CONTENTS

Preface 1
Stratego: a Brief Introduction 2
The International Stratego Community and I.S.F. 3
Setup and Time Schedule of the 1999 Championships: Individual Tournaments 4
Setup and Time Schedule of the 1999 Championships: National Team Tournament 4
Tournament Rules 5
Use of Digital Clocks 7
Stratego Original Game Rules 8
Prizes 11
For Beginners: Some Hints on Deployment and Strategy 12
Reminder: World Championships Cheques 13

PREFACE

Dear Stratego enthusiasts, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, August 1999

The International Stratego Foundation is delighted to welcome you at the Stratego World Championships 1999. As usual in the young but dynamic world of Stratego, the international Stratego landscape has developed remarkably over the last year. National Stratego leagues are being established in Holland, Germany and Belgium, many clubs and an international Stratego Team Competition have been set up, and the number of tournaments and players has risen spectacularly. And last but not least: the former International Stratego Championships Foundation (I.S.K) is being transformed into the International Stratego Foundation (I.S.F.), a truly international arena in which the national Stratego leagues will participate and cooperate.

What has not changed is our dedication to make these Third Stratego World Championships as successful as the previous events in 1997 and 1998. After all, this is a good opportunity for showing other mind sports that Stratego should be taken serious, that we are slowly moving towards 'mind sports adulthood' and that we are here to stay! However, these World Championships are not for PR or for the glory of I.S.F. but for you, the players of Stratego. The best compliment we can get is not: being referred to as 'Best organized tournament of the Mind Sports Olympiad' (a compliment we got in the past), but: the participants having a nice time!

And we are confident you will have a nice time indeed! The Mind Sports Olympiad will again guarantee a pleasant international setting, the broadening international base of Stratego will guarantee exciting matches, while the inter-cultural dimension of the event tends to encourage a very pleasant 'apres-Stratego'! However, the success of these World Championships is also in your hands. Let us all work together towards a Championships in the true Olympic tradition, in which participating is more important than winning, and in which 'fanaticism' and excitement are balanced with fair play, enjoyment and inter-cultural exchange!

Let me conclude by expressing our gratitude towards our sponsor JUMBO (the distributor of Stratego), towards the organization of the Mind Sports Olympiad, and towards our own volunteers (both in preparation and execution of this event). Without them, these Stratego World Championships 1999 would not have been possible.

Wishing all participants a wonderful time, exciting matches and a lot of success,

Maarten van ter Beek
secretary of the International Stratego Foundation

STRATEGO : A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

As with many mind games, Stratego may well be oriental in origin. Modern day Stratego probably derives from a late 19th century French game called L'Attaque, which in turn probably copied many features from an ancient East Asian game referred to as 'The Jungle Game'. Since the early 1950's, the commercial rights are with Koninklijke Hausemann en H”tte N.V. (JUMBO) in Amsterdam, Holland.

Stratego is a 2-player mind sport played on a 10x10 square board, which represents a battlefield (including two 2x2 lake barriers) for two opposing armies. These (red and blue) armies are each made up of 40 pieces: 33 moving pieces of different ranks (from the lowest ranked spy to the highest ranked marshal), and 7 static pieces (6 bombs and the most important piece, the flag). With a few exceptions, the game is based on hierarchical capture and single-step orthogonal movement. Objective of the game is to capture the opponent's flag, while of course defending your own flag.

Unlike 'full information' mind games like chess, in Stratego the strengths of the pieces is concealed, and the deployment of troops at the start of the game is therefore secret. As the ranks of pieces engaging in actual battle are disclosed, slowly the battle order and the strategy of the two opponents are disclosed. This makes Stratego a very dynamic mind sport based on information gathering, statistics and risk-minimization. Having analytical, tactical and memory skill requirements in common, this 'incomplete information' element is what distinguishes Stratego from many other mind sports, as it results in a strong psychological element of deceit and surprise.

THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGO COMMUNITY AND I.S.F.

