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Pai Sho Rules Page

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Saved by Osuji
on April 10, 2013 at 1:18:28 pm
 

Added new tile images.

1.0 Table of Contents


 

 


Version Notes

 

Ideas that Need Discussion 

    • Why do we have two different flowers that do the same thing? shouldn't each player just have a White Rose and a Red Rose instead of a Jasmine and a Rose? Wouldn't that be simpler to understand? 

 

Pai Sho Rules

 

The Pai Sho Ban

  

Regions of the Board 

   

Playable Points

Tiles are placed on intersections. All intersections that fall completely inside the circle of the board are playable. Intersections that seem to fall directly on the edge of the circle or just outside it, are marked with star points if they are playable. Intersections can be red, white, yellow, neutral, or piebald.

Red Intersections

All intersections that fall completely inside either of the red central gardens

Red Intersections give White Flowers one point of disharmony

White Intersections

All intersections that fall completely inside either of the white central gardens

White intersections give Red Flowers one point of disharmony

Yellow Intersections

All intersections that fall completely inside the outer yellow gardens

Yellow intersections have no effect on harmony or disharmony

Piebald Intersections

Piebald intersections are considered part of all gardens with which they share a color. Any intersection that falls along a line or corner of a wall, fence, or path is a piebald intersection and takes on the color of all gardens it touches. All intersections that lie between two or more gardens are Piebald. A tile on a piebald intersection may move to any adjacent garden.

Piebald Intersections have no effect on harmony or disharmony

Neutral Intersections

Intersections that are open to all tiles are considered neutral

Neutral Intersections have no effect on harmony or disharmony

Gardens

The 12 colored regions on the board are called gardens. There are are 4 central gardens (2 red central gardens, 2 white central gardens), 4 yellow gardens, and 4 special gardens called Torii or gates (small red triangular regions at the edge of the board near the compass points).

Natural / Unnatural Gardens

White Central Gardens

White Central Gardens are the Natural Gardens for White Flower Tiles and have no effect on the harmony or disharmony of White Flowers

White Central Gardens are the Unnatural Gardens for Red Flower Tiles and give each Red Flower completely inside the garden one point of disharmony

Red Central Gardens

Red Central Gardens are the Natural Gardens for Red Flower Tiles and have no effect on the harmony or disharmony of Red Flowers

Red Central Gardens are the Unnatural Gardens for White Flower Tiles and give each White Flower completely inside the garden one point of disharmony

Neutral Gardens

A Neutral Garden has no natural association with any flower tiles. Any flower tile may be placed in a Neutral Garden. All intersections completely within a Neutral Garden are themselves Neutral. All tiles may be moved to, or dropped within neutral gardens. Neutral Gardens have no effect on harmony or disharmony

Yellow Gardens

The outer Yellow Gardens are Neutral Gardens

Torii

(Japanese for bird gate)

The Torii are Neutral Gardens. Even though Torii are red in color, they are not Natural Gardens nor are they Red Central Gardens. Intersections completely within Torii are Neutral. Torii are gateways to the central gardens. Tiles may move from a yellow gardens to a central garden without pausing as long as they cross at least one intersection that touches or is contained within a torii, even if doing so causes them to also cross a garden wall.

Walls, Fences and Paths

Walls

The borders which separate the yellow gardens from the central gardens are called walls. Tiles may not cross from a yellow garden to a central garden without stopping on a wall for one turn, or passing through a torii. Tiles that start their movement on a wall may move directly to either garden. No tile may be dropped directly on a wall unless that intersection touches a torii. Tiles with Knight based movement can't leap over a wall but must land on a wall intersection and wait a turn before moving off of it. Tiles with diagonal movement must stop their movement on an labeled intersection. If their path does not cross a wall intersection they cannot stop on the wall and cannot cross the wall.

Fences

The borders which separate the Torii from the yellow gardens are called fences. Tiles moving between a yellow garden and a torii do not need to pause on fences. All tiles may be dropped on the fences. The piebald intersections on a fence count as part of all the gardens then touch including the torii. Tiles do not therefore need to pause on a fence if their movement would cause them to cross one.

