Yes, everyone was who played at IYT was affected (especially those who were unaware of the correct rules). I am not against the opening restriction, from what i hear it at least shrinks player 1's advantage. What i don't understand is why you are so opposed to the 13x13 game. Yes, i know, you have said it was not invented that way, and was meant to be played on a 19x19 board. Of all the games of Pente ever played, what percent do you think would have been any different if played on a 13x13 board instead (like the edge would have been in the way with the smaller board)? I would guess very few, and of those games, i would guess almost all of them were 2 very experienced players.
(hide) If you want to save on bandwidth you can reduce the amount of information that shows up in your pages in the Settings. Try changing the number of games in the main page and the number of messages per page. (pauloaguia) (show all tips)