag) and the Spy (a pair of prying eyes), the rank insignia of the pieces used in the game are those used in the Philippine Army.
The playing pieces are identical-sized plastic or metal flat rectangles bent or molded at a 90-degree- or 80-degree angles. The rank insignia are printed on the rear side to keep them hidden from the opposing player; the game requires that the front side of the pieces should have no distinguishing marks that will help identify the pieces.
In plastic sets, the colors commonly used in the pieces are black and white. There are also sets composed of wooden boards and aluminum pieces. Those pieces have rank insignia that are printed either red or blue. In metal sets, the board's color is commonly brown and the pieces are aluminum colored. Some of the cheaper game sets consist of just a rolled up sheet printed with squares instead of a rigid board, as well as plastic pieces with ranks printed on cardboard.
Pieces | No. of Pieces | Function | |
---|---|---|---|
General of the Army (Five Stars) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
General (Four Stars) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Lieutenant General (Three Stars) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Major General (Two Stars) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Brigadier General (One Star) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Colonel (Three Magdalo 7-Ray Suns) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Lieutenant Colonel (Two Magdalo 7-Ray Suns) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Major (One Magdalo 7-Ray Sun) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Captain (Three Magdalo Triangles) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
1st Lieutenant (Two Magdalo Triangles) | 1 | Eliminates any lower-ranking officer, the Private, and the Flag. | |
2nd Lieutenant (One Magdalo Triangle) | 1 | Eliminates the Sergeant, the Private, and the Flag. | |
Sergeant (Three Chevrons) | 1 | Eliminates the Private, and the Flag. | |
Private (One Chevron) | 6 | Eliminates the Spy, and the Flag. | |
Spy (Two Prying Eyes) | 2 | Eliminates all officers from the rank of Sergeant up to 5-Star General and the Flag. | |
Flag (Philippine Flag) | 1 | Eliminates the opposing Flag as long as it takes the aggressive action against the enemy Flag. | |
Note: If both soldiers are of equal rank, both are eliminated (colloquially termed as a "split").
The game is played on a rectangular board with 72 plain squares arranged in 8 ranks and 9 files. To start the game, each player's 21 pieces are placed in various locations within the nearest 3 rows to each player's home side. These are the 27 closest squares, leaving 6 squares open. For example, the Black player in the illustrated example has deployed 21 pieces in Ranks 6, 7, and 8, leaving the squares A8, B8, C8, G8, H8, and I8 open. The White player has also deployed 21 pieces in the nearest 3 Ranks (1, 2, and 3), leaving A2, B3, C3, G2, H3, and I3 open.
A player can consider the half of the board nearest them to be "friendly territory" while the other side's half is the "enemy territory," though this is not an actual rule in the game. The two middle rows (fourth rank from each player's edge of the board) are initially empty at the start of the game and represent "no man's land" or "unconquered territory" that the contending pieces can occupy or leave vacant, depending on each player's strategy.
Although not specifically marked, each player's side of the board can be grouped into three amorphous battle zones, generally consisting of nine squares each: these zones are the "left flank," the "center," and the "right flank," but the boundaries are variable or may be considered psychological.
Unlike chess or its variants, there is no predetermined initial layout for placing the pieces, allowing each player to place the pieces in different squares to their preference or according to his initial strategy. The allocation of spaces (6 vacant squares) is important for the tactical movement of the individual pieces in the first three ranks, because a piece that has friendly pieces in front, behind, and on each side is effectively immobilized until a space opens up on these adjacent squares. Some players like to place the spaces (unoccupied squares) at the rear row, the front row, to one side of the board, or interspersed between the pieces, but that initial placement can be a form of deception to try to mislead the opposing player.
There is also no predetermined order of play. The players can decide who goes first; afterward, they take their turns alternately. Each player can move only one piece per turn.
