Opportunity Knocks_1

[pe'rigin]

Folks,

This is a game of strategy, cunning, anticipation and being down right devious, Dafi, I have great expectations from you with this game.

We have 100 squares covering a picture of a bird; this bird does cover a number of squares. Finding the bird will be no problem for you, (but, judging by your last efforts with the BHG, I have my doubts). I am not trying to hide this bird.

You can open a maximum of three squares to guess the identity of this bird,

BUT, YOU CANNOT OPEN A SQUARE THEN GUESS; UNTIL AT LEAST THREE OTHER PEOPLE HAVE EITHER OPENED A SQUARE OR HAD A GUESS.

OPENING SQUARES GIVES YOU THE RIGHT FOR ONE GUESS ONLY.

THE NUMBER OF SQUARE OPENINGS FOR GUESSING IS NOT ACCUMATIVE.

TO HAVE MORE GUESSES YOU MUST OPEN AT LEAST ONE SQUARE BEFOREHAND.

This is a game of careful anticipation, open too many squares and your opponents has a chance to correctly guess the bird. Where you open the squares will depend on your winning strategy. Open too many of the bird squares and you could give its identity away.

THERE ARE A LIMITED NUMBER OF SQUARES. THE TIMING OF YOUR SQUARE OPENING WILL BE CRITICAL. OPEN TOO MANY, WILL GIVE OTHERS A CHANCE. REMEMBER YOU STILL HAVE TO WAIT 3 TURNS BEFORE GUESSING.

How you play this games depends on you, the bird will not give anybody any problems, even those in the states, João might struggle, as well as Ayasuda in California, but I’m guessing they will both know this bird.

I will revue every 24hrs to give a fair timescale. I will not comment on who’s wrong in guessing or if there was a break in the rules, only the winner will be announced.

Those of a faint heart should not play this game.

The bird was photographed in Hampshire at Titchfield Haven Reserve, (Teamsaint will know it well). It is a fresh water river, which runs into the sea creating brackish reedbeds, lagoons and water meadows.

[dave123]

definately ahead banging game and thats just reading the rules?

[dave123]

see i even forgot to guess so i'll have g8 g9 and h8 is that ok pe'rigin

[dafi]

ok then im not realy shure whats going on But i will try C3

[Lisa W]

Ok, let's see if I've read the rules correctly, please open H3.

[pe'rigin]

Dave,

That's OK, all that I would say folks is, the more squares you open the more I will reveal of the picture. The object would be to locate the bird then make other people open squares.

Dave, if you want to keep with having these three then I will forward them through.

By selecting squares, Dave has an accumative of one guess, but he must wait until I revue and open the squares chosen to see.

You'll get the hang of it.

No more comments.


P

[dave123]

looks like i've read the rules wrong thought we had 3 guesses oh well i''ll go h8 then

[Sue Wright]

We must be mad I'm sure, but I'd just as well have a go even if I'm not at all sure of the rules.

C8 then please Pe'rigin

[jocateme]

P, you're the man! Won't guess here, though. My knowledge about European birds is disgraceful.

[dave123]

can i guess yet?

[pe'rigin]

Morning All,


Confused, I bet.

Let’s try and unravel this mist of confusing.

It sounds complicated, it’s not.

This game differs from Battleships, by the simple fact that you don’t really want to reveal the bird’s identity until the last minute. It's the opposite.

The object of this game is to out manoeuvre the opposition and eliminate them from guessing.

You achieve this, by making them have an incorrect guess or limit the number of squares.

So let’s go through this.

Opening Round
By opening a square, you are eligible to play the next round (Round 1).

Round one
You have two choices, either guess or opening another square to play Round 2.

Guessing
You can guess, if correct you win…. simple.

If you are incorrect, then in Round 2, you must open a square to be edible to guess in Round 3

Square opening
Square opening gets you into the game and next round, you can play safe and open squares well away from the bird. Makes sense, it assures that it gets you into the next round.

You can be aggressive and open the three squares forcing down the number of available squares and opponents. But remember you have a three-turn rule before you guess. The ojject will be to force your opponents out of the being able to guess.

OK,

Let’s use this game as a run through. There will be no tricks with this game the bird is there for all to see.

Any body wishing to join the game must register by opening a square.

You cannot duplicate the squares, I’ll leave you all to administer this rule amongst yourselves.

ROUND 1

Dave you can either guess or open a square.

Dafi, you must wait one play by another person, before guessing.

