In-game strategy, part one.

This is an article that has taken some time for me to finish, I really have no clue on how to really write it properly. How many films do I need, how many screenshots do I need or how do I write it to get the point across?

The purpose of the game is to get your chips in before you opponent, every move should therefore have this in mind. Might sound obvious, but it's really important to keep in mind. You should always look at the board and see if you're behind one move or ahead one move.

The basic strategy is really to make it as hard for your opponent to get his chips in before you. Most people accomplish this by wasting their turn on pushing. This is something I've never really felt very comfortable with. The reason is often that when you do this you put your faith on your opponents inability to get them. If you're playing a very good player this will just pass the turn over to him but with one less chip on the board. Do understand though that I don't dismis pushing all together, the point I want to come across is that pushing is not something that should be done for the sake of pushing, it's not something you should do mechanically. Should more be done as a last resort.

So what do you do, to make it harder on your opponent?

Couronne is a game that the closer to the end the game get, the easier it will be for you to sink your remaining chips. The further your opponent has gotten to the goal, sinking all his chips, the easier it will be for you to do the same. In general, you have a higher chance of getting all your chips if your opponent has sunken 9 of his than if he'd sunken 0. His chips are by just existing on the floor doing a defensive job for him!

The most effective way to gain advantage is to keep your chips on the floor that actually do you more good by being there than they are doing in the hole. They either do this by blocking your opponents chips from being possible to get down or by blocking the pathway to the shots he like to do. You will always be one move ahead of your opponent if you have one or more of his chips being blocked by yours.

So what I in general strive for is to have more of my chips on the floor than my opponent does, until I feel confident enough that now is the time for me to end this. The thing to keep in mind though is to save the blocking chips of yours 'til last. Because if you make a mistake, your mistake will most likely cause less harm if you still have some of his chips still being blocked.

If I am playing a guy that does this to me aswell, how do I counter it?

When you are being blocked in all directions and feel you're out of safe moves. What I usually like doing is to not waste my move on shooting a pointless shot that is doomed to fail, and often, set up more easier moves for your opponent. I rather do something defensive, for instance I might push a shot and do my very best at the same time to sink the yellow. Sink the yellow? What? Why? Well, by sinking the yellow aswell you will get another one of your chips back on the floor, in the center where things most often are as tight as possible, making it even tighter for your opponent is a good thing for you.

Lets look at a scenario that you might often face during the early game in a competitive game. Most players would go with the blue lined shot, shown here as an example. It is not a bad shot, his 3-waller shot is being blocked by the green one up right aswell. Would work like a charm against most players.

But if you think one more time, what would your opponent do if I did that push? He would most likely push my green chip furthest up right down my right corner. By doing this he would do two things to help him win the advantage in this game. Firstly he would get one of your chips in a inaccessible location, all shots at bottom right corner are at the moment of the game being blocked by chips on the floor. Second he would gain access with the 3-waller to the red chip you just pushed.

If you play a good player, the outcome of your defensive move would in reality have backfired on you.

So what about the other shot?

Well, it's sort of risky business aswell, but I would prefer this shot as it would get a chip that is easy for him to push down a corner I don't have access to and by sinking the yellow aswell it would let me get up another green and make it more tight in the center. Getting another green in the center would reduce his ability to sweep the floor on his next move, which is the point of almost all strategy in the game. The risk factor by doing this move is that red is in a very good shape at the time being. Almost all of his chips are at the outer most layer of the big lump, meaning, that they are blocking yours and are very accessible for sinking in the next move.

What I wanted to accomplish with this article is to present to you some general insight on strategy and to give you another point of view on how to play the game. Create some thoughts in your mind the next time you're in a similar situation.

I will do more in-game screen shots of how, what and why I would do in the situation that is.

- Hektor