Paths  

(Budao or Yongdao in Chinese)

the borders which separate the central gardens from each other (10c to 10q and 3j to 17j) are called paths. Tiles do not need to pause on a path when crossing between central gardens

 


 

The Pai Sho Tiles 

The Flower Tiles 

White Flower Tiles

White flowers receive one disharmony point if they are placed on a completely red intersection (inside an unnatural garden)

Lily

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves up to 1 space horizontally and vertically, or up to 3 spaces diagonally. Can not change direction

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Jade

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves up to 3 spaces horizontally or vertically

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Jasmine

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves 1 space Orthogonally, followed by a 45 degree angle turn (1 space diagonally). Like an Knight in Xiang Xi, but does not leap so all intersections crossed must be vacant.

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Red Flower Tiles

Red flowers can only form harmonies if they are placed on red intersections or piebald intersections that are partially red. If a red flower tile is moved to a completely white intersection it dies and is removed from play. Players may only make such a move to capture a tile.

Chrysanthemum

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves up to 1 space horizontally and vertically, or up to 3 spaces diagonally. Can not change direction

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Rhododendron

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves up to 3 spaces horizontally or vertically

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Rose

(6 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves 1 space horizontally or vertically, followed by a 45 degree angle turn for 1 space diagonally. (as a Knight in chess, but does not leap so all intersections crossed must be vacant)

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

 

Special Flowers

Lotus

(3 tiles per player)

May be dropped on any intersection

Moves up to 2 spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Orchid  

(3 tiles per player)

 

May be dropped on any intersection

Moves up to 6 spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally

Captures all tiles

Sends Harmony to

Receives Harmony from

Sends Disharmony to

Receives Disharmony from

Forms disharmony with opponent's flower tiles. Such disharmonies belong to the Orchid owner's opponent

 

The Element Tiles

    • Most element tiles bend flower tiles but no element tile may bend another.
    • Element tiles capture each other but do not capture flower tiles.
    • Element tiles may however be captured by flower tiles.
    • Element tiles are harmony neutral and do not send or receive either harmony or disharmony
    • Players must keep at least one element tile in play at all times. If a player fails to keep an element tile in play he is removed from the game. If there is only one player with element tiles left in the game the game ends and the player with the highest score wins

Chi Blocker

(1 tile per player)

Moves as a Zebra (perhaps as a leaper?) and as a Mahn

Does not bend any tile

Does not send or receive either harmony or disharmony

Immobilizes all adjacent tiles

Adjacent tiles have one turn to withdraw by one and only one step

Prevents all adjacent element tiles from bending

Captures only as a Mahn and only after immobilizing

Air

(1 tile per player)

Moves like a knight in Xiang Xi

Does not send or receive either harmony or disharmony

Bends all flowers by moving the flower tile one knight's move from its current location provided it is a legal move, is not blocked by other tiles, and would not result in a capture

 

Water

(1 tile per player)

May be dropped onto any intersection.

Moves up to 6 spaces Diagonally.

Does not form harmony.

Earth

(1 tile per player)

May be dropped onto any intersection

Does not form harmony.

Fire

(1 tile per player)

May be dropped onto any intersection.

Moves as a Queen in chess

Range limited to 6

Bends only flowers

Captures only other element tiles

Does not form harmony.

Spirit Wheel

(1 tile per player)

May be dropped on any neutral intersection (Torii and yellow gardens)

Moves 6 spaces horizontally, vertically or diagonally or may move as a knight but may not move in the same turn after bending other tiles.

May in one turn: bend, move and bend, or move to capture, but may never bend and move, or move, capture, and bend.

Does not form harmony.


 

Playing

 

Play proceeds clockwise around the board.

