No Luck Required Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chinese Checkers

You have a home base that holds 15 pieces. You need to move those 15 pieces across the board to your opponent's base, which sits directly opposite yours, before they get their pieces to your base. Now there are two ways that you are able to move your pieces; (i) by "stepping" into one of the six holes that surrounds your piece or (ii) by "hopping" or "jumping", as described in the question above, over another piece to cover a greater distance.

The strategy that you would be looking to employ here is to set your pieces up in such a way to best use the hopping option and cover the greatest distance possible in a single move. A word of caution here - what may work really well for you can also be used against you. Sometimes you may need to stop short of covering the greatest possible distance because it may block you opponent and force them into taking a step.

A Massachusetts surgeon by the name of George Monks created the game of "Hamla" in the mid-1880s, though his version was set on a square board. In 1892 a German based group called Ravensburger produced the star shape design that is prevalent today. The name of "Chinese Checkers" evolved as a marketing ploy created by the Americans in the 1920s to cash in on the country's fascination with all things Asian at the time.

Answer: Both positions have their own advantages

"Crokinole" is played on a circular board that is 27 inches in diameter and the surface is generally of polished timber. There is a small pocket in the centre that is worth 20 points and then three rings spreading outward worth 15, 10 and 5 points respectively. This is all surrounded by a ditch and if your disc lands in here it is out of play and it will not score. To add a degree of difficulty there are eight small bollards/posts that guard the 15 point circle.

Each player has to shoot 12 discs across the polished surface to score points or knock their opponent's discs out of play. Players will take turns at this, with alternate shots, until all discs are played. The shooters have strict rules to comply with. They must only shoot from their designated quadrant. They must remain seated throughout the match. At best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) they need to have one posterior cheek on the chair at all times. And, no, they are not allowed to move their chair once play commences.

Whilst some players may have a preference in going first or last, neither will provide the player with a "distinct" advantage. Going first provides the player with an unimpeded chance at the 20 point pocket. After the first shot, defensive tactics by your opponent and board congestion make this progressively more difficult. On the other hand, going last allows you the opportunity to play a hammer shot to knock your opponent out of a high scoring position or, better still, off the board, without the possibility of a reprisal. Having said that it will still require the shots to be executed with a great deal of skill to take advantage of these opportunities.

Whilst the game is an examination of your dexterity it is also a test of strategy; playing a disc into your opponent's path to prevent an easy shot at the 20 points is a wise move. Leaving your disc hanging over the 20 point pocket is dangerous as it allows your challenger to bunt off your disc for an easy 20 points and knock yours out of play.

Answer: Yes

"Connect Four", played on a board with six horizontal rows and seven vertical columns, is a game that requires you to line up four discs of the same colour within the grid before your opponent does. This line of four can be created vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

There have been a number of strategies put forward over the years that claim success such as "playing the middle" or "block the opponent" however, whilst they're sound, they're not foolproof. They will only be able to take you so far and, if you're not careful, may even lead to a losing strategy. Two mathematicians, James D. Allen and Victor Allis, with the aid of computers managed to identify a perfect winning strategy. They did this independently and both arrived at the same result in 1988. From this I can give you both good news and bad news. The good news is that if you go first you are the only that can create this strategy. The bad news is that there are 4,531,985,219,092 possible configurations that can take place and you really have very little hope of remembering them. There are some game solver products on the market that can help you out with this but to me that's like taking all the fun out of the game. Should you wish to get deeper into the complexities of this game and its winning formula you can track down the books by the above mathematicians. Allen's book is "Expert Play in Connect Four" and he will use some wonderful terms such as "aji", "sente" and "tenuki". Allis comes across equally nerdy in his work "A Knowledge Based Approach to Connect Four" with new vocabulary such as "baseinverse" and "zugzwang".

