Rules v0.8: Fatica on crossing, no Kumite in round 1, board draft 2

- Fatica costs a stripe for every Fatica walked onto; a route whose Fatica drops a Brown player below 15 no longer enters the Dojo - No Kumite in the first round: opponents are treated like meditating pawns - Board draft 2: two Fatica tolls per quadrant, Allenamento moved to the ring - Casual bot, --summary-csv, per-seat breakdown and move-options metric - Out of contention measured at 3 belts - Plan: Phase 6 baselines, decisions D34-D43 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-27 15:59:45 +02:00
parent 4998931cb0
commit bbc95b6722
18 changed files with 566 additions and 80 deletions
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Deliverables:
 | D7 | Corner Safe Rooms: 3×3, 2 exits, no Kumite/effects/targeting, stacking allowed | Prevents spawn camping / spawn lock. |
 | D8 | Movement 2d6, exact count, orthogonal, no re-entering a square in the same move | Developer requirement + clarity. |
 | D9 | Most squares carry an effect from a small vocabulary (7 codes); ~30–40% Tatami | Developer requirement; limits reading load and analysis paralysis. |
-| D10 | Effects trigger only when stopping on a square | Avoids multiple triggers per move. |
+| D10 | Effects trigger only when stopping on a square (except Fatica since D36) | Avoids multiple triggers per move. |
 | D11 | Nebbia works like Monopoly Chance: the square stays active | Developer requirement. |
 | D12 | Progress track 0–17, 3 stripes per belt; squares ±1, Kumite ±3 | Fine-grained board income without breaking pacing. Physical tracking method decided later. |
 | D13 | Nebbia deck is mostly movement/interaction/Tecniche, very few flat stripes | Prevents "stripe farming" that would make players avoid fights. |
@@ -50,6 +50,16 @@ Deliverables:
 | D31 | Final Exam rule: **the defender fights as a Black belt** (option c; RULES.md v0.7). Options a (ties to the defender) and d (best of 3) stay as simulator switches only; `--exam` lists the options in force and defaults to `c` | c gave a 44% pass rate, more distinct challengers (1.58/game) and closer endings; d alone raised the pass rate to 91%. |
 | D32 | Phase 6 targets confirmed by the developer as a starting point (table in Phase 6) | Q5. |
 | D33 | Fatica fix: test **option 2 first** — a chance square (stop on it, roll 1d6: 1–2 lose a stripe, 3–6 gain one) replacing Fatica and some Allenamento; then **option 1 must also be tested** — Fatica costs a stripe when walked through as well as when stopped on (breaks D10 for that square only). Options 3 (fewer paths: board rework) and 4 (fewer / once-per-room Allenamento) kept in reserve. The casual bot (6.0.1) is built regardless | Q6. Any on-stop penalty is avoidable when a move reaches ~24 end squares; the chance outcome cannot be dodged. Developer likes 1 and 2. |
+| D34 | The "games finished within 200 rounds: 100%" target does not apply to the `random` lineup (it is a floor, not a player: 94% finished, 115 rounds on average) | 6.1 review. |
+| D35 | **No Kumite in round 1**: opponents are treated like meditating pawns (pass through, extra step if the move would end on one, no Tunnel exit onto them, Sfida has no target; Irimi still works). `RulesConfig.first_kumite_round = 2`. RULES.md v0.8 | 6.1 review, finding 3: later seats find opponents already outside their Safe Rooms and early equal-belt Kumite are nearly free. |
+| D36 | **Fatica on crossing is the baseline**: every Fatica square stepped onto while walking costs 1 stripe (last step and Meditazione extra step included, before any Kumite on it); stopping adds nothing; teleports and relocations cost nothing. `RulesConfig.fatica_on_crossing = True`. Supersedes the order in D33 (the chance square, option 2, remains a candidate). Paths to the same end square are offered separately when they cross Fatica differently. RULES.md v0.8 | 6.1 review, finding 4. |
+| D37 | Out of contention = more than **3 belts** (9 stripes) behind the leader (`metrics.CONTENTION_BELTS`); the targets (≤ 20% of player-turns, worst player ≤ 35%) now apply to this threshold | 6.1 review, finding 1: one Kumite swings two players 6 stripes apart, so 2 belts was too strict. |
+| D38 | Catch-up: only candidate **A** (Allenamento gives +2 instead of +1 to a player 2+ belts behind the leader) is to be simulated. Rejected: bounty on the leader, belt bonus capped at +1, more Sensei Osserva | 6.1 review, finding 1. |
+| D39 | Game length is tuned **last**; target stays a mean of 60–90 minutes at 4 players | 6.1 review, finding 2. |
+| D40 | Bots stay as they are for Phase 6 (casual included, although much weaker than the heuristic bots) | Q7. |
+| D41 | Phase 6 order: board and Fatica (6.4 with 6.5) → seat order (6.2) → catch-up (6.9) → style dynamics (6.3) → Kiai (6.6), player counts (6.7), length → consolidation (6.8). Structural fixes before tuning | 6.1 review. |
+| D42 | **Board draft 2 adopted** as `board/quadrant.txt` (`board/board.txt` regenerated; draft 1 is in git history, commit 4998931) | 6.4.0 results. |
+| D43 | **6.2 seat order suspended**: measuring it needs 4,000+ games per scenario for an effect of a few points; D35 (no Kumite in round 1) stays in the rules. Seat rates are still reported by every run and watched in 6.8 | Developer, after the 4,000-game runs were started. |