Starting with a small Stratego Championship in Holland in 1991 Stratego has come a long way, with Stratego tournaments and clubs now set up all over Holland, Germany and Belgium. Up to 1997, all tournaments were organized by the International Stratego Championships Foundation, which was recently split up into a Dutch Stratego league (SBN), a German Stratego league (StraDeV) and in the near future also a Belgian Stratego league. These national Stratego leagues participate and coordinate in the International Stratego Foundation (in short: I.S.F.), based in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The aim of I.S.F. and it's participating organizations is to popularize Stratego as a mind sport worldwide. The national leagues obviously focus on their respective countries, while I.S.F. organizes the prestigious 'Masters of Stratego', the World Stratego Championships, international matches and the international Stratego Team Competition, and supports initiatives in not yet participating countries. In 1998 in total 1200 players participated in Stratego events, and we expect this number to grow to 1500 in 1999.

Although all these activities partly rely on support from JUMBO (the distributer of Stratego) and others sponsors, I.S.F. and its participating members are strictly independent, founded on the enthusiasm of many volunteers in Holland, Germany and Belgium..

If you would like to receive more information on Stratego tournaments in Holland, Germany or Belgium, please contact one of the following organizations:

I.S.F. (International Stratego Foundation)
P.O. Box 31340
6503 CH Nijmegen
the Netherlands
secretary: Maarten van ter Beek
Tel/fax: 0031-24-3564247
Fax: 0031 842 115935
E-mail: m.vanterbeek@psych.kun.nl
Internet: http://www.stratego.nl/

SBN (Dutch Stratego league)
P.O.Box 31340
6503 CH Nijmegen
the Netherlands
secretary: Marcel Loomans
Tel: 0031-40-2424540
E-mail: ISK_Stratego@hotmail.com

StraDeV (German Stratego league)
secretary: Matthias Ruch
Kanalstrasse 11
44787 Bochum
Germany
Tel: 0049-234-13852
E-mail: m.ruch@excite.com

Belgian Stratego league
chairman: Steven Meyer
Naamsestraat 83
3000 Leuven
Belgium
Tel: 0032-16-202995
E-mail: steven.meyer@skynet.be

Please also contact us if you are interested to get involved in the organization of Stratego tournaments in your country. Either in one of our 'established' countries Holland, Belgium or Germany, or in 'new' countries like Britain, France, Spain or......?

SETUP AND TIME SCHEDULE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Stratego World Championships consist of three separate tournaments: the Individual Tournaments for junior players and for adult players, and the National Team Tournament.

Setup of the Individual Tournaments (juniors and adults)

• These tournaments each consists of 9 rounds played in 3 sessions (see time schedule). Each match lasts a maximum of 75 minutes, including a maximum of 10 minutes for deploying the pieces.
• Both tournaments are played according to the well-known 'Swiss-system' (see page 5).
• All matches are played with digital clocks (see page 7).

Setup of the National Team Tournament

• The best 4 players of each country in the adult Individual Tournament will qualify for the National Team Tournament. If necessary, teams are completed with junior players.
• The National Team Tournament will be held during the morning session (session 4) on August 28, starting at 10.00.
• The number and duration of rounds depends on the number of teams. Details will be provided well in advance, in the course of the Individual Tournaments.
• The teams will play a full competition, with individual opponents matched randomly.
• All matches are played with digital clocks (see page 7).

Time Schedule

August 26:

August 27:

August 28:

TOURNAMENT RULES

Swiss System

The Individual Tournament will be played according to the well-known 'Swiss System'. This means that every player plays the same number of matches. After every round a ranking of all players is made according to scores up to that moment. The computer program uses this ranking to match players for the next round. In this way, players will meet opponents who have more or less performed at the same level during the previous rounds. This results in a tournament which is interesting for everybody: whether you are in the top or in the bottom of the ranking, you will meet opponents of your own level.

