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BGonline.org Forums
What makes a has-been?
Posted By: Chuck Bower In Response To: "Erik Seidel Answers Your Poker Questions" - and two questions related to backgammon (Phil Simborg)
Date: Wednesday, 6 April 2011, at 5:02 p.m.
Seidel's response that backgammon has been solved by the computer and the top players pretty much all play the same is most insightful and hard to refute.
Seidel said "it's kind of a solved game." What does that mean "kind of... solved...?" (BTW, I've always liked Seidel, and still do. And he isn't the only one singing this tune; Robertie's been chiming in for years.)
Was the high jump "kind of solved" by Dick Fosbury in the late 1960's when he revolutionized that event with his new technique? Was the high jump more exciting prior to his invention? Was that event rendered unworthy of serious competition from then on? Was golf "kind of solved" when they replaced the hickory shaft with steel shafts, and the swing perfected by Bobby Jones had to be revamped by young up-and-coming players like Byron Nelson, a swing that is still (with tweaks) in common practice today? (I doubt Jones, who had already retired from competition, whined about the progress.)
I'm tired of the old guard crying in their beers because the edge they (used to think they) had has apparently been taken away because mere mortals have access to strong computer players/tutors. Why don't they just fess up that they no longer have the ambition to pursue that game and have moved on to other pursuits?
There are MANY examples of strong players from the 70's and 80's still playing at the top level. And we have (unfortunately, far too few) new breed players, too. Don't blame YOUR weaknesses on the bots while avoiding looking in the mirror. Your egos helped make you winners; now those same egos are making you look/sound like losers.
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