 ## Phases

@@ -160,7 +170,7 @@ Deliverables:
 - One change at a time. When a change is adopted, re-run the 6.1 baseline so later steps start from the current rules, and log the decision (D-number) here and in `RULES.md`.
 - Results go in this file as a table per step (command line, scenario, key measures).

-**Next action:** 6.0 (tooling), then 6.1. Everything up to D33 and RULES.md v0.7 is committed; commit only when the developer asks.
+**Next action:** 6.9 catch-up candidate A, when the developer says to continue. 6.2 is suspended (D43); 6.4.1 (chance square) stays optional. Order of the steps: D41. Everything up to D43 and RULES.md v0.8 is committed; commit only when the developer asks. 6.0, 6.1, D35 and D36 are not committed yet; commit only when the developer asks.

 **Targets** (confirmed by the developer as a starting point, D32):

@@ -177,21 +187,86 @@ Deliverables:

 **Steps:**

- [ ] 6.0 Tooling needed by the experiments
-  - [ ] 6.0.1 "Casual" bot: the heuristic bot scoring only a small random sample of the offered moves (sample size is a parameter, default 6), as a stand-in for a human who cannot compare ~24 end squares every move. Added to `BOTS` as `casual`.
-  - [ ] 6.0.2 `--summary-csv PATH`: one row per scenario with the summary measures, to compare scenarios side by side.
-  - [ ] 6.0.3 Seat breakdown in the summary: per seat, mean final track, Exam attempts, and share of games where that seat defended the Exam (for 6.2).
-  - [ ] 6.0.4 Square reachability measure: share of moves where an Allenamento / Fatica end square is reachable, and mean distinct end squares per move (the Phase 6 probe, made a metric; for 6.4).
- [ ] 6.1 Baseline on rules v0.7 (Exam c): 4 players, 1,000 games, lineups mixed / `balanced` / `casual` / `random`. Record the table; check it against the targets.
- [ ] 6.2 Seat order (monitor; developer concerned): 4,000 games, 4 players, lineups mixed and `random`; 2,000 games at 3 and 6 players. If a seat is outside 25% ± 3 pp, diagnose with the 6.0.3 breakdown (hypotheses: moving last means seeing everyone else move first; Exam defender selection; Sensei / Peso cards) and bring candidate fixes to the developer. No fix without agreement.
+- [x] 6.0 Tooling needed by the experiments
+  - [x] 6.0.1 "Casual" bot: the heuristic bot scoring only a small random sample of the offered moves (sample size is a parameter, default 6), as a stand-in for a human who cannot compare ~24 end squares every move. Added to `BOTS` as `casual`. Done: `CasualAgent(rng, profile=BALANCED, sample=CASUAL_SAMPLE)` in `bots.py`; only `choose_path` is sampled, and the sample is blind (a path into the Dojo is taken only if drawn).
+  - [x] 6.0.2 `--summary-csv PATH`: one row per scenario with the summary measures, to compare scenarios side by side. Done: `report.write_summary_csv`; spreads become `<name>_mean/_p10/_median/_p90`, income `<source>_gain/loss_per_turn`, seats `seat<i>_<stat>`, bots `win_rate_<bot>`; columns missing in a scenario are empty.
+  - [x] 6.0.3 Seat breakdown in the summary: per seat, mean final track, Exam attempts, and share of games where that seat defended the Exam (for 6.2). Done: `GameMetrics.final_track / exam_attempts_by_seat / exam_defences_by_seat` (tuples, comma-joined in the games CSV), `Summary.seats` (`SeatSummary`), one `Seat i` line per seat in the text report.