The ranking used for the Swiss System is made according to the following criteria:

• 1. Score: Sum of points scored against opponents.
• 2. 'Median-Bucholtz': Sum of the scores of all your opponents up to then, minus the scores of the highest and the lowest opponent.
• 3. 'Bucholtz': Sum of scores of all your opponents up to then.

Both 'Median-Bucholtz' and 'Bucholtz' are so called 'resistance points', indicating the strength of your opponents.

REMARK: All matches played in 'Swiss System' tournaments count for the International Stratego Ranking.

Scores

To encourage dynamic playing and risk taking, and to discourage draws, the scoring at I.S.K. tournaments is as follows:
LOSS = 0 points
DRAW = 1 points
WIN = 6 points
BYE (NO OPPONENT) = 6 points
For the definitions of winning, draw and loss: see page 9.

Junior versus Adult Players

Players are considered 'Juniors' if they were born after the January 1, 1985. In principle junior and adult players will play separate Individual Tournaments. However, I.S.F. reserves the right to join juniors and adults in one pool if the participation numbers do so require. In that case, junior players will also play against adult players, but will compete for separate prizes.
The National Team Tournament is meant for the best 4 adult players of each country, but it is possible that junior players will be invited to complete teams.

Use of Score-Sheets

For the registration and processing of the results in the computer, small score-slips are used. They can be found at every game set. Both players are expected to fill out and sign this sheet together after the match, after which the match winner should return it as quickly as possible to the computer table.
Please CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK what you write on this form. As the matching for the next round is based on the scores of previous rounds, incorrect slips cause complete chaos in the tournament if they are not discovered in time!!!

After the Match...

It is good practice at I.S.K. Stratego tournaments to allow players to evaluate their match together at their board after completion of the match. After all, Discuss ing the decisions made during the match is the best way to build up more knowledge on and insight in the 'best game in the world'. However, it should be obvious that this should be done VERY QUIETLY, and only for a LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME. Moreover, we expect participants to leave the playing area at request of the arbiter without discussion.
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN FOR PLAYERS TO BE SPECTATORS AT OTHER MATCHES AFTER COMPLETION OF THEIR OWN MATCH!!! As Stratego is a game of information, spying on strategies and deployments of potential opponents (whether it is in this or future tournaments) is considered unfair sports. Therefore participants are expected to leave the playing area after completion (and evaluation) of their own match.

No Smoking

Smoking, whether out of habit or intended to intimidate opponents, is strictly forbidden in the playing area of the Stratego tournament.

Notes

Making notes during a match is not allowed.

USE OF DIGITAL CLOCKS

For all matches, both in the Individual Tournaments and in the National Team Tournament, digital clocks will be used. The objective of using clocks is to rule out the possibility of players using an extremely disproportional amount of time. However, it is definitely not meant to make the time factor as important as it is in for instance chess.

In the clock system used in Stratego tournaments (Bronstein system), every player gets 5 seconds of 'free time' per move. Only if he exceeds those 5 seconds when thinking about his next move, the excess time is subtracted from his 'reserve time'. This reserve time depends on the duration of the rounds. In the Individual Tournament with its 75 minute rounds, the amount of 'reserve time' will be 15 minutes for each player. Only when a player uses his entire 'reserve time', a match is lost by clock. In practice, the 5 'free seconds' for the next turn are added to the 'reserve time' when tapping the clock after finishing a turn. This is also why at the start of the match the clock displays 15:05 for each player.

Because of the Bronstein system, players do not have to feel rushed. In most cases, matches are not decided by the clock. Even with the clock, matches sometimes still end in a draw after 75 minutes because neither of the players used his or her 'reserve time' completely. In practice, 5 seconds per move is plenty of time: tapping the clock fast and nervously is absolutely not necessary. Unfortunately, experience shows that most of you will only be convinced of this after one or two rounds!

