The problem with turn-based tournaments
Posted:
Aug 31, 2008, 2:52 AM
A lot of the players in competition here in round two of Brf's wouldn't have a prayer in heaven without the database to point the way. But it does, and so they do. I'm going to wait a few more moves in a certain game, and if it goes the way I think it's gonna go, I'll have an excellent example.
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Re: The problem with turn-based tournaments
Posted:
Sep 4, 2008, 4:13 PM
Yeah, the more people think there is at stake, the more tempting things like this become. I think even without the database here people might resort to creating their own and/or computer assisted play if they felt the stakes were high enough. As far as the DB goes, new lines of play are the best option for countering it in turn based and for the computer assisted portion of the issue, probably speed game tourneys is the best bet.
Playing random position turn based tourneys would eliminate the DB factor, but not the computer assisance issue.
Overall, I think the stronger player will often prevail despite the assistance of the DB for their opponent, since they will tend to have a clearer understanding of the position and be able to see further down the road, but obviously the player 1 advantage plays its part in this issue as well, so the stronger player can't really count on more than a split set in such cases.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Re: The problem with turn-based tournaments
Posted:
Sep 4, 2008, 6:43 PM
"new lines of play are the best option for countering it in turn based"
and you've hit on one of the key paradoxes of pente:
New lines of play give you the advantage of surprise in live and the elimination of the db in turn-based...
But since the set of even relatively strong black pente openings is much much much smaller than, say, chess, in order to find a new line of play you usually have to step three or four rungs down the quality ladder. Plus you have to work a lot harder.
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Re: The problem with turn-based tournaments
Posted:
Sep 5, 2008, 2:29 AM
"the set of even relatively strong black pente openings is much much much smaller than, say, chess, in order to find a new line of play you usually have to step three or four rungs down the quality ladder"
Yep, one of the great Pente paradoxes. Which is one of the reasons I think playing duplicated random Pente positions and evaluating the performances is an interesting option despite the fact that it moves the game away from the classic goal of Pente to a certain degree. There are certainly no shortage of positions which could be played and rated, it's the "strong black Pente openings" that are sorely lacking.
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