Turn

On his/her turn a player has the option doing one and only one of the following

    • Drop a tile to:
      • Add one of his/her tiles on the board and optionally move it up to it's maximum distance (provided such a move is also legal)
      • Create Harmony
    • Move one of his/her tiles already on the board to:
      • Occupy a new point 
      • Capture another tile
      • Immobilize a tile
      • Send or receive harmony or disharmony to a flower tile
    • Bend a flower tile belonging to any player to:
      • Move it to a tactically preferable position
    • Promote an adjacent tile
    • Reincarnate the Spirit Wheel To
      • reenter it into the game
    • Pass
    • Resign

 

Concepts

Object

Amass the largest number of:

Harmony points + Territory points

End the game by capturing all of the element tiles (but perhaps not the chi blocker)

Harmony

The Ring of Harmony and Disharmony

Harmony Protection from Capture

Two harmonious tiles are "in harmony" if all of the following are true:

        • At least one of the two tiles can reach the other in one move
        • No other tile lies along the path of movement by which one tile may move to the other
        • The path of movement by which one tile may move to the other does not cross a garden wall

Foreign Harmonies

If two tiles are in harmony and one belongs to your opponent, the player whose tile may be reached by the other receives the harmony point.

For example if tile A and tile B are harmonious and tile A can move to tile B but tile B cannot move to tile A, then tile B receives harmony from tile A, and therefore the owner of tile B gets to count the harmony point.

If both tiles can reach each other then both tiles receive a harmony point.

If both tiles belong to the same player and both tiles can reach each other in one move then the owner of those tiles gets two harmony points.

Disharmony

The same conditions must be true for disharmony as for harmony.

Anything that prevents harmony also prevents disharmony.

The Rock only blocks disharmonies when it is between the disharmonious tiles

 Harmony Chains and Rings

A Harmony ring is a set of tiles linked by harmony that loop back on themselves

All tiles used to form a harmony ring must belong to only one player

All tiles in a harmony ring must receive harmony from the previous tile in the ring

Harmony may flow clockwise or counterclockwise around the ring, and may even flow in both directions in some cases

The value of a harmony ring is equal to the number of unoccupied intersections it surrounds. Intersections along the path of movement used to send or receive harmony are not counted toward this total.

Harmonies used to create a harmony ring are still scored in addition to the surrounded intersections

If a player has two harmony rings one surrounding another the outermost harmony ring is scored and the tiles of the inner ring are subtracted from the total

No intersection is counted twice. If one player surrounds another players harmony ring the surrounding player may not count any of the intersections used to form the surrounded harmony ring nor any intersections that it contains.  

 

Simple Harmony Ring Example

 

 

 

Complex Harmony Ring Example

 

 

False Harmony Ring Example

Graphics Pending

 

Territory

 

Dropping

Placing a tile on the board. Tiles may only be dropped onto intersections. Flower tiles may be dropped on any empty intersection wholly a neutral garden, and any empty intersection touching a Torii. Most other tiles may be dropped on any open intersection on the board with the exception of intersections on a garden wall (see individual tile descriptions for any restrictions). Tiles may move up to their maximum distance immediately after being dropped but may not capture or bend on the same turn in which they were dropped.

Single Sovereignty

Partial Sovereignty

 

Moving

A tile may be moved up to its maximum allowable distance according to its movement pattern (see individual tiles for details on their respective movement styles). Tiles may not move through another tile along their path but must stop on reaching it, or land on it to capture it. No tile may move through a wall without waiting on a wall intersection for one turn.

Bending

Element tiles may move the flower tiles of any player (including his/her own) by bending them (see each tile for specific details of bending ability if any).

Capture

Removing one (or more) tiles from the board as a result of the last move. If a player moves a tile to an intersection occupied by an opponents tile, the opponent's tile must be captured. If the capturing move would cause the capturing tile to also be captured (see Kamikaze capture below), the opponent's tile is captured first and then the capturing tile is also removed from the game. Players may not capture their own tiles. Capturing effectively ends the movement of the tile making the capture.