Some Important Remarks:

• The clocks will be set by the arbiters prior to the match. However, players should check that both sides of the clock display 15:05 at the start of the match. If not: call the arbiter.
• If a participant does not show up, the clock will be started after 10 minutes. If he or she does not arrive within 15 minutes after that, his or her reserve time will be used up, and this player will have lost the match.
• THE CLOCK SHOULD BE TAPPED WITH THE SAME HAND USED FOR MAKING THE MOVE ON THE BOARD!! Therefore, the players should decide before the match begins on which side of the board to put the clock. If necessary through lottery.
• At the beginning of the game the top button of the clock should be directed upward for the person playing RED.
• When ready to start the game, press the start/stop button at the front of the clock. The clock will now start counting down for the person playing red.
• WHEN ASKING FOR ARBITRATION, MAKE SURE THE CLOCK IS STOPPED BY MEANS OF THE START/STOP BUTTON !!!
• As many players are not yet used to using clocks, it will be considered unfair sports not to notify your opponent that he has forgotten to tap the clock. If acknowledged by the arbiter, disqualification and loss of that round will be the result. Also, the arbiter can remind a player that he or she has forgotten to tap the clock.

STRATEGO ORIGINAL GAME RULES

Standard Stratego Original Game Rules + Extensions

In principle the Stratego World Championships are played according to the (most recent version of the) standard game rules of JUMBO Stratego Original, of which the most important elements are summarized below. In addition, to enable the organization of Stratego tournaments, I.S.F. has filled in a few blanc spots, and extended or explained some of the standard rules in more detail.

Preparation and Playing Fundamentals

1. Decide by lottery who is playing which colour. (Red is to start the game later on.)
2. Place the screen across the two central ranks, preventing the players from seeing each other's deployment.
3. Set up the pieces on the four rows nearest to each player, with the backs of the pieces facing the opponent. Maximum setup time is 10 minutes for the Individual Tournament and 5 minutes for the National Team Tournament.
4. Remove the screen, and check whether the digital clock has been set correctly (page 7).
5. Red can start the game.
6. Each player takes a turn after the other. A turn consists of moving a piece one square forward, backward, left or right (no jumping, and not diagonal!), and tapping the digital clock afterwards.
7. Moving into a square in which a piece of your opponent stands is called attacking. Both players then disclose the ranks of their piece involved. The lower rank will be captured and is removed from the board. If both pieces are of equal rank both are removed.
8. No more than one piece may stand on a square.
9. The two lakes in the middle of the board may neither be entered nor crossed.

For the Sake of Clearness!

1. Picking up a piece is not a move. A completed move is only accounted for if either:  the piece is moved into another square and the player has let it go, or the player is attacking and has tapped an opponent's piece with his own piece.
2. The attacker should make clear to his opponent with which piece he is attacking. Only then should the defending player disclose the rank of the piece attacked.
3. Captured pieces must be placed in the holding tray in such a way that they are clearly visible for the opponent. However, they do not have to be placed in any logical sequence.

The Ranks and Some Special Pieces:

1. With a few exceptions (stated below), a higher rank defeats all lower ranks. A marshal defeats a general and all lower ranks; a general a colonel and all lower ranks, etc. The rank order is shown on the screen and on the side of the board.
2. Any piece that attacks a bomb, other than a miner, is destroyed.
3. If a miner attacks a bomb, the bomb is defused and removed from the board, after which the miner occupies the vacated square.
4. Scouts can move or attack across any straight line of vacant squares, either forwards, backwards or sideways. In making such a move, it can directly attack an opponent's piece. Scouts cannot jump over lakes.
5. The spy's mission is to capture the opposing marshal. However, the spy only defeats the marshal when the attack is made by the spy. The spy is lost if attacked by any enemy piece, including the marshal!
6. The flag can be captured by any piece.
7. After deployment, the flag and bombs cannot be moved under any circumstances. If done, it results in immediate loss of the game.

