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Pai Sho Rules Page (redirected from Pai Sho V1_0)

Page history last edited by Cyril 8 years, 4 months ago Saved with comment

Table of Contents


 

 


Version Notes

  • Past revisions can be located via the history link on the top of this page. 
  • Comments about the latest revision can be added to The Rules Comment Page or brought up for discussion in one of the ongoing discussion pages.
  • Scheduled rule revisions can be seen on the Site Maintenance Page (usually assigned to Osuji). <--Well, so much for that! Cy
  • Report flaws in game play or other problems with the rules on the 1.0 Flaws page or an ongoing discussion. 

 


 

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, 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

Neutral Intersections

All intersections that fall completely inside the outer yellow gardens or the four Torii

Neutral intersections have no effect on harmony or disharmony

Piebald Intersections

Piebald intersections are considered part of all gardens with which they share a board line. Any intersection that falls along a line or corner of a board line 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.

Piebald 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 (yellow gardens and Torii) has no natural association with any flower tiles, and has 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 Red Gardens. Intersections completely within Torii are Neutral.

Walls and Paths

Walls

The borders which separate the yellow gardens from the central gardens are called walls.

Paths  

The borders which separate the central gardens from each other (10c to 10q and 3j to 17j) are called paths. Like walls, they have no direct effect on tiles and are for naming purposes only.

 


 

The Pai Sho Tiles 

The Flower Tiles 

White Flower Tiles

White flowers receive one disharmony point while standing on a completely red intersection (wholly inside a red central garden)

Lily

(6 tiles per player)


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

Moves up to 1 intersection horizontally and vertically (also called a "Mahn step"), or up to 3 intersections diagonally

Captures all tiles diagonally only

Sends harmony and disharmony diagonally only

Sends Harmony to Jade, Jasmine, and Chrysanthemum tiles

Receives Harmony from Chrysanthemum, Rhododendron, and Rose tiles

Sends Disharmony to Lily, Rose, and Rhododendron tiles

Receives Disharmony from Jasmine, Jade, and Lily tiles

Jade

(6 tiles per player)


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

Moves up to 3 Intersections horizontally or vertically

Sends Harmony to Jasmine, Chrysanthemum, and Rhododendron

Receives Harmony from Rhododendron, Rose, and Lily

Sends Disharmony to Jade, Lily, and Rose

Receives Disharmony from Chrysanthemum, Jasmine, and Jade

Jasmine

(6 tiles per player)


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

 Moves 1 intersection horizontally or vertically, followed by a 45 degree angle turn for 1 intersection diagonally but does not leap over other tiles

Sends Harmony to Chrysanthemum, Rhododendron, and Rose

Receives Harmony from Rose, Lily, and Jade

Sends Disharmony to Jasmine, Jade, and Lily

Receives Disharmony from Rhododendron, Chrysanthemum, and Jasmine

Red Flower Tiles

Red flowers receive one disharmony point while standing on a completely white intersection (wholly inside a white central garden)

Chrysanthemum

(6 tiles per player)


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

Moves up to 1 intersection horizontally and vertically (also called a "Mahn step"), or up to 3 intersections diagonally

Captures all tiles diagonally only

Sends harmony and disharmony diagonally only

Sends Harmony to Rhododendron, Rose, and Lily

Receives Harmony from Lily, Jade, and Jasmine

Sends Disharmony to Chrysanthemum, Jasmine, and Jade

Receives Disharmony from Rose, Rhododendron, and Chrysanthemum

Rhododendron

(6 tiles per player)


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

Moves up to 3 intersections horizontally or vertically

Sends Harmony to Rose, Lily, and Jade

Receives Harmony from Jade, Jasmine, and Chrysanthemum

Sends Disharmony to Rhododendron, Chrysanthemum, and Jasmine

Receives Disharmony from Lily, Rose, and Rhododendron

Rose

(6 tiles per player)


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

Moves 1 intersection horizontally or vertically, followed by a 45 degree angle turn for 1 intersection diagonally but does not leap over other tiles

Sends Harmony to Lily, Jade, and Jasmine tiles

Receives Harmony from Jasmine, Chrysanthemum, and Rhododendron tiles

Sends Disharmony to Rose, Rhododendron, and Chrysanthemum tiles

Receives Disharmony from Chrysanthemum, Rhododendron, and Rose tiles

 

Special Flowers [currently in active revision]

Lotus

(3 tiles per player)


May be dropped on any intersection

Moves up to 2 intersections horizontally, vertically, or diagonally

Sends Harmony to all flowers except the Orchid

Receives Harmony from all flowers except the Orchid

Sends Disharmony to no tile

Receives Disharmony from Orchids

Orchid  

(3 tiles per player)

 

May be dropped on any intersection

Moves up to 6 intersections horizontally, vertically, or diagonally

Sends Harmony to no tile

Receives Harmony from no tile

Sends Disharmony to all flower tiles except other Orchids

Receives Disharmony from no tile

 

 


 

Playing

Play proceeds clockwise around the board, starting with the player sitting at the East compass point. When there are only two players the first player is called "Sente" as he starts with the initiative. The second player is called "Gote". When there are more than two players each player is ofter by their compass point or the element associate with that compass point.