+  - [x] 6.0.4 Square reachability measure: share of moves where an Allenamento / Fatica end square is reachable, and mean distinct end squares per move (the Phase 6 probe, made a metric; for 6.4). Done: the engine emits `MoveOptions(player, ends)` (square codes of the distinct end squares) before every path choice in `_move` (first choice, after a won Kumite, Tsugi Ashi; not the Meditazione extra step); report line `Move options`.
+- [x] 6.1 Baseline on rules v0.7 (Exam c): 4 players, 1,000 games, lineups mixed / `balanced` / `casual` / `random`. Record the table; check it against the targets.
+  - Command: `uv run dojo sim --games 1000 --seed 0 --lineup balanced,farmer,aggressive balanced casual random --summary-csv ... --csv ...` (~2 min on all cores).
+
+  | Measure (target) | mixed | balanced | casual | random |
+  |---|---|---|---|---|
+  | Finished within 200 rounds (100%) | 100% | 100% | 100% | **94%** |
+  | Rounds mean (p10–p90) | 21.8 (15–29) | 22.2 (15–30) | 24.9 (17–34) | 115 (67–179) |
+  | Minutes mean (60–90), p90 (≤ 110) | 79, 108 | 81, **110.5** | 83, **114** | 365, 569 |
+  | Kumite per round; upsets | 1.24; 29% | 1.26; 30% | 0.66; 28% | 0.36; 23% |
+  | Exam attempts per game; pass rate (35–55%) | 2.33; 43% | 2.45; 41% | 2.39; 42% | 2.24; 42% |
+  | Halfway leader wins (35–55%) | 39% | 38% | 38% | 29% |
+  | Player-turns out of contention (≤ 20%) | **21%** | **21%** | 17% | 19% |
+  | Worst player's share out, mean (≤ 35%) | **44%** | **43%** | **40%** | **39%** |
+  | Rivals within one belt at the end (≥ 0.5) | 0.60 | 0.57 | 1.22 | 1.46 |
+  | Winner margin; lead changes | 4.0; 7.0 | 4.0; 7.4 | 2.4; 5.3 | 1.4; 13.2 |
+  | Win rate by seat 0–3 (25% ± 3 pp) | 24 / 23 / 24 / 28 | 25 / 22 / 26 / 27 | 26 / 23 / 26 / 26 | 23 / 23 / 24 / 23 |
+  | Win rate by style (spread ≤ 6 pp) | aggr. 25, bal. 27, farmer 22 (5 pp) | — | — | — |
+  | Income per turn: square, card, Kumite (gain / loss), Exam loss | +0.51/0, +0.01/0, +0.43/−0.40, −0.05 | same ±0.01 | +0.53/0, +0.01/−0.01, +0.24/−0.23, −0.04 | +0.19/−0.08, +0.02/−0.01, +0.12/−0.12, −0.01 |
+  | Square income home / away | +0.38 / +0.14 | +0.38 / +0.13 | +0.36 / +0.17 | +0.07 / +0.05 |
+  | End squares per move; can end on Allenamento / Fatica | 23.9; 78% / 76% | 23.9; 78% / 76% | 24.5; 83% / 80% | 24.0; 81% / 78% |
+  | Seat 3: Exam attempts per game (others) | 0.65 (0.55–0.57) | 0.67 (0.58–0.61) | 0.62 (0.56–0.63) | 0.56 (0.53–0.60) |
+
+  Findings:
+  - Met: pass rate, halfway leader, rivals within one belt, style spread, seats (mixed seat 3 at the edge, 28%).
+  - Missed: the worst player's time out of contention (40–44%, target ≤ 35%) on every lineup; overall time out 21% for heuristic lineups; p90 minutes slightly over 110 for `balanced` and `casual`.
+  - `random` does not finish 6% of games in 200 rounds (115 rounds on average): it is a floor, not a player; the "100% finished" target is read as applying to the other lineups.
+  - Seat 3 makes more Exam attempts in the heuristic lineups (0.65–0.67 vs ≤ 0.61) and not with `random`: first lead for 6.2.
+  - Fatica is reachable on 76% of moves but heuristic bots still avoid it (square losses ≈ 0), confirming Q6; the casual bot also avoids it, since 6 sampled moves nearly always include a better one.
+  - The casual bot fights half as often (0.66 Kumite/round) and gives closer games (winner margin 2.4, 1.22 rivals within one belt).
+  - Q7 follow-up (1,000 games, seed 0): `casual,balanced` → balanced 36%, casual 14% per seat; `casual,casual,casual,balanced` → balanced 46%, casual 18%. The blind sample of 6 is far weaker than the heuristic bot.
