Solitaire?

Kliro · 27-07-2005, 23:48

Hello boys and girls,

I have a solitaire set, I am currently having a go at, I know the rules, how you have to jump over one ball with anouther to take it, and that there should be one ball left at the end in the centre, but is there some sort of technique that you have to employ?

TIA

Richard M · 27-07-2005, 23:49

I thought Solitaire was a card game you played when bored at work?

marky · 27-07-2005, 23:51

ahhh you mean this one

well then
i aint got a clue

Kliro · 27-07-2005, 23:54

lol, yup, thats the one.

I remember playing it about 10 years ago now, was fun, I remember anouther game with weird stones, that might have been made up though....

danielf · 27-07-2005, 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kliro

Hello boys and girls,

I have a solitaire set, I am currently having a go at, I know the rules, how you have to jump over one ball with anouther to take it, and that there should be one ball left at the end in the centre, but is there some sort of technique that you have to employ?

TIA

Yes, there is a solution (rather than simple strategy), but even if I could remember, I couldn't explain it.

IIRC you first have to try to end up with the only pieces left being in the following arrangement:

X X
XXX
XXX
XXX

After that, there is a guaranteed solution.

marky · 27-07-2005, 23:58

hope this works from google images

danielf · 28-07-2005, 00:04

http://www.samizdat.com/hiq.html

I believe this provides a complete solution (and alternative solutions), if you can figure out the notation.

Kliro · 28-07-2005, 00:08

heh, Im going to do what that guy did, and trace it back from the middle, looks like more fun

zoombini · 28-07-2005, 08:57

I made one of them when I was at school.
Never played it much though, lost all the marbles etc.

Still can't find my marbles..lol

Theodoric · 28-07-2005, 15:44

And when you've successfully finished Solitaire have a go at the Tower of Benares; it should occupy a rainy afternoon. It consists of 3 poles. On the first pole there are 64 disks with holes in their centres. Each disk has a different diameter and they are arranged so that the largest disk is at the bottom of the pole and the smallest at the top, so that it looks like a cone with the apex at the top.

The aim of the game is to transfer all of the disks to one of the other poles. The rules are quite simple.

1) Only one disk may be moved at a time and it must be placed on any one of the poles before another disk can be moved.

2) A smaller disk may be placed on a larger disk but a larger disk may not be placed on a smaller disk.

zovat · 28-07-2005, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

And when you've successfully finished Solitaire have a go at the Tower of Benares; it should occupy a rainy afternoon. It consists of 3 poles. On the first pole there are 64 disks with holes in their centres. Each disk has a different diameter and they are arranged so that the largest disk is at the bottom of the pole and the smallest at the top, so that it looks like a cone with the apex at the top.

The aim of the game is to transfer all of the disks to one of the other poles. The rules are quite simple.

1) Only one disk may be moved at a time and it must be placed on any one of the poles before another disk can be moved.

2) A smaller disk may be placed on a larger disk but a larger disk may not be placed on a smaller disk.

I like that one - it is actually quite easy once you have got the knack of it

Theodoric · 28-07-2005, 16:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by zovat

I like that one - it is actually quite easy once you have got the knack of it

Ah, you've obviously managed to complete it then.

zovat · 28-07-2005, 16:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

Ah, you've obviously managed to complete it then.

I started with the 14 disk version, then worked up from there

Graham · 28-07-2005, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

And when you've successfully finished Solitaire have a go at the Tower of Benares;

I always knew that as "Towers of Babel" but it's the same game. It's actually very simple once you grasp the principle.

As a matter of interest, I once worked out that the minimum number of moves to solve it was (2^n) - 1 where n is the number of disks.

Theodoric · 28-07-2005, 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

I always knew that as "Towers of Babel" but it's the same game. It's actually very simple once you grasp the principle.

As a matter of interest, I once worked out that the minimum number of moves to solve it was (2^n) - 1 where n is the number of disks.

Which at one move per second, 24 hours per day and 365 days per year gives, oh, quite a long time.