Omatamix is boring? - I don't think so!

Some people claim, that Omatamix has very few valid opening lines and is therefore monotonous. This is of course especially true for high elo where even small mistakes are getting punished.

Well, I played 4 games against @Cha_ChaRealsmooth @rojitto and @Grathieben on Saturday. The strongest players in the world. And each game was totally different. Red, Blue and Yellow varied between two first moves each. So it happened that even before green made his first move, we had a different game on the board. 
Here are the games:
26464703
26465012
26465256
26465567

So if the strongest players playing games against each other having totally different games, why do you have the same games again and again, if you play against different people?

Omatamix has enough variation even on the highest of levels.

So if anybody claims that Omatamix is boring, it's their own fault.

Cheers Michael

I believe it's not about the game as whole, it's about the similar strategies and ideas, i.e. before move 5 or 6.

I saw the games, it is the same boring monotonous stuff, I just simply cannot understand how you don't see this.

The rotational symmetry results in some 4 to 5 openings/structures for each colour. Compared to the OG and Bsrti Setups (which have way way more diversity in the openings), I do not see how one could claim that Oma wouldn't result in boring games.

Higher level games may bring more variety to the opening position, but there are fewer high level games being played in the past few weeks than there were in the weeks leading up to the "merge" of the 4 player chess server with the main variants server.

Stronger than me?

Michael needs to include himself in the list obviously because he is an OG and just so much better than everyone else.

Bah, not stronger than me at making premoves to win blitz games!

If you get teamed on early, you pretty much have no chance of survival, for that reason alone I find Omatamix boring. You pretty much have to either castle or block off the opposing queen when starting. I'm not speaking for the high-rated players when I say this. 

@JKCheeseChess, I'm glad you're explaining the boringness of Omatamix to a non-Team's player.  Omatamix may be a better starting position for Solo, but I've had way more fun and exciting games playing Old Standard and BSRTI in Teams.  They offer so much variety, and an element of fun that Omatamix can't live up to, and no Engine can measure which has driven more than 50% of players away.

There's no element of surprise with Omatamix, which makes it boring.

It isn't better for ffa either carlos, it is worse than for teams.

Well, for me it is not boring Omatamix, and neither is Old Standard; what's really boring is SOLO current ranking system.

However I invite you to watch this game with the current ranking system:

1 | 7 FFA 2500+ | 29-04-2022

empty_K3 | DZIRI05 | JCrossover_14 | Typewriter44

https://www.chess.com/variants/4-player-chess/game/26445607/268/1

- The 4 player stage, it was TEAM or Strategic Alliance, which is absolutely natural, and inevitable.
- The 3-player stage was extremely close where no one wanted to attack, everyone was passive, and there were many passing plays.
- Typewriter44 He is highly skilled at playing positional, which is a virtue for this system and can lead you to success.
- Time control 1 | 7 FFA, I lead them to make many mistakes due to time, due to the possible fall of the flag and I take good advantage of that red, in the center of the board.

For me, that is really boring, since those games lack the essence of FFA. And as I said in the chat comments, it is literal and textual, because that's what it felt like at the time.

That's how SOLO games are, Eternal 🥱😴💤💤💤

According to the engines, it's more "balanced", and that's why it "may" be better, yet Omatamix can't offer the level of excitement and playability that Old Standard can for the majority of players.  Literally, every other position is more balanced than Old Standard, and it may be this imbalance that made it great or we just got used to it.   I would like to see BSRTI, especially BSRTI-invert further analyzed since it's the most balanced position, and may have a better replay value over Omatamix.

If they really wanted to change things according to the engines, why didn't they go from the least balanced, to the most balanced position which is bsrti-invert?

As many know, omatamix and bsrti are my favorite setups, nevertheless...

There is one thing I must admit or agree with, why I don't like  omatamix and/or Bsrti-invert?:

- It is that in move 1, the yellow ones can directly attack the weak king's pawn of the green ones; and that's really annoying, even more so considering that the green ones are the last to move. You can do the same red with blue, in this case exclusive to omatamix.

- Gives the sensation of forced movements from the beginning.
- Bsrti-invert Leaving the engines aside, and looking only at the initial aesthetics, as classical chess players and 4pc, we do not have the habit of having the queen on the right with red pieces (Attached image). 
- Bsrti-invert  in terms of gameplay, right from the start it gives you a feeling of playing chess 960. but I repeat, I am not against the rarities, nor against what the engines say.

Bsrti-invert Image:

Classic Chess Image:

Note:

- I don't know what people will think, it's just my personal impression. bsrti invert , the queens to the right, Compared to classical chess, we are not very used to this position, as a first impression, at first glance.

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In Bsrti:

- Is that on move 1, red can directly attack the weak king pawn of blue; but with the difference, that blue, can immediately respond to red's attacks.
- Gives the feeling of being able to make multiple openings.
- Compared to the other setups, it doesn't feel forced, to make openings in terms of defense, I feel like you can open yourself up to more than one option.
- As for the initial aesthetics, it gives you an identical view to classic chess; And this is an important achievement, which I highlight in magnitude.
- Playing it immediately gives you that feeling of excitement.

Another factor to consider: "clockwise directions"

- For reds, their direct rival is blue and their secondary rival is green or vice versa
- For Blues, their direct rival is Yellow and their secondary rival is red or vice versa
- For Yellows, their direct rival is Green and their secondary rival is blue or vice versa
- For Greens, their direct rival is red and their secondary rival is yellow or vice versa

My last rival will always be my opposite, I have it too far from me, I can't spend my playing strength with the opposite. It will never be a good strategy to attack the front, (I still can't believe that this is so difficult for some people to understand), anyway, that there are attack options, there are, but in 4pc there is the psychological factor , and is potential; Tip: Don't wear yourself out attacking your opposite, it's always better to have him as an ally at the start.

This is how the survey goes , configuration BSRTI deserves a chance:

But I insist:

Well, for me it is not boring Omatamix, and neither is Old Standard; what's really boring is SOLO current ranking system. The ranking system is directly related to how each battle is played, mainly in a 3 players ending.

I'm sure there are many old standard players out there who will like to play Bsrti as it has certain similarities that are close to it. You will see how exciting it is to play it.

Bsrti deserves a chance!

I think we have a different conception of boring and monotonous...

Because I had the feeling those games were entirely different while my old Standard games basically are always the same opening.

But I have a theory to that: If you know openings very well, small differences mean a lot to you.
You know old Standard well, I know Omatamix. So we both think the other one is boring because we can't see the subtle differences in the opening.

Those games are FFA.  People can get away with suboptimal opening play in FFA.  Same doesn't apply to teams.

@empty_K3 Thank you for making these posts. I know you received a lot of thumbs down as some players on the forum really liked the "Old Standard". Please don't let this stop you. Diversity of opinion is important. I still think the "boring factor" of Omatamix setup is exaggerated even in team. As someone else once said, the players who like Omatamix are playing and not necessarily spending their time on the forum.

Do I would like to try some BSRTI or BSRTI invert, or even others balanced position? Yes.

No. 1 on the list is a version of bsrti-invert where only blue KQ are switched. 3, 5 almost all of the top have the red king on the left. They're found to be the most balanced

That is why I like it, and there can certainly be variation in the openings if you’re creative enough. 

I highly respect your opinion Jk. You usually are a player who back up his comments with good arguments. Personnaly, I'm fine with the king on the left even for the first player to play. If it can help the balance, why not? I guess we will just get use to it. My question is for newcomers who maybe will find this a bit confusing and a bit of a turn off.