+  - Seat probe (4,000 games, scratch script, not in the repo): Kumite attacked in rounds 1–2 per game by seat 0/1/2/3 = 0.25 / 0.40 / 0.54 / 0.67 (mixed lineup), 0.03–0.05 for every seat with `random`; mean track after round 3 = 2.04 / 2.04 / 2.35 / 2.50. Later seats find opponents already out of their Safe Rooms, and an early equal-belt Kumite is nearly free for the attacker (Senshu 58%, and a loss at track 0–2 costs at most what is there). Matches the developer's hypothesis; candidate fixes to be proposed in 6.2.
+  - Developer review: D34–D41.
+  - Re-baseline on rules v0.8 (D35, D36, 3-belt threshold D37), 1,000 games, seed 0, each rule alone against v0.7, after the Dojo-closing fix below (scratch script: `Scenario` configs with the two switches replaced; the CLI has no switch for them):
+
+  | Measure | v0.7 | + Fatica on crossing | + no Kumite in round 1 | v0.8 (both) |
+  |---|---|---|---|---|
+  | Minutes mean / p90, mixed | 79 / 108 | 83 / 114 | 78 / 107 | 83 / 114 |
+  | Minutes mean / p90, balanced | 81 / 111 | 79 / 109 | 80 / 110 | 78 / 108 |
+  | Minutes mean / p90, casual | 83 / 114 | **126 / 173** | 83 / 114 | **127 / 174** |
+  | Square gain / loss per turn: mixed; casual | +0.51 / 0.00; +0.53 / 0.00 | +0.52 / −0.05; +0.45 / −0.12 | = v0.7 | +0.52 / −0.05; +0.45 / −0.12 |
+  | Kumite per round: mixed; casual | 1.24; 0.66 | 1.03; 0.51 | 1.23; 0.65 | 1.02; 0.51 |
+  | Exam pass rate, mixed | 43% | 44% | 44% | 44% |
+  | Out of contention (3 belts): share; worst player, mixed | 5.1%; 15% | 5.2%; 16% | 5.1%; 15% | 5.1%; 15% |
+  | Win rate by seat 0–3, mixed | 24 / 23 / 24 / 29 | 30 / 21 / 22 / 27 | 24 / 24 / 25 / 28 | **29 / 23 / 20 / 28** |
+  | Win rate by seat 0–3, balanced | 25 / 22 / 26 / 27 | 24 / 23 / 24 / 30 | 24 / 24 / 26 / 26 | 25 / 24 / 23 / 29 |
+  | Win rate by seat 0–3, casual | 26 / 23 / 26 / 26 | 25 / 25 / 24 / 26 | 26 / 23 / 26 / 24 | 25 / 25 / 24 / 26 |
+
+  Fix found while planning Dojo tolls: a Brown player (15) walking a Fatica drops to 14 and must not enter the Dojo on that move (the belt changes at once, FAQ). `_path_choices` no longer offers such Dojo paths (`_still_brown_at_dojo`; a Kumite won on the way re-offers paths). The first run without the fix differed by ≤ 3 minutes and ≤ 2 pp per seat.
+
+  Findings: (1) at 3 belts the contention targets are met with a wide margin (5% of player-turns, worst player 10–15%). (2) Fatica on crossing on the current board (5 F per quadrant, 20 in all, 10% of the squares) barely touches the heuristic bots (−0.03 to −0.05 per turn) but costs the casual bot −0.12 per turn and adds ~44 minutes (127 mean, p90 174): the board has too many Fatica on ordinary routes for players who do not plan around them. (3) No Kumite in round 1 alone moves seat 3 by about 1 pp (within the ±1.4 pp noise of 1,000 games); 6.2 measures it on 4,000 games. (4) Mixed v0.8 shows seat 0 at 30% and seat 2 at 20%: not seen in the same-bot lineups; to confirm in 6.2 before reading anything into it.
+- [ ] 6.2 Seat order — **suspended (D43)**; runs stopped before any result (monitor; developer concerned): 4,000 games, 4 players, lineups mixed and `random`; 2,000 games at 3 and 6 players. If a seat is outside 25% ± 3 pp, diagnose with the 6.0.3 breakdown (hypotheses: moving last means seeing everyone else move first; Exam defender selection; Sensei / Peso cards) and bring candidate fixes to the developer. No fix without agreement.
 - [ ] 6.3 Style dynamics: same-style lineups (`farmer`, `aggressive`, `balanced`, `casual`) and one-against-three (`aggressive,farmer,farmer,farmer`, `farmer,aggressive,aggressive,aggressive`, `balanced,farmer,farmer,farmer`). Watch: all-farmer stalling (length, games finished, Kumite per round), a dominant style, time out of contention.
