Bulldog Challenge Game (JunyJunebug - Martin0)

8.e4 Nd6

9.Gh2 f4

10.Ni4 Nf7

11.j3 h5

12.Nj2 h4

13.Ni4 hxi3

Hmm, Black totally ignores his own non-standard pieces

I assume you mean Gxi3. In that case:

14.Gxi3 Wh6

This is the first time I have moved a witch in a bulldog game. 

15.Nc5 Qxc5

Martin0 seems to be the new champ ... I challenge you for that title, @Martin0!  Let's have a game start!

Martin0 wins game and is new Bulldog Champion! Congratulations to Martin0!

Great game by both Martin0 and JunyJunebug. Medals for the players:

Hi JohnHS,

The rules for winning the bulldog crown are posted (here - sheet2 post #36).

Since the original champion won the crown from an 8-way tournament, the champion earns some "protection" from new players.

To challenge the champion for the crown, you must have at least one "Level 2" win, which means you won at least one game over someone who also won a game.

Of course you can still play Martin0 if he would like. But it would be an exhibition game, and not for the crown.

But whether Martin plays or not, I'll be happy to play against you. (A win against me will qualify you to play the champion).

And I will be sure to be challenging Martin0 for the crown soon!😈
Later today or tomorrow I will update the (Top Players) thread with the latest bulldog news.😃

Sure, if you'll set up the thread and send me the link, let's start a game!

Did anyone other than me notice that martin0's witch move actually hung it to the knight?

gg

@HorusTheThird, it was intentional and the witch was protected. If the game went 15.Nxh6 ixh6, then I will have traded my witch for a knight and fixed my pawn structure (my doubled pawns were not that good). The value of the witch is a bit unclear to me, but I considered that to be a good trade for me. Also trades are generally good for me anyway since I was up a piece.

One move I did miss (or rather saw it too late after I had already made my 10th move) was 11.Wf5+. That move looks very painful to deal with. You could say I underestimated the combination of a witch in the centre and having my king on the same file as the opponents queen.

I've seen some people estimate a witch can be worth as much as 6 points early in a game, and is most valuable when she makes several pieces transparent, creating multiple attacks on an opponent from defended pieces. But I think a witch's value drops a lot as you get into the late middle game - the board is more empty, so a witch can help, but not more than just simply moving a piece to create an attack.

It is interesting that Black did not move his witch until move 15, and it was to offer an exchange for a piece worth 3 points. Like evert said, "Hmmm".

I started a thread (here) for our game.

Btw, new games will use a suggestion by Martin0 and evert823. Castling across a witch is allowed, and castling across pieces made transparent by the witch is also allowed. Martin0 made a diagram of this situation in post #20. It's now in the game rules for new games.

I think fixing my pawn structure is at least worth 0.5 points, so make the trade offer to be 3.5 points for the witch. The value of the witch is an interesting topic and of course my moves will reflect my evaluation of it. In my previous game with a lumberjack and witch I also choose not to trade my knight for my opponents witch. Needless to say I value it far less than 6.

The main reason why I moved the witch though was to create a threat on my opponents guard, not just to hope my opponent accepts the trade.

JunyJunebug is now Junebug444. He came back from dead and is now in the Super-dog semi-final (here).