[computer-go] Congratulations to GNU and to MoGoBot19!

[Matt Gokey]

steve uurtamo wrote:
> i think that maybe you misunderstand how byo yomi is used in
> practice.
> 
> you have a giant pile of time that should be enough to account for
> basically all of the hardest parts of the game.
> 
> then you have several (more than 1 !) byo-yomi periods, which are
> like grace periods on top of what would otherwise be sudden death.
> 
> however, you don't enter byo-yomi until you have used all of your
> main time. some people don't ever enter byo-yomi.  you certainly
> can't lose on time unless you're in byo-yomi.
> 
> once you're in byo-yomi, each byo-yomi period is *plenty* of time to
> make and answer the reasonably unchallenging final moves of the game.
> if, however, a challenging move does come up, you can "go over" your
> grace period.
> 
> that's pretty friendly from a sudden-death point of view.
> 
> you're just only allowed to "go over" some maximum number of times
> (often 5 or 10).
> 
> the reality is that if your opponent is playing moves that you can't
> answer using byo-yomi, then he's perhaps trying to beat you with the
> clock, but he's definitely better at the game than you are, and maybe
> you deserve to lose anyway.  it's something that he might do if
> you're in byo-yomi and he isn't.  he wouldn't play moves that he
> didn't know how to answer if he had fewer byo-yomi periods than you
> did, because he'd just be beating himself with the clock.
> 
> all of this adds up to: i think that what you're worried about
> (someone losing on time while having spent less time playing) is
> unusual, or deserved.  here's my thinking.
> 
> the only way this could happen would be if (correct me if there's a
> flaw here):
> 
> both players were into byo-yomi time. player A starts to play moves
> very, very quickly. player B plays moves more slowly (and presumably
> more deliberately).
> 
> at some point, player B plays one or more moves that player A has to 
> think really hard about.  player A goes "overtime" 4 separate times
> during this stage of the game and is left with a single byo-yomi
> period left.  at this point he can take up to 30 seconds (say) for
> every single move that he takes if he wants to.  player B plays a
> very challenging move that player A can't answer in a single byo-yomi
> period and then player A loses on time.
> 
> now, from my way of thinking, there's a sense in which player A
> deserves this -- either he should have spent more of his time
> thinking during the endgame instead of just making quick moves, or
> player B is better at generating and figuring out complicated fights
> (in which case, well, no use crying over losing by time, as that's
> almost the definition of what it means to be good at go).

I'm jumping in here, but how about this? Byo-yomi time is complicated.
Fischer time is simple.  By other factors, I think there are legitimate
pros and cons to both systems, but personally would like Fischer time
better.  Managing your own time whether in chunks or as a whole _is_ a 
sub-game/task either way.

-Matt