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BGonline.org Forums
Practice Problem; PLEASE SHOW YOUR WORK!
Posted By: Matt Cohn-Geier In Response To: Practice Problem; PLEASE SHOW YOUR WORK! (Keene)
Date: Thursday, 11 September 2008, at 6:09 p.m.
re differential counts - I dont know if I am unique in this, but knowing the difference isnt enough for me! I gotta know how long the race is too. Maybe its a quirk of mine.
I tend to do differential counts much more often than I get absolute counts, and have noticed that it's reasonably faster (~10 seconds or less), because I'm doing both counts at the same time. My problem these days is also remembering the absolute counts, which is ironic, because I am getting close to remembering entire games, but can't remember a pip count I did four seconds ago. The only reason I got absolute counts here was 1) Chuck specifically asked for it and 2) it seemed pretty easy to get the absolutes in this position.
The nice thing about a differential or running count is that 99% of the time, it's enough...if anyone has ever seen me play, they know I like to know the race all the time. I.e., I have an anchor plus a checker on the ace point. If I'm behind by 2 pips, I'll bring it up to the anchor, if I'm behind by 12 pips, maybe I'll let it hang back. The absolute count has no weight in this decision. Similarly with a back game, I know if I'm behind by 60 pips, my timing is shaky, if I'm behind by 90 pips, my timing is perfect. I don't need to know that the count is 212 to 124.
I will always get absolute counts in races where I need to make a doubling decision and, for example, apply an 8/9/12 rule, although whether I get a differential and then an absolute or just both absolutes is an open question.
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