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Elaborating on Paul's Comments

Posted By: Rick Janowski
Date: Monday, 5 January 2015, at 8:12 p.m.

In Response To: Elaborating on Phil's Comments (Paul Weaver)

I carried out the study of pre-bot backgammon that Paul mentions, and reported the results on bgonline. To summarise:

Before the mid-70s, the absolute best players were playing at a level higher than PR 8.

Paul Magriel with his modern and systematic approach to backgammon, was the catalyst for improving the top level of play to about PR 6 by the mid to late 70s, but only for a handful of players.

By about 1980, Magriel’s two protégés Jason Lester and Roger Low, together with Mike Senkiewicz, were playing at a level very close to 5, improving the level of play mainly through excellent cube play (most other players had cube prs well above 10 at that time and for the next decade).

By the early to mid 90s, before the first bots were released commercially, perhaps a handful of players were pushing the boundary to about PR 4.75. These included Senk, Wilcox Snelling and the late lamented Howard Ring.

After the inception of the bots, I believe Jerry Grandell was the first player to capitalise on their massive potential for improved knowledge and insight. By the mid to late 90s he was certainly playing below PR 4.0 and I think below PR 3.5.

In my view, the above named players (plus a few others no doubt) are the true geniuses of our game, and the only reason that any of us can aspire to higher levels is because they are able to stand on their shoulders.

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