 

The Pot

If players choose to allow betting, The Pot is used to accumulate the stakes of wagers made during the course of play. Players use captured tiles as counters to track the value of the pot. If players choose not to allow any betting the pot serves as a receptacle in which to hold the captured tiles, but has no importance to gameplay.

 

Gambling mechanics are still under discussion and are not available for play testing at this time. Players are free to experiment with their own system(s) of betting until more formal rules are devised.

 

The Wuji

If players want to use hidden information to make the game move challenging they may place their tiles in the Wuji and draw them one at a time at random when they want to enter a new tile into the game. The details and mechanics for this system have not been defined or tested at this time. Players are free to experiment with various ways to use hidden information with and without any gambling mechanics

 

Passing (Needs to be reevaluated in light of capturing all elements)

Instead of moving or dropping a tile, a player may elect to skip his/her turn. If the number of consecutive passes exceeds the number of players the game ends

Example 1:

2 player game:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 pass 

Player 1 pass (game is ended)

Example 2:

4 player game:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 pass

Player 3 pass

Player 4 pass

Player 1 pass (game is ended)

Example 3

2 player game:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 moves

Game continues normally.

Example 4

4 player game:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 pass

Player 3 pass

Player 4 pass

Player 1 moves

Game continues normally.

Resigning

A player may resign (and forfeit) a game at any time.

In a two person game a forfeit results in a win for the other player.

In a three or four person game the remaining players continue to play until one of them becomes the winner.

The resigning player may continue to observe the game but may not participate or comment.

No tiles are removed as the result of a resignation, but rather remain on the board.

The remaining players may bend, capture, and form harmony (or disharmony) with the resigned player's tiles.

 

Victory Conditions

Ending the Game

The game ends when:  

      • All of the opposing element tiles have been captured
      • All but one player resign
      • The number of consecutive passes exceeds the number of players
      • All players have no valid moves

Scoring

At the end of the game, each player counts the harmonies each of his/her tiles receive.
Each player also counts the disharmonies each of his/her tiles receive.
Any intersections surrounded by an harmony ring are added to the player's total harmonies
Each player subtracts the disharmonies from the harmonies to get a final score.

Winning

The player with the highest final score when the game ends wins, If there were more than two players involved second and third places are awarded according to the players' scores.

Games with 3 or 4 Players

4 Players

When playing with 4 players each player takes a color and a compass point.

Players sitting at opposite compass points cooperate as a team.

The player sitting at the East moves first. Play proceeds clockwise around the board.

Players may not discuss strategy during the game or advise each other on specific moves.

 

3 Players

The rules for 3 player games are the same as for 4 players, except that one player uses two colors as if he/she were a team of two in a 4 player game.

Some thought should be given to the balance of the teams in 3 player games. In general the strongest player should not be allowed to play two colors unless the other two players are equal to each other in strength. If there is a very weak player and a very strong player they should play on the same team in a 3 player game.

 

Recording a Game

Recorder

While all players may elect to record the game this responsibility is usually assigned to the least experienced player as a way for him / her to become familiar with the board and reading / recording a game record. All moves are recorded as if looking at the board from the position shown in the first board illustration shown at the top of this page under the heading "The Pai Sho Board".

Board Locations

All intersections on the board are identified by a number and a letter. The number is always listed first. The line running from the East Torii to the West Torii is the x axis. The intersections along this line are numbered from 1 to 19, 1 being the most eastern point and 19 being the most western point. The line running from the North Torii to the South Torii  is the y axis. It is lettered in uppercase letters starting with "A" as the most northern point, and ending with "S" as the most southern point.