Ending the Game

The game can end in eight different ways:

1. You win if you succeed in capturing your opponent's flag.
2. You win if your opponent is unable to make a move, while you can still make one or more moves.
3. You win if your opponent has used all his 'reserve time' on the digital clock.
4. It's a draw if neither player can make a legal move.
5. It's a draw if both players agree to a draw. Players may agree a to this at any time.
6. It's a draw if the game exceeds the allowed playing time (for the Individual Tournaments: 75 minutes).
   If the match ends in a draw, the next player must prove that he could have made another move (by showing his opponent a 'movable' piece or by calling in the arbiter to check this).
7. You lose if you deliberately knock down one or more of your opponent's pieces.
8. You lose if you get two official warnings from the arbiter in the same match.

Accidentally Knocking Over an Opponent's Piece

In this case, there are two possibilities:

1. Both players agree that the overturned piece was already known by the opponent. In this case, the match can be resumed.
2. The piece was still unknown, or a difference of opinion rises between both players on this issue. In these cases the arbiter must be called. He or she can then decide one of the following:
   a) The game just continues.
   b) The disadvantaged player may switch the piece with any other piece still in the game.
   c) The disadvantaged player may switch a fixed number of his pieces with other pieces still in the game.

In the latter 2 situations, flag and bombs may not be placed outside the initial deployment area.

The 'Two-Squares Rule'

This rule is an elaboration of a rule mentioned briefly in the Standard Stratego Original Game Rules, and is meant to prevent stalemate situations and unsporting behaviour.

Pieces may be moved backwards and forwards between two squares no more than five times after which the player who initiated the sequence must vary. This can have some drastic consequences:

In the above example 1 the colonel can follow the major between squares B9 and C9. This also goes if the colonel came from square A9 (attack from the side). In both situations the major will be lost, because after five moves he will have to stop first, after which the colonel can capture him.

In the above example 2 (diagonal starting positions) the colonel starts moving between the two squares C9 and B9. If the major evades the colonel on squares B10 and C10 the colonel will have to stop after five moves and the major will be safe.

Thus, the starting positions of the pieces determines whether a besieged piece is captured or saved. Anticipation of your opponent can prevent the loss of a piece by this rule. The two-squares rule also works at a distance. The situation in the first example would be the same if the colonel advanced from B7 to B8.

The 'More-Squares Rule'

Like the previous rule, this extension of the Standard Stratego Original Game Rules is meant to prevent stalemate situations and unsporting behaviour.

If a repetition of moves takes place between three or more squares, the attacker must seize his attempt of capturing the opponents piece. He must do so before the same situation is would arise on the board for the second time.

This situation can take different forms. For example, moving back and forth in a straight line of three or more squares, or a pursuit around a lake or a bomb, but also a combination of two (diagonal) two-squares situations (two repetitions between two squares played in turn indefinitely).

Psychology of the Game

As bluff and misleading manoeuvres are considered important aspects of Stratego, talking is allowed during the match, as is trying to misinform your opponent by mimic or feign.

Unsporting Behaviour

Unsporting behaviour can result in a warning from the arbiter. An example is prolonging the game deliberately by trying to capture one of your opponent s pieces which cannot be taken because of the two-squares rule or the more-squares rule. It is not considered unfair if a player undertakes no meaningful initiatives.

Arbitration

Each player has the right to call in an arbiter at any time, by raising his or her hand, to 'judge in case of a difference of opinion between the concerning players. The arbiter makes a decision and can give a official warning to a player. If any player gets two of these warnings in the same match, he or she loses the match. Any decision made by the arbiter is final. When in doubt, call the arbiter as soon as possible. After the match is over, it is usually impossible to recall the facts. BEFORE CALLING THE ARBITER, MAKE SURE THE DIGITAL CLOCK HAS BEEN STOPPED!!! (Press the start/stop button.)

PRIZES

Apart from the Olympic medals, the organization of the Mind Sports Olympiad has (with minor reservations at the time of issue of this booklet) in total allocated £5000 for prizes of the World Stratego Championships 1999! On top of that, I.S.F.'s own sponsor JUMBO (Falcon Games in the U.K.) has been so generous to add 3 special cups and a considerable amount of game prizes!

