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There have been several recent edits of this page, revolving around the issue of whether or not a pass is considered a type of play. I'd like to have some discussion here before further editing the main page, in the hope of avoiding an edit war.
For convenience, I'll quote here from the different versions of the page so far.
Version 2:
move and play both describe a player's turn
each turn a player may:
Version 3:
Move and play both describe a player's action at her turn. Generally a pass is not considered a play, but in some rules, such as Ing rules, it is.
At each turn a player may:
Version 5:
Play refers to either a single move or the overall sequence or course of a player's moves.
Version 6:
Play refers to either a single move or the overall sequence or course of a player's moves. Depending upon the rule set, a pass may be a play.
Version 8:
Play refers to one of the following:
Version 9:
Play refers to one of the following:
Version 10:
Play refers to one of the following:
It seems clear to me that different people do use the word play in different senses, therefore it's important that this page mentions the ambiguity. Therefore I think that versions 5 and 10 are insufficient.
On the other hand, there is the issue of duplication between the pages for play and move. I think it's desirable that play should be as short as possible (while still being clear) and that further details should be at move or rule sets. From this point of view version 8, while technically correct, seems a little too verbose.
My favourite of the above versions is number 6. It makes it clear that play can sometimes refer to a pass, and provides links that the reader can follow for more information.
Comments please?
Version 8 is the only factually correct version. Therfore I had created that version. If somebody does not believe that version, he should read dozens of thousands of old rec.games.go articles and hundreds of books. Since the change from ambiguous usage to consistent usage took place on rec.games.go, verification cannot avoid study of old rec.games.go articles. BTW, in the age of ambiguity, I (and some others) had been using "move" for what now is "play" in rules parlance and vice versa. Rules freaks from the USA and Great Britain convinced me to swap usage of the two words. So since about the late 90ies usage among rules freaks is pretty consistent. Authors of go books are not always aware of these intricacies yet and some carelessly continue to say Black to Play when they should say Black to Move. (In problem books it hardly matters because most problem books are about middle game and only 1 of 100,000 problems has pass as the correct answer...)
Version 8 refers to "common usage in rules parlance". I'm happy to trust that Robert is correct on this point. However, common usage in rules parlance and common usage in go clubs may be two different things, and I think it's appropriate for SL to represent both points of view.
In particular, the use of the word "carelessly" indicates a point of view that is likely to cause controversy. I'm keen to avoid such controversy. A statement that "some books say Black to play where they mean Black to move" conveys the same factual information while being less likely to cause offence.
I think common usage in go clubs is not the issue here, since in clubs I come we do not talk about play, in the sense that it refers to a board play. In go clubs you would simply talk about a "move".
I do think there is room at SL to discuss some definitions and findings of rules theory and research. And I think the term play is an important one to define well.
However, it may be a good idea to add a header to distinguish between a Game-theorethical meaning and a more general usage of the word. Much like has been done on the color page. In that way we can avoid such discussions in the future and at the same time benefit from Robert Jasiek's expertise.
Willemien my two pence. I agree with xela Sensei library is not to give definitions what the term means. but to describe how the term is used. (and describe the pitfalls of it.)
Play and Move is used by different people in different ways. (and maybe even sometimes people changes in what they mean)
IMHO in sensei's library we can only decribe the different uses and warn for the different meanings and suggest always to think that either term can include a passes. and Writers to say explicitly what you mean.
Suggesting that the other description is wrong or mistaken is being pretentious.
would be nice if in Sensei's library the terms were used in only one way but even this is impossible.
I did a search for both terms and play gives 7626 results found (estimated) move gives 4769 results found (estimated)
and (many?) more than 500 pages contains both words.
It is almost sure that at some pages the meaning is wrong...