Position and the focus of attention

A position is the dry remainder of a speech, its essence. When a player talks for a minute, the stream of words contains the main thing: whom he thinks is red, whom black, whom he is ready to play with, whom he nominates. A position lets you assemble the red team, make checks that give several colours at once, vote correctly and find the mafia by counting. Thanks to positions, the initial chaos takes shape and turns into a convenient array of data from which everything unnecessary is cut off.

The lesson covers five topics: terminology, kinds of positions, rules for building teams, reasons players are voted out, and player links.

Why terminology matters

Many games are lost not because of the mafia's cunning but because of misunderstanding. One half of the table understood a position one way, the other half another way. They quarrelled, and the mafia won. The reason is that a considerable number of people confuse (or do not know) the basic concepts, and their speeches fill up with filler and clarifications that mean nothing. Three real examples:

"I will play with No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, although I admit there is one black among them."
In one speech a player says "No. 7 is red!", and when No. 7 is found black by a check, he excuses himself: "I just played with him, I found nothing black."
In round zero everybody played with No. 1, then at the centre of the table much attention went to slots 3 to 7, to checks and to shooting the lone sheriff. At five players No. 1 says: "I was called red for all the rounds, you have no right to consider the version that I am mafia."

In all three cases different concepts are mixed up. You cannot put an equals sign between "I will play with" and "red", just as between "I suspect" and "black".

Seven shades of colour

A simple decoding will help you understand other people's positions and be understood.

I will play with the player. At the moment nothing has been found in the person's minute that would make him look like mafia. Does that mean he is red? No. You need to watch this player in the following rounds. In simple words: there is not enough information for an exact estimate.
I will not play with the player. The person falls into the range of the most probable mafia.
A grey player. There is not enough information even for "I will play" or "I will not play". The colour of a player without comparison with the others is roughly 66 percent red and 33 black. This is arithmetic: from the point of view of a civilian there are six civilians and three mafia at the table, and any slot without context is red with probability 6 out of 9 and black 3 out of 9. By default all slots a player skipped in his speech are grey. It is incorrect to claim that slot No. 1 is always grey: other players may give good feedback about it. It is better to say honestly "I have not worked it out" or to skip the slot in the speech.
Red. Besides you there is definitely a civilian at the table. So the others should consider you in a link with each other, in one team. This helps to count by the remainder and to set more precise ranges of blacks already in round zero.
Black. The player is mafia, full stop. When you give a person this colour, understand: if in the course of the game he turns out to be a civilian, you leave the table, because in the eyes of the attacked civilian you are mafia. That is logical, and it is your responsibility.
Rather black. The player is mafia, but you have doubts. An intermediate stage between "I will not play" and "black". In numbers everything is individual, from 66 to 95 percent that the evaluated card is black. Here you must take into account the tone and persistence with which the colour is declared.
Rather red. The same between "I will play" and "red".

The author notes that at an early stage almost nobody objects if you mix up "rather black" and "I will not play": there are no checks and few positions have been heard. But "red" and "I will play" are different positions, which directly affect the count of the game and the decision on the sheriff's check.

Kinds of positions

In the game people call literally everything a position. For order we distinguish:

The position of round zero. The total information a player gave on the slots that spoke earlier. It is formed from the seven shades described above.

Example 1. "I will play with No. 1, in the conflict of No. 2 and No. 3 the second looks redder to me, No. 4 is red. Most likely the last two blacks sit after me." That is a position.

Example 2. "No. 1 always speaks well, there is one mafia between No. 2 and No. 3, No. 4 has not said enough for a black card." That is a speech, and a weak one. There is no position here at all. A speech and a position are different things: they are evaluated by different schools, and opinions on them can be opposite. The second speech is hard to understand in positional terms: all who spoke before him are grey, or you must spend effort on interpreting what was said. After any tension comes relaxation, the listener loses concentration, and such speeches interfere with analysing the truly informative parts of the minute.

Strong and weak position. The more exact colours a player gave, the stronger his position. A hard position is a strong one, with only a named mafia or a named civilian for whose removal hands begin to gather. In the first case the player attacks, in the second he defends. Other things equal, an attacking position is always stronger (redder). From the civilian's point of view, it is unprofitable for the mafia to stand in counterweight conflicts in round zero, so as not to let the sheriff make a good check that gives many colours. And if a black brazenly takes mafia into his team or plays against a red, there will be a team against team battle with two sheriffs. So an attacking position reduces the number of winning endings for the mafia.

The effect of seat at the table. The player who closes the round always has a bigger impact on the table thanks to the last-word factor. Something is forgotten, you cannot interrupt without a remark, and the emotional background works for the closer. It is harder for the one who opens the round to play against those who sit after him. The farther a person sits, the easier it is for him to gather votes for removing someone who spoke earlier, and the more information he has. So a player who closes rounds has a stronger position.

Position in critical rounds and the guessing round. Towards the end of the game, position means the sum or part of all the moves made and commands voiced that the player has gathered. The position is stronger if the player: covered the real sheriff; did not remove a red player; did not vote together with the mafia; removed the whole mafia from the table; played against, or asked to check, only players of the mafia team.

Why players are voted out in positional play

1. Taking conflicting players into a team

If one slot voices serious suspicions about a second, the attacker may be wrong, but at this stage logically there are not two reds between them. Two-sided conflicts almost always mean there is a mafia in the link. Reconciling the conflicting players means either not following the game or covering your own black, and the town drifts to the thought that the peacemaker is mafia. By defending, a player shifts attention from the "ward" onto himself.