 

Play alternates between players, each player either adding new tiles, moving tiles, bending tiles, or capturing tiles until the conditions for ending the game are met. The player with the largest number of points when the game ends is the winner.

 

A Player's Turn

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

    • Drop a tile, adding one of his/her tiles from the reserve to the board
      • Flower tiles may only be dropped on intersections that are at least partially neutral (that is in yellow gardens, Torii, and on walls) 
    • Move one of his/her tiles already on the board to occupy a new intersection and optionally capture the enemy tile there (if capture is legal)
      • Flowers may be protected by harmonic protection from capture (see below)
      • If capturing a tile is illegal, the player cannot move to that intersection 
    • Bend a flower tile belonging to any player to:
      • Move it to a tactically preferable position 
    • Pass and end his turn without taking action
    • Resign

 

 

Object

The object of the game is to accumulate the largest amount of points by forming harmonic melds or capturing tiles, creating the largest score when the game ends.

 

 

Harmony

Harmony and disharmony are created by the flow of Chi from one tile to another. Flower tiles send Chi to the intersections that they can move to, creating harmony or disharmony with other flowers depending on their type. In this way, flowers may send and receive multiple harmonies from other flowers (allied or enemy).

 

Calculating Harmony on flower tiles

A tile has harmony (or "is in harmony") if the amount of harmony that it receives from other flowers (friendly or enemy) minus the amount of disharmony received is at least zero. All flowers that are either at a positive total amount of received harmony, or zero, are considered to be "in harmony" and are subject to capture protection (see below). Receiving more disharmony than harmony results in a negative total harmony score for that flower; those flowers are considered "in disharmony" and receive no capture protection.

 

Note that the amount of harmony or disharmony that the flower itself sends is of no importance when calculating whether it is in harmony.

 

Foreign Harmony

Harmony that is sent by a flower tile of another player is called "foreign harmony", but has the same effect as friendly harmony.

 

 

Harmony Protection from Capture (in active revision)

[Currently two separate models:

1. As long as a flower tile is in not in disharmony (net harmony = 0 or positive), it is protected from capture by enemy tiles. 

Only flower tiles that receive negative harmony in total can be captured but other tiles.

OR

2. As long as a flower tile is in harmony (net harmony > 0), it is protected from capture by enemy tiles. 

Only flower tiles that are receiving neutral negative harmony in total can be captured but other tiles.

The model used in each game is currently decided beforehand by the players. Cy]

 

 

Harmony Chains and Harmonic Melds

Flower tiles of one player that are connected to each other through harmonies form harmony chains. These harmonic connections don't need to be reciprocal in order for the tiles to be considered "connected".

Tiles of different players can form harmonies between each other, but don't create chains.

A harmony chain or three or more tiles can on occasion loop back to its starting tile, forming a "harmony ring". As with normal chains, tiles do not need to send harmony to both neighboring tiles as long as every tile either sends or receives harmony from both its neighbors. Accordingly, harmony along a chain does not have to maintain one direction but can be send both back and forth within different parts of the chain.

If a player forms a harmony ring where all tiles are fully inside the central gardens (ie. not touching any neutral area), he can choose to remove those flower tiles from the board immediately and add them to his pot (melding). Each tile removed in this way counts as one point when calculating the overall score of that player.

If a player completes a harmony ring without removing it immediately, he cannot claim it at a later time unless his move extends or modifies the ring.

Tiles that are placed on a garden wall touch the neutral area and therefore cannot participate in melds.

If moving a tile simultaneously completes more than one harmony ring, the player must claim exactly one meld, but can decide which ring constellation is used. The player cannot claim more than one meld.

 

 

 

Dropping

Placing a tile on the board.

      • Tiles may only be dropped onto intersections.
      • Flower tiles may be dropped on any empty intersection within a neutral garden, or any empty intersectionon a garden wall, but not on intersections wholly contained by a central garden.

Single Sovereignty

If a garden contains one and only one tile, that tile has single sovereignty over that garden.

      • No tile may be dropped into a garden where an enemy tile has single sovereignty 
      • No newly dropped tile may threaten an enemy tile if the enemy tile has single sovereignty, even if the tile is protected by harmonic protection

Partial Sovereignty

If a tile is placed on the border between one or more gardens it has partial sovereignty over each garden that is otherwise empty and untouched by other border tiles.

