Cornered

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Beta (East) to play

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Beta will win in four turns if Alpha plays "normally" or in five turns if Alpha stalls annoyingly.

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Beta wins by catching Alpha's large ship in a catastrophe and then invading with a direct assault. Alpha can't save their g3 by trading it for red or yellow since Beta can also destroy a y3 or r3 in a catastrophe. Building y2 looks like a promising defense for Alpha at first (a move I didn't give enough attention to until Josh Kronengold brought it up). But it won't work out:

Alpha
Beta
1...
move g2 Beta Alpha
2.
build y2 Alpha
2...
build y3 Electra

Beta will destroy Alpha's g3 on their next turn, and Beta can then invade Alpha's home with a y3. Alpha must get a large ship in their home or lose, but Alpha can only get a large ship in time by leaving it vulnerable to catastrophe:

3.
move y1 Alpha Betelgeuse
3...
sacrifice y2 Electra
move g1 Castor Alpha
move g1 Castor Alpha
catastrophe Alpha g
4.
sacrifice g2 Altair
build y2 Altair
build y3 Alpha
4...
sacrifice y2 Beta
move y1 Beta Alpha
move y1 Castor Alpha
catastrophe Alpha y

Alpha can't do any better by capturing the invader instead:

1...
move g2 Beta Alpha
2.
attack g2 Alpha
2...
sacrifice y2 Electra
move g1 Castor Alpha
move g1 Castor Alpha
catastrophe Alpha g
3.
sacrifice y1 Alpha
move g2 Altair Alpha
3...
sacrifice y2 Beta
move r2 Beta Alpha
move r2 Castor Alpha
4.
attack r2 Alpha
4...
sacrifice r2 Alpha
attack r2 Alpha
attack g2 Alpha
THIS IS A MISTAKE. There's no r2 in Alpha here, I need to reexamine this

Alternatively, Alpha can try to prepare for the direct assault one turn earlier by getting r2, but this allows Beta to build r3:

1...
move g2 Beta Alpha
2.
trade b2 r2 Betelgeuse
2...
build r3 Electra

Alpha's g3 is still doomed, and Beta is now prepared to invade with a large ship. Alpha must build r3 as well.

3.
build r3 Betelgeuse
3...
sacrifice y2 Electra
move g1 Castor Alpha
move g1 Castor Alpha
catastrophe Alpha g

No matter how Alpha tries to defend, Beta either wins by fleet catastrophe or direct assault. For example, if Alpha defends with r3,

4.
sacrifice y1 Alpha
move r3 Betelgeuse Alpha
4...
sacrifice y2 Beta
move r1 Electra Alpha
move r2 Castor Alpha
catastrophe Alpha r

Or, if Alpha tries to defend with another ship,

4.
sacrifice y1 Alpha
move g2 Altair Alpha
4...
move r3 Electra Alpha
5.
build g1 Alpha
5...
sacrifice r2 Castor
attack g1 Alpha
attack g2 Alpha

This position was submitted as a possible puzzle by SDG user Draw5PlayAll. The analysis is mine.