2. Ignoring strong positions

Player No. 4 took into his team only No. 3, calling him a civilian. No. 3 called No. 2 red. You can say goodbye to No. 4: by logic he should have taken both No. 2 and No. 3 into his team, or explained to the third slot that he took No. 2 hastily and that he deserves a closer look. You must either talk one of the links of the chain round, or play against the player who gives a wrong layout. You cannot partly agree or let part of the minute pass by your ears. Inattention and unwillingness to play with the town give away the mafia. Hard positions must not be ignored. If you called someone red and another player called your ward black, you are obliged to react.

Often in early rounds people are blamed and called mafia for throwing out of the team a slot with whom a civilian had earlier played. That is wrong.

The main rule of team building. The civilian team is built from two main positions: "rather red" and "red". All the "I will play" and "spoke well" do not count as building, they are a rough interpretation. Throwing slots out of the "train" with arguments can and must be done. That is how a team is built.

3. A shortfall of mafia

If at the eighth slot a player has not heard black speeches before himself, send him away from the table. There are three black cards in the game, and after him two players sit. They are definitely mafia (from his position), and since there are no others, he is the last one. Likewise at the sixth slot: if he plays 1-2-3-4-5, then among the four players after him there should be three black speeches. If there are none, you can boldly make claims: most likely No. 6 is mafia and played with at least one of his own blacks.

4. Called a red black

If it turns out in the game that a player called a civilian mafia, he leaves the table. He is removed to teach him to answer for his words.

5. "Not critical"

If at nine a player was removed who was unchecked on all versions, and at eight or seven someone says it is "not critical" for him, vote him out boldly. Either he knows the colour of the departed because he was in a team with him, or he does not want to turn civilians against himself by calling them mafia, or he counts on nobody understanding his speech. On his version the game will not end whoever is removed, so we will say goodbye to him himself. In the mafia's understanding: calling a civilian black means losing a potential vote on your own side.

Player links: whom we vote against

The time has come to remove players, but there are three blacks. We vote by position.

You are attacked, and the player after the aggressor agrees with him. Vote only against the one who sits later. You are red No. 2, No. 3 calls you black, No. 4 agrees with the position of No. 3 but does not firmly gather hands for your removal. You vote only against No. 4. The reason: No. 3 may be black or a mistaken red, but the one who strengthens his position "is mistaken" twice over: he plays against a civilian (you) and potentially with the mafia (together with him a black). The position of No. 3 is initially stronger, because the mafia usually does not stand in counterweights in round zero. So the most probable mafia is No. 4.
In a chain of players who play with each other, the weakest position belongs to the one who closes the "train". You are red No. 8 and consider No. 7 a civilian. Player No. 6 played 1-2-3-4-5. You play only against No. 6: without your link he has an obvious shortfall of mafia. If you did not suspect blackness when you could, answer for five. (The red train is a group of players in early slots who play with each other in round zero because nobody has said an explicit black speech.)
If two or more civilians called a player red, you have no right to consider the version that he is mafia. This means a conscious table of adequate people. Where one is mistaken, two will work it out.
You consider a player red, he considers someone black. Take into account the hard position of the player you found: respond not only with speech but with your vote. Put your hand against the one whom your team member plays against.
You consider a player red, and someone considers him black. You vote against the one who attacks your civilian link.
You consider a player black, and someone considers him red. There is no clear position, too little information. The author recommends relying on your own opinion and voting against whom you consider black. In late rounds the count of the game decides the question.

Focus of attention: what to remember

You cannot remember all ten speeches. Experienced players keep three things: moves (whom he nominated, how he voted, whom he supported, whom he covered), argumentation (what conclusion was voiced and on what basis) and position (the result of the speech, the distribution of colours). Everything else, jokes, turns of phrase, stories, can be taken into account only as an addition.

Application

"I will play with the player" and "red" are different positions.
The mafia can use the civilians' ignorance of terminology.
Do not scatter colours for nothing: your choice is rich.
You are mafia, and a player before you gave a bad speech: gather hands against him, he can no longer protect himself with a minute.
Strengthen your position bit by bit towards the end of the game, playing the mafia card.
Other things equal, the position that strengthens the wrong one is voted.

Questions for self-check

How can you confuse players of the positional school in round zero? Which ways do you know and use? How do you picture the ending of the game?
Against whom will you vote: the one who attacks you or the one you yourself consider mafia? Why?
What other positional links exist?

Practice

A task to consolidate counting. There are five of you, two blacks. You are a civilian (No. 1), there is a live red check (No. 2). Player No. 3 gives no clear position. No. 4 considers No. 3 red and will vote against the poorly speaking No. 5. Which black teams do players No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 have, and whom do you remove this round? Then on a tournament sheet write three columns for each player: moves, argumentation, position.

Typical mistakes

Confusing "I will play with" and "red".
Reconciling conflicting players for no reason.
Ignoring a hard position from your own link.
Giving "red" and "black" for no reason in round zero.
Changing a position without a new fact: it looks like mafia.

Source of the idea. The chapters "Playing by logic: position" and the introduction to the schools of the game from Dmitry Novik's "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020), and the sections on the focus of attention from "50 Shades of Red" (2021). The percentages and gradations belong to the author, the exercises were written for the Academy.