Answer: Set

Every card that is dealt will have an object on it. Bearing in mind that no two cards are the same these objects will have four different attributes.
Number: This will be either 1,2 or 3
Shape: Diamond, Squiggle or Oval
Shading: Solid, Striped or Open
Colour: Red, Green or Purple

Before starting ensure that you understand what constitutes a set or you will struggle in the early going. Here's an example; one red empty oval, two red empty ovals and three red empty ovals. In these cards all the objects are alike and, therefore, represent a set. Alternatively; one purple striped diamond, two red empty ovals and three green shaded squiggles ALSO represents a set as the objects are totally different in every attribute.

A set of twelve cards is laid out on a table. If a player spots a set he calls it. Those three cards are removed from the table and handed to the caller. The three cards are replaced and the process continues until no more sets can be called. A further three cards are then added bringing the number on the table to fifteen. This continues until all 81 cards are played. The player with the most sets is the winner.

"Set" will test your memory and observation skills as well as working toward improving your recognition and deduction abilities. With no dice and no turns, there is no luck involved here. It is a game that matches skill against skill amongst those at the table. It is also a game that will test your power to develop a strategy and then improve on it. Some may choose to focus on large subsets e.g. all the ovals on the table and then seek consistencies. Some may follow all the cards in a specific order e.g. horizontally, while others will maintain an awareness of a number of cards that are one short of being a set and then focus closely on the cards as they're being dealt.

Answer: Icehouse

Looney's characters, within his stories, became obsessed with playing a pyramid style game that had been recovered from a long lost Martian race. Questions and reactions from readers inspired him to turn fiction into reality.

In a nutshell, to play the game each player will receive 15 Icehouse pyramids. They have distinctive colour schemes and each carry varying point levels. The full set is stored on each player's personal "stash pad" and when all players are ready to start a timer is pressed and play begins. In their own time each player then starts strategically placing their pieces on the table. These pieces will be designated as defenders (these are left standing upright) or attackers (lying down). The game finishes when the last piece is played or the timer, which is generally set for 10 to 15 minutes, runs out. Highest score wins.

In between all this there are a number of rules to adhere to, penalties that can be imposed and some unwritten etiquette to ensure that everyone plays fair. Only defenders can be attacked though attackers may be taken prisoner. A good attack would entail placement of your attacker as close to the defender as possible - ideally touching without crashing (you would need to read the rules) - as this will leave no space for another player to usurp your attack later. Other strategies involve building fortresses around defenders, setting up your opponents for a forced retreat and making deals with other players.

Whilst "Icehouse" was the original of Looney's pyramid games a whole range of others have been created using similar pieces. These include "Ice Towers", "Treehouse" and "Martian Chess". "Icehouse" won the Origins Award for Best Abstract Board Game of 2000.

Answer: Endeavor

In one of the most interesting games to have surfaced in recent years "Endeavor" sees you managing four economic centres - Industry, Culture, Finance and Politics - all for the quest of glory. In the course of events you will control cities, the connections to other cities and asset cards as you work to build capacity so that you can expand your empire, establish new trade routes and explore unchartered regions. At the end the player with the most glory wins.

The set-up of the Trade Tokens at the start of the game is the only random element in this game and is, possibly, the only area where an ounce of luck may exist. From this point forward there are no hidden elements and all the components upon which you can build your strategy are open before you. One of the beauties of this game is that there is no "definitive" strategy that is going to blitz everyone else on the table. The differences that will determine the winner and a player's ability to move forward will be subtle. Your ability to scheme and interact with other players is vital. You need to constantly question what your opponents are up to, how can you create scenarios that will thwart their plans, if you take the approach to wipe them out what are the consequences for you. You will discover very quickly that any strategy you employ to create benefits for yourself will also come with its own set of consequences.

Answer: False

Much like chess you have your army arrayed in front of you and your ultimate goal is to capture your opponent's most important piece. In chess this is the king, in "Stratego" it is the flag. However, unlike chess, the identity of your pieces remains hidden. Whilst your opponent will know where you have pieces set out they will have no idea as to their identity, what movements they can make or damage they can create. The only time the piece is revealed is when two pieces occupy the same square. At this point both are revealed and the weaker piece is removed from the board. Consequently, if you wish to succeed in this game you will need to develop a range of strategies to (i) locate your opponent's flag and (ii) capture that flag.