Lisa, two plays.

Sue three plays.
Dave going with your original squares.
João, these birds will be well known, no tricks at all.

See how you all go.

THIS IS ROUND 1

[Popeye]

Please open G4

[dave123]

i'll open a square e5

[dafi]

OK i will have A1

[Lisa W]

And I will have A9 & A10, please, pe'rigin.

[jocateme]

Then I'll take part of it, although I'm not too confident. B3, please.

[pe'rigin]

THIS IS ROUND 2





Well we are getting there.

Popeye
Dave
Dafi
Lisa
João



You have all progressed into Round 2.

You can either have a guess (the bird is partly exposed)

Lisa, Dafi and João, if guessing you must wait on the three turn rule, you can open a square, but not guess within 3 other plays by other people.

Or if you are not sure on its identity, play for Round 3, by opening a square or squares.

João, it makes sense to play, even if you don't intend to guess, because if you use up your max square opening of three squares, you will condense the play for those intending to guess this birds identity.

I am certain that you will get this bird, it is worldwide.

[dave123]

i guess a wren?

[Popeye]

I would like h5 now please

[Lisa W]

I'm sticking to my corner - A10 please.

[ayasuda]

Hi. I think I have the hang of it. F6

[jocateme]

C1 please, P.

[pe'rigin]

Morning all,

THIS IS ROUND 3

Sorry Dave, not Wren. You'll need to open a square to guess in round 4.

Everyone else you can guess or square open, remember you can open three squares at a time.

We'll get there.

The bird is more open now, does it give enough image to make a successful identity?

P

[dafi]

live dangoursly lets have a look at F1 F2 G1.

Why is the grid diffrent. wheres my shot on a1?

[Popeye]

I'm not sure if I can take a guess yet, I have opened 2 boxes but would say Green Sandpiper

[pe'rigin]

CORRECTIONS ROUND 3

Sorry Dafi,

A1 there now. Bit of trouble with layers in photoshop.

Popeye, yes you can guess.

Basically you open square(s) in one round to have the opportunity to guess in the next, it is the only fair way I could come with which gives an equal opportunity for all to guess, without someone monopolising the game.

[dave123]

j1 j2 j3 this time

[ayasuda]

Good morning everyone. I'm going to guess today. Is it the Common Snipe.

[jocateme]

I"ll open J8, J9 and J10.
Just didn't undertand one thing: Doesn't matter if I open one, two or three squares, I'll be able to guess in the next round?

[Sue Wright]

Hi Pe'rigin,

I've not been too well over the last couple of days, am I still allowed to continue? IF so, then I'll open I3 J5, J6. If not, no worries.

Sue.

[pe'rigin]

Morning All,


Sue, I hope you're getting better.

Popeye, well done.

I have to wait 24 hours before announcing to give everybody a equal chance.


THIS IS ROUND 4


As you can see, the bird is never going to be hidden away or positioned to mislead. They will always be recognisable both sides of the Atlantic. At a fairly large size.


If we could get enough players we could make this a very competitive game, where you are trying to force one another out of the game by restricting the available squares. In theory we could have only 30 plays.

[Lisa W]

I'm ready for another try!

[ayasuda]

Thanks Pe'regrin for mentioning the location of this photo, this gave me a fighting chance to guess the mystery bird. From what I could see Tichfield Haven is a lovely reserve, not unlike our California refuges.

[pe'rigin]

Ayasuda, Lisa,

Well have another go next week. I will always tell the location and habitat.

The birds will be easily reconisable, I thought that it would be fun to have a competition where you are trying to eliminate one another, a bit of banter over the network as someone stops you from guessing correctly. To be honest the bird is secondary to the competition as you'll all get them standing on your heads in reality.

Yep, Titchfield Haven is a nice place, on the day I took the GS, I think I would rather have been in sunny California, anywhere warm.

P

[ayasuda]

Great! I'll get into the mood by watching a few episodes of "Survivor" on the television.
I noticed Teamsaint was absent from this game. Is he plotting a strategy for the next one.

[jocateme]

Liked it very much! I'm up for another one. Congrats, Popeye!

[Popeye]

Thanks, I'm sure a few others would have been ready with the correct answer. I look forward to the next one.

[Sue Wright]

Congratulations Popeye! Must be that spinach!

I'll be willing to have another go too please P

Sue. Much better thank you.

[birderbf]

Hmmm I'm still a little unclear on when you can guess and how many squares a piece, but I'll be watching this one now.