2012 District 9 results (so far)

[Palomino]

Congratulation Eric on your win, is very impressive to me considering the caliber of the other 3 players.

It also seems that the subject of the thread has taken a turn and is headed in a different direction now.

To me this grudge match challenge has an interesting concept at its core. If I understand it correctly (personalities aside) a face to face match wherein one play has a total time limit per game of 60 seconds vs. another player with a 60 minute time limit per game. A total of 15 games will be played, 5 games of 3-move and 10 GAYP games.

I assume clocks will be used to keep track of each players time used.

For regular 1-minute blitz games each player has a total of 120 seconds to think, 60 seconds of his own time and 60 seconds of his opponent’s time and that is completely fair for both players but for this special hybrid style match a question keeps popping into my head.

How do you keep the blitz player from thinking about his next move during his opponent’s 60 minutes of time?

[Eric Strange]

Response from James:

I'd be willing to put up $500 on Eric at 1:3. So, when John lost, he'd owe me $166.66 -_-
I'll also book any action with anyone who wants John at 3:1

This is not a pissing contest John... consider it a promotional match. I bet a lot of players would be excited about this!!

Palomino, I do not believe either one of us has hashed out the exact details of the match yet. What would you propose though?

Although it seems it wont matter. John has turned down the match. I will give you the next 8 hours to reconsider and then the offer is off the table.

[Palomino]

Let's put aside this thing with you and John for a minute (I don't think it will happen).

Your idea of this hybrid style match is interesting and at first glance seems to be very one sided with a hugh time disadvantage to the blitz player (whoever that might be), but is it? The non-blitz player must certainly have some degree of advantage but it seems to me it isn't nearly as one sided as it first appears to be.


I'd be very interested in hearing others weight in on this.

[George Hay]

Eric, congratulations on your win in District 9! At first I didn't know if you were challenging JohnAcker or Dr. John
Webster. If it was Dr. Webster, that would be suicide checkers on your part if you played blitz to his regular time!

Pal, you are right, blitz vs regular time is not the great disadvantage as it first appears. However, if the match takes
place as described, JohnAcker is smart enough to play the clock to his advantage. Perhaps playing fast on published play
and then taking his time in a cross-board forest! I am all for prize fund purses in checkers, but not for betting! The first
American to become World Champion, R.D. Yates, did not bet on his games. American Pool Checkers Champion Buster Smith did not gamble on his games, except for one documented case. When push came to shove, Buster did play on a bet. Well, that was a case of "be careful of what you want because you just might get it" on the part of his opponent! Then there was Basil Case who did not even like side bets on his playing! In Checkers Made Easy (1959) Arthur Reisman quotes the Encyclopedia Britannica on page 7. "Clergymen like to see the game played, knowing that the urge to gamble which
debases so many amusements gets little impetus here." Of course, Eric Strange vs JohnAcker is a match I would like to see!

--George Hay

[Chexhero]

I tried to set up the possibility of a Max versus Alex M exhibition match, but Max declined this due to the fact he did not want to play slow timer and I think just did not see the need for it. For those of you who do not know, Max, real name Adam Johnson who sometimes post in this forum is known as one of the greatest online checker players in history. When he plays other top opponents online, he normally doesn't just win, but literally crushes the opposition. No one seems to come close to this guy. You could say he is the Tinsely of online checkers. To see how he would do against the world champ in an in person exhibition match would be a delight to see and really good for checkers. I think the online community should be trying harder to push this match to happen. While John may not want to play a match against any of those guys, I would gladly be willing to have a match against Eric or another one of their choosing sometime in the future.

[Palomino]

What's the point in discussing a match between Eric and John? It isn't going to happen!

I'm interested in the idea of how you would go about matching up a blitz player vs. a non-blitz player (Whoever they might be.) in some way that proves a player limited to 60 seconds of time is capable of playing at the same level as someone who has 60 minutes to think about their moves.

I don't see a way to keep the blitz player from also using the non-blitz player's time to an advantage.

The idea seems to have some wrinkles that I'm not smart enough to iron out.

Ross Perot would tell us "The Devil is in the details." but if the details could be worked out it would be interesting and It makes me wonder.

Hmm...would Ron King have been successful in defending his title if he had been limited to 60 seconds per game against Sergio Scarpetta in their recent GAYP WCM?

[Eric Strange]

What's the point in discussing a match between Eric and John? It isn't going to happen!

I'm interested in the idea of how you would go about matching up a blitz player vs. a non-blitz player (Whoever they might be.) in some way that proves a player limited to 60 seconds of time is capable of playing at the same level as someone who has 60 minutes to think about their moves.

I don't see a way to keep the blitz player from also using the non-blitz player's time to an advantage.

The idea seems to have some wrinkles that I'm not smart enough to iron out.

Ross Perot would tell us "The Devil is in the details." but if the details could be worked out it would be interesting and It makes me wonder.

Hmm...would Ron King have been successful in defending his title if he had been limited to 60 seconds per game against Sergio Scarpetta in their recent GAYP WCM?

I think the main disadvantage would be running out of time during the game. I am not sure how fast you can really move using clocks, But most players would lose in a drawn game due to the time limit.

As far as the blitz player having some time to think while his opponent is thinking. This is the only thing that somewhat evens up the playing field. This also gives the non blitz player some strategy to consider. If he moves fast also, the blitz player does not have time to think about his move. If he slow plays the game, the blitz player will have time to consider what fast move to make.

Seems like a fun concept.

[waynegober]

Congrats Eric,

A fine win against a tuff group of players.

I have been playing a few games of 1/3 and some 3/2 games. It hurts my wrist physically with the mouse. However, you have about convinced me that fast games could possibly improve the old Okies game. Well, on second thought, about anything would have to improve it, lol.

Anyhow, you deserve recognition for the fine win out there at Dist.9 and hope you can make Dist. 8 again. Sorry I couldn't be there this year.
Had a conflict with the dates.

Wayne Gober

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Eric, my computer was crashed for couple weeks (it was really a wonderful time). Congratulations on your performance !

[Eric Strange]

Thank you to everyone who is wishing me congrats. I did not play as well as I should have, which is mostly in part to my severe lack of PP for 3-move openings. I have a lot to learn and I believe this was a good experience for me. At certain points during the tournament on the last day I had to play 2 players at once due to the fact that I was on a time constraint. John Webster played our games fairly quickly because of this, or the turnout would have probably not been so dramatic. John Webster is a true gentlemen and a respectable player. Above all I was impressed with his sportsmanship. It was an honor to have the opportunity to play against the players that I did, and I hope to have have another opportunity sometime soon.


Thank you,

Eric Strange