      • No newly dropped tile may threaten to capture a tile with partial sovereignty, but it may be dropped into the controlled garden if it doesn't threaten the tile holding partial sovereignty.
      • A tile retains partial sovereignty over all unoccupied gardens it touches even if it loses partial sovereignty over others.

 

Moving

A tile may be moved up to its maximum range on a singe turn, or move only a portion of its maximum range. Jasmin and Rose cannot move any less than their maximum range.

A tile may not pass through another tile.

 

Bending

Element tiles may move the flower tiles of any player (including his/her own) by bending them.

A flower tile may be bent if an element tile is able to move to the flower tile, as if to capture it.

The owner of the element tile determines how the flower moves when it is bent within these restrictions

When bent by a line moving element a flower tile may:

    • Be moved one intersection as if it were that element tile
    • Be moved toward or away from the element tile within 7 intersections of the element tile doing the bending

When bent by a knight moving element a flower tile may:

    • Make a single move as if it were a knight

A tile being bent may not:

    • Land on another tile including the element tile doing the bending
    • Capture another tile
    • Cross or pass through either a wall or a tile, including the element tile doing the bending.
    • Itself bend another tile
    • Push another tile
    • Move off the edge of the board

 

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 opponent's tile, the opponent's tile must be captured. This is only possible if the captured tile is not protected by harmony protection.

Players may not capture their own tiles.

Captured tiles of enemy players are added to the capturing player's pot and score one point at the end of the game.

Capturing effectively ends the movement of the tile making the capture.

 

The Pot

The pot is an area where the player stores the tiles taken out by forming melds or through capturing enemy tiles. It is also used to calculate the players score.

Each player has his own pot.

 

If players choose to allow betting, the amount of tiles in each players pots can influence the size of wagers and winnings.

 

The Wuji

If players want to use hidden information to make the game move challenging, they may place their tiles face down in pile or a container (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

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 and the scores are calculated.

2 Player Passing Example 1:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 pass 

Player 1 pass (game is ended)

2 Player Passing Example 2:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 moves

Game continues normally.

4 Player Passing Example 1:

Player 1 pass

Player 2 pass

Player 3 pass

Player 4 pass

Player 1 pass (game is ended)

4 Player Passing Example 2:

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 during his own turn.

    • If more than one player remains after a resignation, the game continues
    • The tiles of all resigned players remain on the board until the game ends
    • The remaining players may bend and form harmony (or disharmony) with a resigned player's tiles, but may not capture them
    • If the game ends as a result of a resignation, the last player still in the game is the winner regardless of the final score  
    • A resigned player may continue to observe the game but may not participate or comment.  

 

Ending the Game

The game ends when:  

    • The pre-set point limit is reached by one player 
    • All players except one resign
    • The number of consecutive passes exceeds the number of players
    • No player has a legal move

 

Point Limit

Players agree on a point limit before starting the game. At any point, a player may end and win the game by reaching the point limit with his own score, resulting from his melds and captured tiles.

A player may win by point limit even if it is not his turn.

If more than one player reaches the point limit at the same moment, the player with the higher total score wins. If they are tied, a new point limit 5 points higher than the previous one replaces the original one.

 

 

 

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 and share one score that counts the points of both players.

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 notated game. All moves are recorded as if looking at the board from the East position, shown in the first board illustration 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 rows of 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

Lt = Lotus

O = Orchid

 

Notation Symbols 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notation Examples

    • Rs*10c (Rose dropped on the board at point 10c)
    • Rs 10c-10f (Rose moves from 10c to 10f)
    • Ly10j x C11j (Lily on 10j captures the Chrysanthemum at 11j) 

 

Recording a Board Position

Board Position Notation is used to list all  the 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. Colored text is not required but players are encouraged to use it if available because it helps make the board position clearer to anyone reading it back

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

 

 

Game Record Sheet (2 player example)

Name  Player 1 Sente Player 2 Gote Score Player Comments 
Color Red  White    
    0:0  
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.

Comments (1)

Osuji said

at 12:31 am on Jan 5, 2013

What happened to the comments? You made a comment here and now it's gone? You read a comment here and now it's gone? We moved them to their own page (here http://lotusgambit.pbworks.com/w/page/62393375/Pai%20Sho%20V1_0%20Comments%20Page) so the rules page won't get longer that it needs to be.

You want to make a comment on these rules? Please click this link and make your comment there:
http://lotusgambit.pbworks.com/w/page/62393375/Pai%20Sho%20V1_0%20Comments%20Page

Thanks for helping us keep the rules page as short as possible :-7

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