Pub 15, Day 4 – Nottingham House

By Rob

So there we were, me and Andy enjoying a nice pint of Kronenbourg Cold Premiere in the comfort of the Nottingham House, a pleasant little student pub in Broomhill. We spy a stack of old board games resting on the window ledge and decide to have a little game of Connect Four. Well, it soon gets heated as we realise that we're both pretty good at this game. The friendliness melts away, leaving behind only a cold, keen desire to win.

Now, you might ask "how exciting can a game of Connect Four possibly be?" Well, the answer will surprise you. A couple of people looked over to watch our game, evidently enthralled by the sportsmanship on display. Noticing the audience's rapt attention, we point out that there is another game of Connect Four in the pile, and before you know it we had a mini-tournament in place. This is how it went: (I forget the names of the other guys involved)

Round 1:

Rob vs. Challenger 1.             Andy vs. Challenger 2.

(Rob wins)                              (Andy wins)

 

Round 2:

Rob vs. Andy

(Andy won, by playing in an unsportsmanlike way)

It's fair to say that we were both pretty pleased about making the final round of this tournament. It felt like a big deal. I was not pleased in the least to lose to Andy in the end, and here's why...

...I don't know how good the average person is at Connect Four, but we were well above average, throwing in all kind of complex maneuvers and always trying to keep three steps ahead of the opponent. The way we played it transformed it into chess. Because we'd gotten to such an advanced level, I was not prepared for Andy to play the pretty low-level standard horizontal line. That's basic stuff, and I thought there was an understanding between us that we were playing above that. But Andy, intent on winning, played this move that was so straightforward that I had completely overlooked it.

 

Suffice to say that I'm still bitter about this.

Nottingham House, despite being the venue for my crushing defeat in the finale of a tournament that Sheffield students still talk about, gets 7.5/10.

Notty House Connect 4 score: Andy 1-0 Rob

Pubquest Connect 4 score: Andy 1-0 Rob

Pub: Nottingham House (164 Whitham Road, S10 2SR)

Rating: 7.5/10

Pint: Kronenbourg Cold Premiere   

Brewery: Kronenbourg Brewery (Obernai, France)

NEXT UP: All aboard, for the Sheffield Tap...