- [ ] 6.4 Fatica and the square economy (D33). Each candidate is a board draft in `board/drafts/` (new square codes need `Square`, `board/FORMAT.md`, validator stats and `RULES.md` entries) and/or a `RulesConfig` switch, compared with the 6.1 baseline on square gains / losses per turn, reachability (6.0.4), game length, style win rates, casual vs heuristic gap:
+- [ ] 6.4 Fatica and the square economy (D33; Fatica on crossing became the baseline, D36; board draft 2 adopted, D42). Each candidate is a board draft in `board/drafts/` (new square codes need `Square`, `board/FORMAT.md`, validator stats and `RULES.md` entries) and/or a `RulesConfig` switch, compared with the 6.1 baseline on square gains / losses per turn, reachability (6.0.4), game length, style win rates, casual vs heuristic gap:
+  - [x] 6.4.0 Board draft 2 (drafted as `board/drafts/quadrant-2.txt`, now `board/quadrant.txt`), built for Fatica on crossing. Principles approved by the developer: Fatica as tolls on short routes, fewer Fatica, Allenamento away from the Safe Rooms (covers 6.5), validator / Tatami 30–40% / 11-step walk / tunnels kept; judged on casual minutes (≤ ~93, i.e. v0.7 casual + 10) and heuristic bots paying some tolls.
+    - Method: walls of draft 1 kept (approved layout); only square codes changed. Route analysis showed every square on a shortest Safe Room → Dojo walk has a detour of at most 1 step, so "detour 2–4" is not reachable without wall changes; tolls were placed by measured traffic instead (bots' walks per square, home players vs visitors, on the board without Fatica). Home players load the row-3 corridor and the inner Dojo approach (5,5); visitors load the ring next to the Dojo.
+    - Variants (1,000 games, seed 0, v0.8; scratch scripts `routes.py`, `traffic.py`, `recode.py`, `rules_compare.py`):
+
+    | Board | Fatica (per quadrant) | Minutes mean / p90: mixed; casual | Square gain / loss per turn: mixed; casual | Home share of square income: mixed; casual | Seats 0–3, mixed |
+    |---|---|---|---|---|---|
+    | draft 1 (v0.7 rules, reference) | 5, on stop | 79 / 108; 83 / 114 | +0.51 / 0; +0.53 / 0 | 74%; 69% | 24 / 23 / 24 / 28 |
+    | draft 1 | 5 | 83 / 114; 127 / 174 | +0.52 / −0.05; +0.45 / −0.12 | 74%; 76% | 29 / 23 / 20 / 28 |
+    | 2a | 3: (3,4), (5,5), (7,4) | 73 / 99; 110 / 152 | +0.66 / −0.09; +0.55 / −0.16 | 68%; 69% | 25 / 24 / 25 / 26 |
+    | 2b | 2: (3,4), (5,5) | 72 / 98; 89 / 121 | +0.62 / −0.05; +0.58 / −0.09 | 70%; 68% | 23 / 28 / 24 / 25 |
+    | 2c | 1: (7,4); Allenamento 16 | 73 / 98; 82 / 112 | +0.59 / −0.02; +0.60 / −0.06 | 68%; 65% | 24 / 23 / 26 / 27 |
+    | **2d = draft 2** | 2: (3,4), (5,5); A moved to the ring | 72 / 95; 91 / 122 | +0.64 / −0.05; +0.58 / −0.10 | 67%; 62% | 23 / 27 / 27 / 23 |
+
+    **Current baseline** (rules v0.8, board draft 2) = the draft 2 row above plus the balanced lineup: 68 / 92 minutes, +0.64 / −0.03, home 67%, seats 22 / 23 / 27 / 28. Square mix per quadrant: Tatami 20 (39%), Allenamento 14, Nebbia 8 (16%, up from 6), Fatica 2, Passo Falso 2, Sfida 1, Tunnel 4.
+    - Reading: casual within the ~93-minute bound (91); heuristic bots pay tolls (−0.03 to −0.05); every lineup 68–72 minutes, inside 60–90. Home share down from 74% to 62–67%, not to 60%: players spend most turns crossing their own quadrant, so placement alone reaches its limit. Seat rates move by ±4 pp between variants at 1,000 games: noise, measured properly in 6.2. Adopted by the developer (D42); `board/drafts/` removed.