All pieces have the same move: one square forward, backward, or sideways, as long as it is not blocked by the board's edge or by another friendly piece. A piece cannot move into a square already occupied by a friendly piece. A piece cannot move diagonally nor move two or more squares away from its original position.
If a piece moves adjacent to (in front of, behind, or to the side of, but not diagonally from) an opposing piece, the piece that was stationary can be moved to *challenge* the opposing piece by entering and occupying the adjacent enemy-occupied square. For the result of the challenge, a neutral arbiter examines both pieces and removes the lower-ranking piece without showing the winning player the identity of that eliminated losing piece. If the two opposing pieces are of equal rank, both pieces are eliminated and the square they were on becomes unoccupied.
Each piece can challenge an opposing piece directly adjacent in front, behind, or to either side of it (identical, in effect, to the way it moves). Thus, a piece does not directly threaten an opposing piece that is situated diagonally to it. However, a piece known or thought to be more assertive can restrict the movement of a weaker opposing piece that is situated diagonally to it by threatening to eliminate it if it moves to a square adjacent to that of the stronger piece.
A player initiates a challenge by placing their piece on the adjacent square where an opposing piece is located.
5*G | 4*G | 3*G | 2*G | 1*G | COL | LTC | MAJ | CPT | 1LT | 2LT | SGT | PVT | SPY | FLG | |
5*G | Both | ||||||||||||||
4*G | Both | ||||||||||||||
3*G | Both | ||||||||||||||
2*G | Both | ||||||||||||||
1*G | Both | ||||||||||||||
COL | Both | ||||||||||||||
LTC | Both | ||||||||||||||
MAJ | Both | ||||||||||||||
CPT | Both | ||||||||||||||
1LT | Both | ||||||||||||||
2LT | Both | ||||||||||||||
SGT | Both | ||||||||||||||
PVT | Both | ||||||||||||||
SPY | Both | ||||||||||||||
FLG | Ch. |
The arbiter then examines the ranks of the opposing pieces, removes the lower-ranked piece off the board, and returns it to the owner regardless of who initiated the challenge. The eliminated pieces are not revealed to the opposing player until the game ends. The arbiter must not reveal the ranks of the pieces to the opposition, nor can he give any verbal or non-verbal clues about the rest of the board layout.
The game can also be played without an arbiter. In this case, when a challenge is made, both players must state the rank of their piece after which the lower-ranked piece is eliminated. Therefore, the presence of the arbiter, though not compulsory, is significant to ensure secrecy until the game is over. Official games are conducted with an arbiter.
Regardless of which piece initiated the challenge, their ranks determine which piece is to be eliminated and removed from the board.
If a Flag reaches the opposite edge or farthest rank of the board, the opponent has one turn left although it is not announced. After the turn, the player who advanced his flag waits for the next player to make his move and afterwards, he reveals the Flag. If the Flag was not challenged, the player with the advanced Flag wins the game. If the Flag was challenged, the player with that Flag loses the game.
The playing pieces can be classified according to the following tactical functions and roles:
Note: The roles of the Sweepers and Probers can be interchanged in various ways, depending on the player's preference.
An experienced Generals player will have tried out and practiced a number of basic strategies. Each strategy starts out with a particular distribution of strong or weaker pieces in the front line or rear areas, as well as in the left flank, center, or right flank. The most common strategies usually depend on clustering or distributing powerful pieces in different areas of the board. In the list below, the first four can be considered "basic" while the last four are relatively "advanced," depending on the player's experience level or creativity.
An experienced player may want to mix two or more of the above-listed strategies and tactics at different locations on the board. For example, he can amass a powerful task force on one flank to conduct a Blitzkrieg offense while setting up a Stronghold in the center or the other flank to try to destroy a possible enemy attack that has Rampaging Bulls or Probers.
