"Huh? You know?" The clown looked at Richard, his voice a little surprised.
"Yes, I know." Richard nodded and said seriously to the clown, "So I'm not proud because you let me win a round. I just think that the current situation is really not suitable for use. Humility. If you want to figure it out, play a few more games with me."
The clown was stunned for a moment, then spoke slowly: "Don't you want to say that not only do you know that I lose to you on purpose, but you also deliberately cooperate with my performance, so that you can actually beat me in every game of clown chess?"
"Of course not." Richard shook his head, "I am indeed inferior to you in clown chess. At least in a short period of time, I cannot beat you. When I say playing chess, I mean playing another kind of chess."
"Another kind of chess, what kind of chess?"
"Backgammon." Richard replied.
"Backgammon?" The clown was surprised, "What kind of chess is this?"
"It's a very simple chess game." Richard picked up the black and white chess pieces and said, "There is only one rule in this chess game: both sides play separately. Whichever side has five chess pieces connected in a line first wins. By the way, the place where the chess pieces are placed is not Inside the grid, it is the intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines, like this." As he spoke, Richard set up the chess pieces.
The rules are indeed simple. Richard just laid them out and the clown understood them. In fact, as long as he can count and is not blind, he will definitely understand.
The rules are so simple, but it makes the clown slightly suspicious: "Do you really want to play this kind of chess with me... which is simpler than real beast fighting chess?"
"right."
"Then who goes first?"
"I'll go first." Richard said, picking up a black chess piece and placing it on the chessboard, giving a familiar answer.
"Is there any explanation for this?" the clown asked with twinkling eyes.
"Of course there is an explanation." Richard replied, "The rule of backgammon is that the person holding the black stone moves first. As for who holds the black stone first, there are many ways to determine. But the most important point is that whoever wears the clown mask will win. It is forbidden to hold black chips.”
"Huh?" After listening to Richard's words, the clown couldn't help but say: "The last rule isn't something you just added, is it, passerby?"
"But it doesn't matter, just like you said before, 'Those sitting on the west side, the clown moves first.'" Richard spread his hands and said, "If you think it's unfair, Mr. Clown, you can take off your mask, and then Chi Heizi.”
"Forget it," the clown said, "I'll just hold the white piece. I think holding the white piece has an advantage."
"you sure?"
"Sure."
"Okay, please." Richard waved his hand.
The clown didn't say any more. He took a white chess piece, thought about it, and placed it under Richard's chess piece. After seeing this, Richard almost didn't think twice and immediately picked up the second black chess piece and placed it next to the clown's white piece.
In this way, three chess pieces, two black and one white, form a right triangle, which looks like an abstract little crescent.
The clown was slightly surprised that Richard played chess so neatly. After all, when he was playing Clown Chess before, even if he was extremely familiar with the moves, he would only make the move after thinking for a long time. Now Richard's actions made him wonder whether there was something fishy going on.
So the clown thought for a long time before carefully placing the second white chess piece.
As a result, as soon as the clown's chess piece fell, Richard's black chess piece fell down, almost in no particular order.
The clown looked at Richard, who just made another gesture of invitation.
"Well-"
The clown looked back at the chessboard and fell into deep thought. He could not see any trap in Richard's move, but out of caution, he chose to block the path where Richard might form a line of five pieces.
Then…
"Snapped!"
Richard made a move again, still seemingly without any thought.
The clown twisted his body a little, feeling a little irritated and uneasy, but he couldn't figure out where the emotion came from. He took a deep breath and walked patiently with Richard.
"Pah, pah, pah, pah..."
The pieces keep falling.
The clown had to think for a while before making a move, while Richard made the move as soon as he got the piece.
That's it, about three minutes later.
"Snapped!"
Just after the clown landed a piece, Richard followed up with a piece, and then said: "Mr. Clown, you lose."
"Well, you lost?" The clown was stunned and didn't believe it. "Where did I lose? Now on the chessboard, you don't seem to have five pieces connected in a line anywhere."
"Indeed." Richard did not deny it and pointed somewhere with his hand, "But there are two intersecting three-son connections here. No matter which end you choose to block, I will form a five-son connection within three steps. .”
"This -" the clown protracted and looked at the position pointed by Richard seriously. He was not stupid. He understood the mystery after looking at it for a while and said calmly, "It seems that I did lose. I didn't expect it to be so simple. How could I lose the chess piece so suddenly and without any reason?"
"Actually, it has nothing to do with the rules of chess pieces. As long as you choose to play backgammon with me, you will definitely lose." Richard said, "This is more absolute than the fact that I will lose when I play clown chess with you."
"Impossible." The clown didn't believe it.
"Then we can play another game." Richard said.
"Okay." The clown agreed.
"Mr. Clown, are you going to take off your mask this time and leave first?" Richard asked, "I would like to remind you that if you don't take off your mask, you will never win."
"Passerby, don't speak so absolutely." The clown grabbed a white chess piece and said quietly, "Maybe after this game, you will have to think about how to take back your words."
"Okay then." Richard said no more, picked up the black chess piece and placed it on the chessboard.
The clown followed the move, but at the moment it fell, he paused, as if he realized something, and instead of placing it under Richard's chess piece as before, he placed it diagonally above Richard's chess piece.
Richard immediately followed up by placing the second piece. Although it seemed to be without thinking, the placement changed somewhat compared to the previous game. It landed diagonally below the first piece and aligned with the white piece at a point apart.
It seems that the three chess pieces still form a right triangle. Compared with the triangle on the first plate, the volume has doubled, like a larger moon.
The clown settled the chessboard for a long time, thinking carefully about possible subsequent moves, and then placed the second white stone. Richard immediately placed the third black stone.
The clown placed the third white stone, and Richard placed the fourth black stone.
…
The moves keep coming.
This time, it only took more than two minutes for Richard to announce the result: "Mr. Clown, you lost again." As he said this, he pointed to a corner of the chessboard.
The clown looked and immediately saw a triple cross similar to the previous one.
this!
The eyes under the clown mask widened slightly.
Richard didn't seem to notice, he neatly put away the chess pieces, raised his head and asked, "Are we going to play a third game?"
"Come!" the clown said solemnly.
"Okay." Richard said, making a quick move, and the clown followed suit.
"Pa bang bang..."
In the blink of an eye, it was two minutes later.
This time, before Richard could speak, the clown himself spoke up: "It seems like I lost again, right?"
"Yes." Richard answered, "Are you coming again?"
"Come on!" The clown's voice sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Okay." Richard nodded, cleared the chessboard, and made another move.
Two minutes later.
Clown: "Come again!"
Two minutes later.
Clown: "Come again!"
Two minutes later.
Clown: "Come again!"
The same process keeps repeating, as if there is some kind of chaos in time...
…