Along the way you set up plans and traps to force or deceive your opponent into revealing their pieces, to capture those pieces and, in the process, make capturing their flag that much easier. This could include planting a bit of disinformation. For example, say your opponent wins a battle and, in the course of doing so, he's revealed his Marshall, a powerful piece that can only be captured by a Spy. In response you immediately move a lowly piece in your back row, planting the seed that you are mobilising your spy. The spy may be well away from there and is therefore able to attack the Marshall from an unexpected direction.

Answer: To break a code

"Mastermind", a two player board game, should not be confused with the British television series, which ran from 1972 to 1997, that involved answering a series of challenging questions.

One of the two players is a code-maker, who creates a secret cipher that the code-breaker is required to solve in as few guesses as possible. Generally a limit of 12 guesses is allowed. The code is an ordered sequence of four colours that remain hidden from the solver. There are six colours for coder to choose from. After each guess there is feedback provided to the breaker on their success. The feedback is vital as from this the breaker is able to use logic and deduction to solve the riddle.

Think it's easy? There are 1,296 possible solutions here (6 colours x 6 x 6 x 6). Whilst the breaker has 12 attempts to solve this it is possible to identify the code, logically, within five guesses, however, the algorithm to achieve this would require you to use a computer to be successful. That said there are solid strategies that you can follow to improve your chances of success. In developing these strategies bear the following in mind:
- over interpretation of data can lead to false conclusions
- totally striking out on your first guess may be deflating but it goes further toward eliminating incorrect options than a guess that is partly correct. In other words, negative data can be valuable
- good strategy design will save you time in the long run.

Answer: Blokus

The game is a contest between four players using 84 geometric shapes on a 400 square board. You receive 21 different shaped pieces called polyominos and they're all the same colour. Your aim is to get all of your 21 pieces onto the board. You're thinking "that's easy, what's the catch"? Your first task is to choose a corner into which you place your first piece. You and your opponents will do this in turns. Then you place your next piece on the board but the corner of the next piece must touch the corner of any other piece you have on the board. At this stage there is only one there so the choice is easy. That's the first catch. The next one is that none of your pieces can touch the sides of any of your other pieces - only the corners. And that's where your headaches begin. That doesn't mention that your opponents will also try and limit the number of your options with the pieces that they put down. The game ends when either one person places all 21 pieces on the board legally or, most likely, no one is able to make any further legal moves.

A Frenchman by the name of Bernard Tavitian, who possessed a degree in engineering, had completed a master's in mathematics and held a doctorate in biophysics, came up with the concept. Cleverly designed, there are no dice to roll and no cards to draw, this is purely a brain game. Mensa have marked it as a "select" game which means that is considered original, challenging and well designed. Published articles have indicated that it helps develop geometric and spatial reasoning among maths students. The financial website "The Motley Fool" has suggested that they type of strategies you employ (attacking aggressively or building patiently) can teach you the skills you need to plan ahead and how best to use the knowledge of the assets you have at your fingertips, which are valuable tools in developing long term financial plans and investment strategies.

Answer: The corners

"Othello" is played with 64 two sided discs. One side is "light", the other is "dark". At the start of the game you have control of 32 discs of one shade and your opponent has the flip side of the rest. One of your aims in the game is to legally place your pieces on the board so that they sit at either end of a line of the opposite colour discs. All those in between your two will then be "flipped" so that the entire line is now yours. At the end of the game the player with the most discs in their shade is declared the winner.

That may be a very simplistic explanation, the game is a bit more complex than that, but it does open the door to explain some strategy at a very basic level. If you are able to "win" a corner you will gain a decided advantage. In the corner no disc can get behind you, which means it will never be flipped. By using this as a base you can gradually expand from that corner flipping your opponent's pieces to your shade. Whilst winning the corner is a great strategy it should not be the "be all and end all" of your plans. It is possible (difficult, but possible) for your opponent to turn your win of the first corner to their advantage. That, however, is a much more detailed strategy to expand on here. The other options mentioned above are not strong strategies as your opponents are able to get either side of you and flip to their advantage.