A game can have multiple strategies depending on the outcome of the initial challenges. Loss of high-ranking pieces, especially of the Killers, usually stops an offensive action and forces a player to change plans or to go on the defensive. A player needs to muster and redistribute his remaining higher-ranking pieces to avoid the enemy's Killer pieces while continuing to eliminate the mid- and low-ranking pieces. Once numerical balance or superiority is achieved, or if he can outflank the defenders, a player should be able to shift back to offensive Flag-rushing or Flag-hunting operations.
Deception and psychological warfare can be a major component of the game. Players must memorize the position and probable identity of known enemy pieces because losing track of a possible Killer piece or Private can lead to loss of important pieces. Sometimes a Spy has to be sacrificed against a known enemy Spy in order to clear the way for your Sweepers to eliminate the remaining enemy pieces. Try to keep one or more reserve forces available for various contingencies and to provide multiple tactical options or changes in overall strategy. Maneuvering pieces and allocating empty squares in a crowded area is also important to bring your appropriate pieces against low-level enemy pieces, avoid losses from identified high-powered enemy pieces, or to eliminate the enemy Flag.
There are many variations made by various people to make the game more exciting and difficult. Many variations involve simple modifications like showing the flag or simply playing with only 11 pieces. These modifications are often combined to make the game more challenging.
Krig is one of the online variants. Rules are very similar except:
In 1980, Ideal released The Generals Electronic Strategy Game . The rules and piece ranks are the same as above, except that the "Spies" are "Agents", and an electronic arbiter determines which piece wins in a confrontation; neither player sees his opponent's pieces. The plastic pieces have selected notches on their bases, which depress certain indentations in the electronic arbiter's twin slots. The lights flash and a short musical phrase plays before a light labeled "battle winner" is illuminated. The losing piece is removed from the board, while the winning piece is placed back on the board. If the flag is placed in the arbiter, it plays "Taps" after the initial musical phrase. [5]
Unlike the original version of the game, if a player's Flag reaches the back row in The Generals Electronic Strategy Game, that player wins, even if an opposing piece occupies an adjacent square on the back row.
Through the years as electronic devices and programming languages evolved and were commercially released, many Filipino computer science students and programmers have created and released their own software versions of Game of the Generals to the public for use on different devices and platforms. The game's rules and mechanics lend themselves well to replacing the human arbiter with an electronic or software version, both to decide the results of challenges, and to indicate if one player has already won the game.
To cite an example, a software app downloadable on the Google Play Store for Android smartphones (with touchscreens) called Game of the Generals Mobile was released on November 19, 2020, by Mawkins Entertainment. It was last updated on July 10, 2022, and is designed for Android version 5.0 and later versions. It has a download size of 47.51 MB and currently has 50,000+ downloads with a user-provided rating of 4.5 out of 5.0. This software package allows online and offline play, allows replays of matches and custom matches, allows play with an AI (artificial intelligence), allows one-on-one play with any player who has the same software, ranks the various players on leaderboards, and allows them to manage their reputations when they start winning matches.
In 1988, three college senior students from the Philippines, Paul Q. Gozon, Paterno A. Lim, and Hector C. Santos, authored a groundbreaking thesis using Turbo Pascal. Their work focused on creating a computerized version of the strategic board game "Game of the Generals", aiming to emulate human intelligence in decision-making processes. This innovative project showcased their technical skills and creativity, leaving a lasting impact in the fields of computer science and artificial intelligence. The thesis has since served as an inspiration for future generations of students and researchers, highlighting the potential of technology to simulate complex cognitive tasks.
Generals bears many similarities with Stratego , [6] including a hierarchy/ranking of pieces, invisible enemy piece values, arbitrary initial placement within a player's "home" area, and the use of spies to eliminate high-ranking pieces.