  - [ ] 6.4.1 Option 2, chance square: new code (proposal `C`, name to choose with the developer, e.g. "Sorte" / "Randori") — on stop roll 1d6, 1–2 → −1 stripe, 3–6 → +1. Draft: replace every Fatica and some Allenamento with it (start: all F plus about a third of A, keep the square mix inside the validator's Tatami range). Bot: value = expected change (+1/3 stripe, risk-weighted: gain 2/3, loss 1/3). Try variations of the split (e.g. 1–3 / 4–6) if income is off.
-  - [ ] 6.4.2 Option 1, Fatica on crossing: `RulesConfig.fatica_on_crossing` — each Fatica square entered during a move costs 1 stripe, **1 in total per square whether or not the move stops there** (developer, D33); stopping on it adds nothing more. Engine: apply in `_walk` per square entered (not on teleports / relocations, which never walk). Bot: count Fatica crossed in `_path_score`. Likely needs fewer Fatica squares; test on the current board and on a draft with fewer F.
-  - [ ] 6.4.3 Compare 6.4.1, 6.4.2 and both together; bring the table to the developer for a decision (then `RULES.md` and D-number).
- [ ] 6.5 Home farming: after 6.4, if the own-quadrant share of square income is still above 60% (baseline: 71%), move Allenamento squares away from the Safe Rooms in a board draft (`dojo sim --quadrant board/drafts/...`) and compare. The board must still pass `dojo board validate`.
+  - [x] 6.4.2 Option 1, Fatica on crossing: `RulesConfig.fatica_on_crossing` — each Fatica square entered during a move costs 1 stripe, **1 in total per square whether or not the move stops there** (developer, D33); stopping on it adds nothing more. Engine: apply in `_walk` per square entered (not on teleports / relocations, which never walk). Bot: count Fatica crossed in `_path_score`. Likely needs fewer Fatica squares; test on the current board and on a draft with fewer F. Done as the baseline rule (D36): engine `_step` / `_path_choices`, bot `_path_score`, tests; measured on the current board in the 6.1 re-baseline.
+  - [ ] 6.4.3 If 6.4.1 is run: compare it with the v0.8 baseline on draft 2 (Fatica on crossing, D36) and bring the table to the developer for a decision (then `RULES.md` and D-number).
+- [x] 6.5 Home farming: covered by board draft 2 (6.4.0): Allenamento moved from the south training room onto the Dojo ring; own-quadrant share of square income 74% → 62–67%, short of the 60% aim (players cross their own quadrant for most of the game); draft 2 adopted as is (D42). Original step: after 6.4, if the own-quadrant share of square income is still above 60% (baseline: 71%), move Allenamento squares away from the Safe Rooms in a board draft (`dojo sim --quadrant board/drafts/...`) and compare. The board must still pass `dojo board validate`.
 - [ ] 6.6 Kiai +2 vs +1: 1,000 games each on two lineups. Watch the Exam pass rate, upset rate and how often a Tecnica turns a fight.
 - [ ] 6.7 Player counts: 3 / 4 / 6 / 8 players, start 0; plus start 3 at 6 and 8 players. Minutes per count; decide whether 6+ players start on Yellow.
+- [ ] 6.9 Catch-up candidate A (D38), next in the order (D41; 6.2 suspended, D43): `RulesConfig` switch, Allenamento +2 for a player 2+ belts behind the leader (bot aware of it); compare on the contention, lead and length measures and on the style win rates.
 - [ ] 6.8 Consolidation: the final configuration at 3 / 4 / 6 / 8 players with all lineups, 2,000 games each; every target checked; `RULES.md` v0.8 with the decisions; open items moved to Phase 7.

