Y puzzle solutions
Contents
Standard Y puzzles
Puzzle 1
Even this simple puzzle has a twist if you're new to Y. If Blue responds with b3, like below, Red's only winning move is b2:
Puzzle 2
Blue b2 is the winning move. If Red 2. c2, then only Blue 3. c1 is winning.
In particular, Blue 3. a2?? is losing, since it crucially allows Red to connect to the top edge with tempo:
If Red plays 2. a3 instead, then Blue b3 is the only winning response:
Puzzle 3
If Blue plays e2 too early, on move 3, it is losing due to Red 4. c3. If Blue 5. b2, then Red 6. d2. If Blue 5. d2, then Red 6. b3.
If Red plays 2. c3 instead, Blue's unique winning reply is 3. b2!
Puzzle 4
Red's initial stones resemble Edge template IV2d, but in Y it's not an edge template since there are multiple edges to worry about. With 1. b3, Blue connects to either the top or the bottom-left edge (but Red may decide which one). After Red 2. c4, Blue 3. b4! is the only winning move. The carrier of Blue's win is shaded below; Blue can play a pairing strategy where if Red plays in a cell with a letter, Blue plays the other cell with the same letter.
Puzzle 5
If Blue plays 2. b2, then Red c1! is the unique winning reply, as shown below. If Blue 2. d1 instead, then c3 is the unique winning reply.
Other moves don't work. For example, Red 1. b2 loses to c2:
Puzzle 6
Blue's only winning move is 1. c4:
It's instructive to see why other first moves fail. If Blue 1. c3, then Red d3! connects to the top-right corner with a two-stone corner template (d2 and d3):
Here, Red 2. c1 doesn't work, since Blue's d4 stone will connect to the bottom-left edge:
If Blue 1. b4, then Red 2. c4! is the unique winning reply. This is similar to Puzzle 4, where the intrusion into the pattern resembling Edge template IV2d is the only winning move.
If Blue 1. e2, then Red c4 is the unique winning reply:
Other Red replies to Blue e2 don't work. If Red 2. d3, then Blue c4 still wins:
If Red 2. b5, then Blue 3. c3! wins due to this tricky line:
Bent-27 Y puzzle
The winning move is (a). The strongest reply is (b), after which Blue has to play (c) or (d). With correct play, all the nodes will become occupied.
Back to the game of Y: Y