Individual Tournament junior players

• exclusive Olympic medals for the numbers 1 to 3
• a beautiful cup for the number 1 (provided by Falcon Games)
• cash prizes for the numbers 1 to 8 (£200, £125, £75, £50, and 4x £25)
• game prizes for the numbers 1 to 8 (provided by Falcon Games)
• a small reward for all other participating juniors (provided by Falcon Games).

Individual Tournament adult players

• exclusive Olympic medals for the numbers 1 to 3
• a beautiful cup for the number 1 (provided by Falcon Games)
• cash prizes for the numbers 1 to 20 (£888, £555, £444, £300, £200, 2x £100, 4x £75, 4x £50 and 5x £25)

National Team Tournament

• exclusive Olympic medals for all players of the first 3 teams
• a beautiful cup for the number 1 team (provided by Falcon Games)
• cash prizes for the number 1 to 3 countries

FOR BEGINNERS: SOME HINTS ON DEPLOYMENT AND STRATEGY

The result of a match depends to a considerable extent on the soundness of the initial deployment. However, there is no such thing as an absolutely good or bad deployment. It all depends on the strategy you intend to pursue, and on the type of strategy you expect your opponent to play. A few considerations could prove to be helpful:

• The flag is the most important and vulnerable piece, and it can be a good idea to surround it with bombs. However, it then becomes difficult to hide in unexpected places.
• Bombs are most effective in unexpected places. However, you should balance this with the consideration that they should not block your own troops.
• Scouts are important pieces for discovering high ranks of you opponent. Therefore they should be easily accessible, for instance on the long lines between the lakes. They also come in very handy at the end of the game if you expect your opponent's flag is not protected by bombs.
• Most miners should be safeguarded until the end of the game (especially if you expect the flag to be surrounded by bombs), or at least until bombs have be identified.
• The spy is an extremely important piece: if it is lost, the opposing marshal becomes very powerful. Using the spy in a good way however requires a lot of skill, patience, and especially bluff.
• High ranks are often deployed behind the lakes, where they are less vulnerable to detection by scouts. In general, many good players do not show their high ranks very easily (after all: Stratego is all about information gathering!). Especially if your marshal is detected, your opponent's general will become very powerful. However, some players sometimes show them very easily, which can be a good strategy when you are playing very aggressively and want to put pressure on your opponent. Again: what is wise in Stratego depends to a large extent on your strategy and on your expectations of your opponent. In general, your high ranks should be easily accessible.
• Middle ranked pieces (captain, lieutenant, sergeant) do not appear to be very important at the start of the game, but are normally extremely important in the final phases. An arrears of for instance a captain and a lieutenant in a match against a top-player will almost certainly cost you the match.
• In general, it is wise to move as few pieces as possible. Everything which has moved is of course not a bomb, and will normally be remembered by your opponent. If, in a later stage, you cannot protect these pieces anymore with your high ranks, he or she will come and collect. Because of this, your deployment should be such that you do not have to move too many pieces to be able to access others. On the other hand, there are also players who prefer to move many pieces, in order to create the chaos required for bluffing: this requires a lot of experience!

REMINDER: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CHEQUES AND OTHER BONUSES

At many Stratego tournaments in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany so called 'World Championships 1999 Cheques' were provided as prizes by JUMBO Netherlands, JUMBO Belgium and JUMBO Germany. These cheques were extra prizes, meant to encourage participation in the Stratego World Championships 1999. The 1999 Championships are the first, only and last opportunity to cash these cheques. As announced before, this is subject to a few 'cheque game rules' of our own:

• The cheques must be shown and handed in by the person mentioned on the cheque. No other person can cash the cheque on his behalf.
• This person must have participated in the Stratego World Championships 1999, from start to finish. That is, if the person qualified to participate in the National Team Tournament, he must also have completed that tournament.
• The cheques can only be cashed directly after the prize ceremony of the Stratego World Championships 1999.

JUMBO, thank you for sponsoring our World Championships!