 

Tile Abbreviations

Js = Jasmine

Ly = Lily

Jd = Jade

Rs = Rose

C = Chrysanthemum

Rd = Rhododendron

Qi = Chi Blocker

A = Air

W = Water

E = Earth

F = Fire

S = Spirit Wheel

Lt = Lotus

O = Orchid

 

Notation Symbols 

Symbol  Meaning 
- Move to
Capture 
Drop 
Bend 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pass Passes to next player

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notation Examples

    • R*10c (Rose dropped on the board at point 10c)
    • R*10c-10f (Rose is dropped on the board as point 10c and moves to 10f)
    • L10j x C11j (Lotus on 10j captures the Chrysanthemum at 11j) 

 

Recording a Board Position

Board Position Notation is a list of all tiles and their positions on the Pai Sho Ban starting from intersection 9s and continuing left to right, top to bottom, one line at a time until reaching 11a.

Unoccupied intersections are not listed.

In a 4 handed game red tiles use Pointy Brackets < >, yellow tiles use Parentheses ( ), blue tiles use Curly Braces{ }, and green tiles use Square Brackets [ ] . In a two handed game Sente's tiles use Pointy Brackets < >, and Gote's tiles use Parentheses ( ). But in practice only Sente uses Pointy Brackets < >, to distinguish them from Gote's.

Four Handed Example:

 Red tile: <Lt 10j>

Yellow tile: (O 11j)

Blue tile: {Jd 12j}

Green tile: [Rs 13j]

Two Handed Example:

Sente's tile: <Lt 10j>

Gote's tile: O 11j

 

4 Player Pai Sho Game Record Sheet

Name  Player 1  Player 2  Player 3  Player 4  Player Comments 
Color Red  Yellow  Blue  Green   
         
2           
         
...          

Harmony

Points

         

 

2 Player Pai Sho Game Record Sheet

Name  Player 1 Sente Player 2 Gote Player Comments 
Color Red  White  
     
2       
     
...      

Harmony

Points

     

 



Dropping

Placing a tile on the board. Tiles may only be dropped onto intersections. Flower tiles may only be dropped on intersections wholly or partially within the Torii. Most other tiles may be dropped on any open intersection on the board (see individual tile descriptions for any restrictions). Tiles may move up to their maximum distance immediately after being dropped but may not capture or bend on the same turn in which they were dropped

Moving

A tile may be moved 1 or more intersections in a straight line horizontally or vertically, up to its maximum allowable distance. Some tiles may also change direction 1 or more times during a move. See individual tiles for details of their respective movement limits.

Bending

When a tile uses a special ability to move another tile.

Capture

Removing one (or more) tiles from the board as a result of the last move. If a player moves a tile to an intersection occupied by an opponents tile, the opponent's tile must be captured. If the capturing move would cause the capturing tile to also be captured (see Kamikaze capture below), the opponent's tile is captured first and then the capturing tile is also removed from the game. Apart from Kamikaze captures, players may not capture their own tiles. Capture effectively ends the movement of a tile.

Drop Capture 

When a tile is dropped on a point already occupied but another player's tile it is captured. Only flower tiles have the ability to make drop captures. Flower tiles are immune to drop captures for a full turn after they have been dropped.

Kamikaze Capture

A capture that results in the tile making the capture itself being captured, or removed from play.

When a tile captures a passive element tile, the capturing tile is simultaneously captured by the passive element tile.

When a flower tile makes a capture in an unnatural garden, it dies immediately after the capture is complete, and is removed from play.

Bending Capture

When a flower tile is bent into an unnatural garden it is captured. No tile may bend if it has already captured a tile on that turn because capturing ends the turn.

 

Harmony

See individual tile for the list of tiles with which it harmonizes or disharmonizes.

Two harmonious tiles are in harmony if all of the following are true:

        • Both tiles belong to the same player (or one tile is a Lotus belonging to either player)
        • Both tiles are on the same horizontal or vertical line
        • No other tile lies between them
        • Neither tile is adjacent to a knotweed tile
        • The horizontal or vertical line on which the harmony is formed is not shared by a rock tile

Disharmony

The same conditions must be true for disharmony as for harmony. Anything that prevents harmony also prevents disharmony

Harmony Rings

Graphics pending

Defined as a ring of tiles (all of which are in harmony), that encompasses the central point on the board

Creating a harmony ring effectively wins the game due to it's high scoring value.

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