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BGonline.org Forums
Responding to David
Posted By: Paul Weaver In Response To: Rick Janowski (David Startin)
Date: Saturday, 26 May 2012, at 1:28 a.m.
Congratations to Rick for getting the highest rating on GridGammon!
David wrote, "I am sure that Rick's error rate is significantly better than many on the list of "Backgammon Giants"." True, if you are referring to the top 64 list, but probably not true if you are referring only to the top 32 list. Years ago, the term "Giants' List" referred only to the top 32, but now, it has come to mean the top 64.
Rick recently gave me his average PR range and almost all of those in the top 32 of the list play with an average PR lower than the number Rick gave me.
There are, however, at least a couple in the top 32 of the list who are, in reality, not among the top fifty players in the world, in terms of average match PRs.
If you look at those who are 33-64 on the list, most are quite competent players, but there are a few who play with astonishing high PRs. I am thinking of one who averages over 8, another who averages over 9 and a third who averages over 10. All three have played in quite a few tournaments over the last couple of years and all three have cashed a few times. Some or all of these three are actually not among the top 300 in the world, yet they appear on the top 64 list.
There was a total of 468 players who received votes. I would have no way of knowing this for sure, but I strongly suspect that many who cast ballots voted for some who are not among the top 400 players. These voters are either seriously uninformed and / or they just voted for people they knew.
There was a total of 167 "valid ballots" received. There were some received that were not deemed valid. Of the 167 that were received, I strongly suspect, but would have not way of proving this, that some were cast by people who are not among the top 100 players.
It is difficult enough for a top 64 player who does a lot of traveling to cast a reasonable ballot. It is hard for me to imagaine how one how is not among the top 100 players who does not travel outside his own country could do a competent job of rating the world's top 32 players.
I have not yet seen the full data of how many times each player's name appears on the ballots, but extrapolating from past years, I can tell you that probably at least ten or twenty of the voters did not put Falafel's name anywhere on the ballot.
It is hard for me to respect a voter as competent if he submits 32 names and Falafel is not one of them.
Who are the most underrated players whose names appear in the 33-64 part of the new list? Othello, at #42 is probably one of the twenty best match players in the world. He plays in Japan and on GridGammon but I believe he has only traveled once outside Japan to play BG. Also, Victor Ashkenazi, at #52, and Mike Svobody, at #54, would be serious favorites (in both matches and in long money sessions) against many (and possibly dozens) of those ranked above them.
The Giants' List, as imperfect as it stands, is good for backgammon. However, if it were a more accurate reflection of the true relative skills of the players (instead of a popularity contest or a list of "Who has been lucky recently?"), it would be even better for backgammon.
I have a couple of ideas that would result in improving the accuracy of the list. If anyone cares to hear them, just ask me.
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