Several months ago, I hosted the Ruby Battleship Tournament. It was an all-round fun event where craftsmen sharpened their claws and pitted their skills against their peers. Since then, there has been much interest in the next tournament.

Today I am announcing the commencement of the Ruby Hangman Tournament. In this tournament your challenge is to build an AI to play hangman. Unlike Battleship, your AI will not battle against opponents, but will instead play solo.

You must teach your player how find words as accurately and as quickly as possible. The most prodigious player will be dubbed Tournament Champion. But this is a tournament of Craftsmanship, so the ultimate title will be awarded to the Tournament Master.

To earn this most prestigious of monikers, your player must not only play hangman spectacularly, but also be crafted with the utmost quality of code.

Getting started is easy. Simply follow the instructions to get a default AI generated and running on your computer. Then all you have to do is tweak the solution to be as good as you can get it before the end of September.

This is a great way to practice your craft. You could introduce the tournament in your next user group meeting. Show it to your peers over lunch and learn.

You can also just play the game if you like (screenshot below). Good luck!