Adding 14x14 to LG

Is there any interest in adding 14x14? MSO used 14x14 this year, as well as Mochalunt. BGA arena is using 14x14 for this season. It seems to be getting a lot of use.

The previous thread for 15x15

My preference would be for a larger board, say size 25 or 27. KataHex is already making 13x13 feel quite small and tactical - it seems like opening preparation with the bot can go a long way. (I'm biased though, I hope that people will eventually choose sizes larger than size 13 or 14 as the "default" or "standard" size, just as size 11 appeared to be the standard a couple decades ago.)

I would really like to have an option with an even field size.
As for me, it is not so important what specific size (may be 12, may be 14), the main thing is that it should be even.

There's always a balance when it comes to having more variants. On one hand, people like more options, but on the other, more variants dilutes the player base and makes it more difficult to get matches. I already participate in the 13 and 14 ladders, I don't think I'd be able to participate in another without having too many games.

Given that we have 13 and 15 already, I don't think an "intermediate" size would add much. When we requested size 15, there was a large gap between 13 and 19, so 15 filled the niche for those who felt 13 was too small and 19 was too large. I don't see 14 filling such a niche.

Even vs odd comes up a lot but I've never personally noticed much difference between them, aside from the fact that you're playing on a different size.

I think 15 and then 19 are fine, we don't need 14 right now imo

Perhaps we can satisfy both the 13x13 and 14x14 crowd and combine them into 13.5x13.5 Hex. Fractional board sizes open up a lot of potential for new kinds of anguish, which is the reason I play so many games I'm bad at in the first place.

@Oakmoss :)

I give my full support to 12.5x12.5

I love 14x14 but the 15x15 pretty much fills that rough "intermediate" niche here. I think BGA pushing for 14x14 will be a good thing, but we'll get a sense of it from there after awhile and see no need to mimic it for now

Maybe some random shapes?

handicap would be interesting

If there are new proposals, then what about shapes where a draw is possible?

Draws are impossible, shape doesn't matter.

Field 2x2 with eliminated cell b2.
Black a1, white a2, black b1 - draw.

But then white wins

You have to modify for who belongs edges after removing b2 cell.

As long as we assume shape has something like circuit, red and blue parts are split (like in hex - top, left, bottom, right, all corners belongs for both colours), it's just maths theorem, equivalent to Brouwer fixed-point theorem.

I'd like to see higher dimensional hex instead of 14x14 or fractional boards...

brzytwa, you are right, the corners belong to both colors.
Therefore, after removing the corner, there is no hex with a boundary between the lower black side and the right white side.
Now the border will be between the cells. I.e. between b1 and a2.
Similarly, for size 3x3, after removing c3, the border will be between c2 and b3.
And so on...

(Two-dimensional) hex has no draws if no more than three edges meet in one point. If we remove a cell in the way Ok22 means, then in the bottom right, four edges meet in one point.

That old thread on higher dimensional Hex
Alexander duality, right, I hope I'll get that far in math, one day.

Also, I'd like to see hex of fractional dimension. Maybe.

I don't understand how you colour the edges.

Without an edge it could be like this, and draws are impossible. Remember, that you have to keep 4 "corners", which are hexes belongs to both sides.

Without a corner*

I mean like this. Yes, there is no lower right corner.

If you colour like this, a2 is connected with left white, and b1 is connected with bottom black. If not, it's not satisfying my assumptions.

a2 is connected with right white*

Yes, it doesn't satisfy your assumptions. I didn't mean to say it contradicts what you said.

If there are no "+" shapes, there are no draws. But if there are "+" shapes, where the diagonals are not connected, then there are draws. I think we all agree.

This is what I mean with "+" shape. Four edges meet in one point.

[In hindsight I think it's quite confusing that I link the higher dimension thread and say "Alexander duality". This wasn't really meant as a continuation of my first two sentences, it was supposed to be a new subject -- now replying to lazyplayer. I'm just in awe of Ignatius J Reilly's exposition in that thread, which makes me want to know about "Alexander duality" and "standard homological arguments." And I had misremembered it as "Poincaré duality."]

Doesn't look like any new hex sizes are going to be added here, so for those interested, Abstract Play has correspondence 14x14 hex in a reoccurring tournament style https://play.abstractplay.com/tournaments/hex