Ya, I agree with you all. In fact, four-move cycle is just a basic type of
superko, see

http://senseis.xmp.net/?Cycle

I never managed to prohibit moves that form a cycle of length over six.
because I thought cases other than triple ko might occur rarely. But it
might be worth a try to handle superko with a hash table, though it might
be slow.

Aja

2012/6/6 Mark Boon <[email protected]>

> On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 1:47 PM, Darren Cook <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > Is four moves the longest super-ko cycle possible? I thought it could be
> > longer, using some capture and refill approach. But I could be very
> > wrong on that.
> >
> > Darren
> >
> > P.S. Well if the bots are psychotic, and because tromp-taylor rules
> > allow suicide, then of course very long cycles are possible, with one
> > player always passing, and the other player filling in the same large
> > eye over and over...
> > My question is more: is a very long cycle possible in a game where both
> > players are playing to win?
> >
>
> Four is not the longest, even when you try to win. Quadruple ko takes
> eight moves to cycle back. Although not common, it can happen. I had
> it happen in a game in the Dutch championship many years ago.
> Participation in the World Championship in Japan was on the line, so I
> can assure you we were both trying to win. Whether it was ideal play
> to let it happen, that's another question altogether...
>
> I don't know what the longest 'reasonable' cycle would be, but I've
> learned not to put my estimates too low with this type of thing in Go.
> Before you know it, someone comes up with a 'reasonable' cycle of
> longer length than you can count.
>
> Mark
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