Re: The Chokehold Strategy of 2016?
 

I wouldn't call this strategy a chokehold because by itself it doesn't make you win, its just a stall and stalling doesn't work if you are losing.

Re: The Chokehold Strategy of 2016?
 

Agreed, which leads me to question some of the logic involved with the strategy. It would become easy for the robot stuck in the secret passageway to dart about for a bit, and lure/trick the opponent into crossing into the secret passage, either due to a lack of control or just a quick movement. However, at the NYC Regional, it was shocking the number of times defensive robots didn't take advantage of the fact that an opponent was sitting in the secret passage (we in fact got stuck on a boulder in our opponent's secret passage, and incurred no penalty as all opposing robots were focused on breaching).

Re: The Chokehold Strategy of 2016?
 

I've heard that there has been vastly differing strictness in G11 calls between events. For example, that scenario at North Shore would be at least 50/50 a G11, whereas I have seen videos of robots going all the way across the field just to make contact with a robot without a single G11 in sight.

Re: The Chokehold Strategy of 2016?
 

It astounds me as to the large quantity of people who don't understand the rules/this concept at all. Especially one so frighteningly simple as G21. Allow me to enlighten you.

Lets take this step by step so you understand...

A robot. (eg yours) that is contacting the OPPONENT'S secret passage way. aka NOT your team color. A red robot in a blue secret passage, or a blue robot in a red secret passage. Got it?

Opposing robots, referring to a robot that is not on your team, AKA a different colored robot. If you are a blue robot, this would be a red robot. If you are a red robot this would be a blue robot.

In regards of who initiated it, the penalty is assigned to the offender.

Now lets take what we learned just now and apply it!

You (the robot) can't contact the other team (the people you are playing against not with!) in the opponents secret passage way (the secret passageway of the opposite color of yours)

Yay! ::rtm::

Since the blue robot (in the diagram) is never IN the red secret passage. We have no problems!

Re: The Chokehold Strategy of 2016?
 

I saw something at Bayou that I had not seen before (I apologize, I don't remember the match, but I do know that the red robot was 4063) - a blue robot playing defense in their courtyard pushed one of the red robots from the courtyard into the blue secret passage. The referees called a foul on the red robot, and a Tech Foul on top of that. If that interpretation of the rules was correct, then that is another defensive strategy that could be employed along these lines.