However, unlike Stratego , Generals does not have any bombs, nor miners to defuse them. The Generals spies act as reusable mines, as they will remove almost all pieces when attacked yet are not themselves removed from the board. [6] Generals also does not have scouts, which may cross several spaces across the board in one move. All of the pieces in Generals can move, while both the flag and the bombs in Stratego are stationary. Also, each player has two Spies in Generals, while each only has one Spy in Stratego. In general, Stratego has more pieces than Generals and games accordingly last longer. [6]
In addition, unlike Stratego, which features two "lakes" in the middle of the board, all 72 of the squares on the Generals board are accessible. There are six empty spaces during the initial placement of pieces in the three ranks closest to the player for Generals, while the same three ranks are completely filled in Stratego. [6]
Finally, Generals inherently requires a third-party arbiter to maintain the game's uncertainty all the way to the endgame. Stratego requires that both players' pieces be revealed during a challenge to determine which is removed. [6]
Shogi, also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. Shōgi means general's board game.
Stratego is a strategy board game for two players on a board of 10×10 squares. Each player controls 40 pieces representing individual officer and soldier ranks in an army. The pieces have Napoleonic insignia. The objective of the game is to either find and capture the opponent's Flag or to capture so many enemy pieces that the opponent cannot make any further moves. Stratego has simple enough rules for young children to play but a depth of strategy that is also appealing to adults.
Xiangqi, commonly known as Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. Xiangqi is in the same family of games as shogi, janggi, Western chess, chaturanga, and Indian chess. Besides China and areas with significant ethnic Chinese communities, this game is also a popular pastime in Vietnam, where it is known as cờ tướng, literally 'General's chess'.
Chess strategy is the aspect of chess play concerned with evaluation of chess positions and setting goals and long-term plans for future play. While evaluating a position strategically, a player must take into account such factors as the relative value of the pieces on the board, pawn structure, king safety, position of pieces, and control of key squares and groups of squares. Chess strategy is distinguished from chess tactics, which is the aspect of play concerned with the move-by-move setting up of threats and defenses. Some authors distinguish static strategic imbalances, which tend to persist for many moves, from dynamic imbalances, which are temporary. This distinction affects the immediacy with which a sought-after plan should take effect. Until players reach the skill level of "master", chess tactics tend to ultimately decide the outcomes of games more often than strategy. Many chess coaches thus emphasize the study of tactics as the most efficient way to improve one's results in serious chess play.
The rules of chess govern the play of the game of chess. Chess is a two-player abstract strategy board game. Each player controls sixteen pieces of six types on a chessboard. Each type of piece moves in a distinct way. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king; checkmate occurs when a king is threatened with capture and has no escape. A game can end in various ways besides checkmate: a player can resign, and there are several ways a game can end in a draw.
Mak-yek is a two-player abstract strategy board game played in Thailand and Myanmar. Players move their pieces as in the rook in chess and attempt to capture their opponent's pieces through custodian and intervention capture. The game may have been first described in literature by Captain James Low a writing contributor in the 1839 work Asiatic Researches; or, Transactions of the Society, Instituted in Bengal, For Inquiring into The History, The Antiquities, The Arts and Sciences, and Literature of Asian, Second Part of the Twentieth Volume in which he wrote chapter X On Siamese Literature and documented the game as Maak yék. Another early description of the game is by H.J.R. Murray in his 1913 work A History of Chess, and the game was written as Maak-yek.
This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess, in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like fork and pin. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems; for a list of named opening lines, see List of chess openings; for a list of chess-related games, see List of chess variants; for a list of terms general to board games, see Glossary of board games.
Arimaa is a two-player strategy board game that was designed to be playable with a standard chess set and difficult for computers while still being easy to learn and fun to play for humans. It was invented between 1997 and 2002 by Omar Syed, an Indian-American computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which could be played with a standard chess set, would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his then four-year-old son Aamir to understand.
Jungle or dou shou qi is a modern Chinese board game with an obscure history. A British version known as "Jungle King" was sold in the 1960s by the John Waddington company. The game is played on a 7×9 board and is popular with children in the Far East.
