With more people playing Stones and Rivers, one of the things that we realized that we need is a way for moves to be recorded so games can be replayed, studies, and puzzles can have succinct solutions. With that in mind, we have created a Notation system for Stones and Rivers to help communicate games and moves more effectively. For this we had to codify the board locations, the moves that can be made: flipping, rotating, moving, and pushing pieces.
The Board
For the Stones and Rivers Notation system the points on the board are indicated by the numbers 1-14 for the rows and the letters A-M for the Columns. A point on the board can be referenced from the column then the row starting with A1 in the bottom right corner for the Square player.
Above examples of A1 and C4 on the board
For the directions of the board, the rows are north/south (or just north) or east/west (or just east) for the columns.
Recording a Turn
In the new notation system, recording a turn is simple. The player that moved is the start of the notation as Sq for Square player or Cr for Circle player. For each move the location of the piece that is making the move is marked.
All of the moves follow this pattern:
Turn - Location, Action(, other Action Information)
Flip
A flip move is indicated by F and then the side the piece is flipped to S for stone, E for a left right river, or N for a up down river.
Flip to North River: Player - Location, FN
Flip to East River: Player - Location, FE
Flip to Stone: Player - Location, FS
Example:
Example: Cr - B4,FE
Circle Player flipped their stone at B4 to a East River at B4
Rotate
A Rotate move is indicated by R. But with Rotations it is important to note what the new orientation of the piece is this is signified by N for a vertical river or E for a horizontal river.
Rotate to North River: Player - Location, RN
Rotate to East River: Player - Location, RE
Sq - F7,RN
Square rotates its river at F7 from East to North
Move
Regular piece moves are designated by M in the Stones and Rivers Notation. The pattern for indicating movement is Location From, M for move, and Location To like so:
Turn - Location From, M, Location To
Example:
Cr - D7, M, H6
Circle moves from D7 to H6 using the river ad D6
Pushing
There are two kinds of pushing in Stones and Rivers, River Pushing and Stone Pushing. In both cases a P will designate the push but pushing with a River is PR and pushing with a stone is PS.
The pattern for indicating movement is Location From, PR for River Pushing, Location To, and Pushed Piece Location like so:
Turn - Location From, PR, Location To, Pushed piece Location
Stone Pushing is presented in a similar way:
Turn - Location From, PS, Location To, Pushed Location
Example: Cr - G8,PS,F5,F4
Circle Player moved their stone at G8 to F5, pushing the piece at F5 to F4
Final Notes
With the new notation we can start to record and recreate games, make puzzles, and have a shared way to communicate games. So feel free to use this in your games! If you have any thoughts on this system or questions let us know has well!