 ### Phase 7 — Finalisation (later)
@@ -221,11 +296,11 @@ Deliverables:
 - Final Exam → the defender fights as a Black belt (D31).
 - Q5 Phase 6 targets → confirmed as a starting point (D32).
 - Q6 Fatica avoidable (bots stop on it once in ~4,000 turns; ~24 distinct end squares per move; Allenamento reachable on 79% of moves, Fatica never forced) → test the chance square first, then Fatica on crossing (D33).
+- Q7 Casual bot sample size → the blind sample of 6 is far weaker than the heuristic bot (14–18% vs 36–46% win rate per seat); bots stay as they are (D40).
 - Safe Room placement → the owner places the pawn on any square of their room (setup and when sent to Start).

 ### Open

- Q7 Casual bot sample size: 6 offered moves is a guess at human play; revisit if 6.1 shows it is far weaker or stronger than the heuristic bot.
 - Q2 Board asymmetry: keep the quadrant as source of truth, or later switch to the full board as source of truth with a symmetry *report* (warnings) instead of generation? *(Deferred by the developer.)*

 ### Risks
@@ -233,7 +308,7 @@ Deliverables:
 - Movement enumeration: self-avoiding walks of length up to 12 can explode in open rooms. Keep rooms small; prune by outcome (destination + ordered opponents crossed + Dojo entry).
 - Engine speed ~1,400 turns/s (random and heuristic bots, real board). If Phase 5 needs more: precompute neighbour lists in `Board`.
 - Simulation conclusions depend on bot quality; compare several profiles before trusting a result.
- Board draft 1 puts 4 Allenamento in each 3x3 room next to the Safe Room: possible "home farming" (see the Phase 2 review). Measured (Phase 5 baseline): square income is +0.38/turn in the own quadrant vs +0.14/turn elsewhere; 6.5 decides whether that is a problem.
+- Board draft 1 puts 4 Allenamento in each 3x3 room next to the Safe Room: possible "home farming" (see the Phase 2 review). Measured (Phase 5 baseline): square income is +0.38/turn in the own quadrant vs +0.14/turn elsewhere; 6.5 decides whether that is a problem. Board draft 2 (D42) moved them to the Dojo ring: 62–67%.

 ## External documentation