Tamerlane chess is a medieval chess variant. Like modern chess, it is derived from shatranj. It was developed in Central Asia during the reign of Emperor Timur, and its invention is also attributed to him. Because Tamerlane chess is a larger variant of chaturanga, it is also called Shatranj Al-Kabir, as opposed to Shatranj as-saghir. Although the game is similar to modern chess, it is distinctive in that there are varieties of pawn, each of which promotes in its own way.
Chu shogi is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi variants that were regularly being played. Chu shogi seems to have been developed in the early 14th century as a derivative of dai shogi. There are earlier references, but it is not clear that they refer to the game as we now know it.
Yari shogi is a modern variant of shogi ; however, it is not Japanese. It was invented in 1981 by Christian Freeling of the Netherlands. This game accentuates shogi’s intrinsically forward range of direction by giving most of the pieces the ability to move any number of free squares orthogonally forward like a shogi lance. The opposite is true of promoted pieces which can move backward with the same power.
Banqi or Half Chess, also known as Dark Chess (暗棋) or Blind Chess (盲棋), is a two-player Chinese board game played on a 4×8 grid, or half of the xiangqi board. Most games last between ten and twenty minutes, but advanced games can last for an hour or more. Banqi is a social game, usually played for fun rather than serious competition. A more formal version of Banqi may have evolved into the games Jungle and modern Luzhanqi.
Stratego: Legends is a strategy board game created and released by Avalon Hill in 1999. Set in a mythical world called "The Shattered Lands", the game pits the forces of good against the forces of evil. Gameplay and rules are similar to the original Stratego game, and also somewhat similar to chess. The game was discontinued by Avalon Hill in 2004.
Jul-gonu is a two-player abstract strategy board game from Korea. It is one of many gonu games. The game has a relatively small board, and yet offers a challenge at different levels. The game could be played on a larger board, however, it tends to be tiresome. Jul means "lines", and the lines of the board are often drawn on the ground. The game is also referred to as "ne-jul-gonu", i.e. "four-lines gonu", referring to the four lines in each direction.
Dablo is a family of two-player strategy board games of the Sámi people. Different variants of the game have been played in different parts of Sápmi.
Chinese military chess (luzhanqi) (Chinese: 陸戰棋; pinyin: lùzhànqí) (lit. “Land Battle Chess”) is a two-player Chinese board game. There is also a version for four players. It bears many similarities to dou shou qi, Game of the Generals and the Western board game Stratego. It is a non-perfect abstract strategy game of partial information, since each player has only limited knowledge concerning the disposition of the opposing pieces. Because of the Chinese nature of the game, terms used within the game may vary in translation.
L'Attaque or TheAttack is a French board wargame first published by Hermance Edan in 1909 which inspired the creation of later games, such as Stratego. Two players each move 36 ranked game pieces with hidden identities and challenge opposing pieces, the results of which are determined by the rank hierarchy, in order to either capture their opponent's Flag or manipulate the board so their opponent cannot make any further moves.
Gunjin Shōgi or Japanese Military Chess (軍人将棋), also known as Marching Chess, is a two-player board game, intended for children. Although the pentagonal pieces are shaped like those of Shōgi, the objective is to capture the other player's flag, more similar in gameplay to Stratego (1942) and its antecedent L'Attaque (1908). Both players start with an equal number of pieces in varying strengths; like Stratego and L'Attaque, Gunjin Shōgi is a game of imperfect information, where the placement of the opponent's pieces are hidden initially and must be determined by deduction. It is not known what influence these games, which were developed around the same time, may have had on each other, as there are notable similarities and differences.
The Generals, or The Generals Electronic Strategy Game, is an electronic abstract strategy game published in 1980 by Ideal Toy Company. It implements the gameplay of the 1970 game Game of the Generals, in which two players contest control of spaces on a game board by moving game pieces with ranks hidden to their opponent and challenging opposing pieces; the results of challenges are determined by the hierarchy of ranks of those pieces, in a manner similar to Stratego, and decided by an electronic arbiter.