Havannah

   

Rules

Havannah is a connection game. It is similar to the game Hex, however the winning condition is different.

The game starts on an empty board. Players move in turn to place one stone on an empty cell.

The game is won by the player who is able complete one of the following connections with his stones:

  • a ring or
  • a bridge or
  • a fork.
  • A ring is a chain of stones around at least one cell (empty or not does not matter).
  • A bridge is a chain of stones linking 2 corners.
  • A fork is a chain linking 3 sides (corners do not belong to sides).

http://www.mindsports.net/Arena/Havannah/pics/HavannahBoard.GIF


Playing Sites (mindsports.net)

This is the official site. It supports only turn based (=offline) play.

Spectators:

Sample game:

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/788/havannah1ap.png


Playing Site 2 (HTWK Leipzig; an university project)

This is simple java applet, supporting live playing.

  • the server seems to be offline, currently
  • new URL: [ext] http://141.57.11.163/havannah/ A simple java applet to play against each other, and a simple computer opponent
    • Port 1962 for very simple computer opponent,
    • Port 1964 size 4,
    • Port 1966 size 6,
    • Port 1970 size 10 (full size)
  • Both players have to press "Start Game" about at the same time (during 60 seconds). Wait a short moment. If it doesn't work reload the page containing the applet within the browser!
  • To chat while playing, you can use the public chat on [ext] http://www.mindsports.net
  • Download source (applet and server):
    • cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@141.57.11.163:/var/lib/cvs/havannah checkout havannah

Computer Opponents for Havannah

  • hav-ai1, written in Java, is HavannahGui?'s creator's 2nd try. It is still simple and has a few things missing (download it from HavannahGui?'s page).

The Challenge

"The inventor has, in the summer 2002 issue of Abstract Games, put a $1000 prize money on a program that can beat him one out of ten games within the next decade."


Havannah Gui

  • Havannah Gui (hgui): An attempt of a GUI for Havannah, based on GoGui (written in Java)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2972/hguijan20064mj.png


On Strategy, some observations

  • Some tactical structures are similar to hex.
  • The strategic goal is connecting three sides, the other "goals" of connecting 2 corners or making a ring often exist only as tactical threats.
  • a "virtual" connection in the last phase of the game, in contrast to hex, is only winning, if the opponent is not able to complete a connection faster.
  • Hex has the nice (mathematical) property, that in a certain board state, at most one player can have a winning connection; in Havannah both players could have a winning connection (if the game was not over, before, of course)


See also

Other Games Considered Unprogrammable
Connecting Techniques (in Go)
Connection Games


This is a copy of the living page "Havannah" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2007 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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