@ G-Man :
You wrote :
"Official rules clearly state to play to 1) solo, and 2) draw."
That is false. It is only your interpretation. Indeed, on page 4 of
http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy_rulebook.pdf
you can read that the rulebook states exactly :
"OBJECT OF THE GAME
As soon as one Great Power controls 18 supply centers, it’s considered to have gained control of Europe. The player representing that Great Power is the winner. However, players can end the game by agreement before a winner is determined. In this case, all players who still have pieces on the game board share equally in a draw."
That is the exact text of the official rule book. It does not state at all that players should play for such or such goal. The rules only state how the game ends.
The text that you give states exactly the same with a few different words.
I think that the disagreement here comes from the fact that some players see it as an obligation to play in order to win, whether it is Diplomacy, football, chess, or whatever. These players show the rulebook as a supposed "proof". The rules of a game, or of a sport, do not dictate that players should try to win. No, the rules simply state how to win or how a game, or a contest, ends.
It is always interesting to read that some people (or players) dictate that other people (or players) should act (or play a game) in such or such way.
One of the richness of humanity is the variety of different ways to see things. When one sincerely believes that one specific thing should be done only in one specific way, don't you think that there is a possibility that he might be wrong ?
Players could play seriously with other goals than winning. For example, one player could have the desire to test a specific strategy even if that costs him the game. Wouldn't that be a valid and honorable goal ?
You have mentioned chess. As a former chess tournament player, I can tell you that there are many reasons for which a chess player would prefer a draw rather than a win. I will give you three examples that happen frequently :
• In order to be paired with a less strong opponent in the next round of a tournament, a player can prefer to score a draw, which would reward him 0.5
rather than a win, which would reward him 1 point.
• A player may prefer to have an easy and fast game in order to have a day of rest during a tournament. For example, in a foreign country, I happened once to be paired with a friend of mine (we were 4 players that went together to that other country). We didn't care much about playing a chess game together, which we could do anytime since we lived in the same city, and, instead, we immediately agreed on a draw which gave us a day of vacation which we used to visit the city of that foreign country in which we were playing.
• A player is sick, has a hangover or doesn't feel well. He doesn't show it, only he knows about it. He knows that it will be difficult and painful for him to win the game so he may offer a draw to a supposedly weaker opponent after the game has reached a certain point. The supposedly weaker player is more than happy to draw with the strongest player while this one is free and can go away in order to take care of himself.
These are only three examples that I have personally seen frequently but there are many other reasons why a player would prefer a draw rather than a survive.
I will tell you now one interesting story that I have seen. Chess tournaments are often held in hotels in which most of the foreign players have a room. In one rather strong tournament that I played in (there were several International Masters), one of the strongest players was a young and very attractive woman. She was always dressed in a very sexy way in order to try to disturb or distract her male opponents. And also, when she had lost a game, she usually ended up in a very bad mood. One day, she was paired with a male player who was supposedly a little stronger than her (at least that is what the Elo score was telling). The man, whom I knew personally, told me, that morning, before the game began, in a mysterious way : "I will lose the game and I will win !".
And so, those two International Masters played the game and the woman won a difficult and fascinating game. She was very proud of her. After the game, they both analysed it while having a drink together. Later, they spend the evening together and...
And you now understand what he meant when he had told me "...and I will win !".
You see every one has his own priorities and motivations...
Those who want to dictate how others should rank their priorities simply fail to understand some aspects of life (or of a game) and reduce their own chances to achieve their goals, for example a solo in a Diplomacy game.