Author: Russell Reagan
Date: 21:53:28 11/12/02
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I'll take pondering the correct move the great majority of the time over your rare cases any day. Almost every example you have given is an exception to the rule. You use the example of if you have 1 second left to finish the game. In that case, you lose, plain and simple. No pondering scheme is going to save you there. Let's say that we were going to play a game. The game is simple. We both pick a gun, and we take turns shooting at each other. You can choose between a pistol or a bb gun. The pistol is loaded with 3 bullets, and 1 chamber is empty, so you have a 75% chance of shooting a bullet. The bb gun will shoot a bb every time. Which gun are you going to choose? Obviously you should choose the pistol. Even though you only have a 75% chance of shooting a bullet, it only takes one. You can shoot me with the bb gun all day long and I'll go home with some bruises. You simply won't go home. Your method of starting threads and pondering more than one move is like choosing the bb gun. It will do SOMETHING 100% of the time, but what it does is less effective than the alternative. The method of only pondering one move is like choosing the pistol. It will only work 75% of the time, but when it does, it is VERY effective.
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