Why Halloween? Because something scary happened: #1, the Alpha, the capo di tutti capi is a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!
For last few days I was trying to follow developments in top 10 because I was rooting for retrospekcja jeża - he is from my country and I've heard that he is studying something which is my hobby since kindergarten, hence I was really psyched. retrospekcja was slowly closing on Impaller while playing 1v1 against him. I think five or six days ago he even managed to reach #1 but with only 2 points lead over Impaller. I expected him to widen this gap in next days but he lost to Diabolicus and chas. Everything seemed settled for few weeks - Impaller on top like always ...

Today I have opened Warlight expecting minute changes - and what a surprise!

retrospekcja jeża won with Impaller - congratulations!!!well done!!! That would give him #1 if not Diabolicus and chas wrongdoing :-) And if not the stellar performance of bytjie coupled with the fact that one of the very few loses she had just expired !

Still what is really surprising to me is the fact that 24h ago only Impaller was above 2000 points ,today it's 6 players! I am hoping for more horrors like that in the future and I still have not decided for whom I am rooting now : bytjie or retrospekcja jeża ...

What! Not rooting for me? I'm so hurt right now that I might break down and cry.

congratulations!

enjoy the game always~~

I root for you :-)

Wow, you guys really do follow the ladder. I wouldn't even have noticed if someone didn't pm me in a game...

Ladder ratings are rather volatile due to the expiration of old games, so I guess somebody else will soon take the #1 spot... wouldn't it be funny if it happens on Guy Fawkes day?

I'm rooting for everyone who played me recently, because their wins make my ranking go up.

Bytjie is a girl? Is jie Chinese (姐 older sister)?

The problem is that rooting for you Impaller is a thankless job.There is no excitement, no joy and no sorrow because you WILL win in the end anyway :-)
But although you seem impervious to burn-out syndrome there is a possibility that in years to come you will lose the hunger in your eyes and slip first to #10, then to #20 and that people even start doubting that you ever will be able to ascend to top 10.

Then I am going to root for you and celebrate that you've become #1 again !!!!

*quietly sings* "Eye of the Tiger"...

It's at that point that I change my name from "The Impaller" to "Rocky IV"

Rocky III was better, mohawks rule!

I can't find time to watch your game against retrospekcja jeża - whats your impression ? I am guessing it was tough but was it as tough as this one : http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1219741 ?

@ Philippe, yes I am indeed a girl.

Fizzer got top spot now! Congrats Fizzer :)

Wow byt. I've played 2000+ games of risk on pogo.com and 2000+ games on warlight. There are hundreds of girls on pogo. The best merely above average players; it is more or less the same on warlight, though there are fewer girls here. You are the only girl I've come across that I think is truly a good player. I wasn't sure if girl's could play that well...

I was sure they can, the only thing against them was probability.

As an example: 3% of all registered players in Russia are blond, 97% are not blond. How many times smaller is the probability that blond player is going to be chess master of Russia than non blond one? 32.3 times smaller !

I estimate that roughly the same figures correspond with how many girls and boys are playing Warlight. That means that we are really lucky that we found girl able to play that good now, and not in, lets say , 5 years.

As for bytjie now being second - bytjie when I made that prediction month ago in another thread that you will rise to #1 before Christmas I was

1. playing it safe - I suspected you would done it sooner ( although not THIS soon :-)
2.basing my prediction not on a hunch or affection to girls in general but on your games in ladder - there was certain beauty in your play, deadly beauty.

All being said there was no chance for you to stay for very long on top though - you are not Impaller ( not yet ).

On the other hand you might be back #1 tomorrow when your loss against bostonfred expires.

Out of curiosity where are you from bytjie?

I'm from South Africa. It would be interesting to see how that adds to your probability calculations ;)

I don't think it has to do with probability, as if men and women are equal in all ways. There are key differences: (1) chemical differences, (2) evolutionary differences, based on cultural traits/habits/abilities developed/expected over thousands of years, which affect long-term (over thousands of years) mental development.

Women TEND to excel at certain things men TEND to do poorly or less well, and vice versa.

Take shopping. I'm a hunter. I know what I want. I know where it is. I go get it. I don't touch it or try it on. Once I got it, I take it home. My wife is a gatherer. She doesn't know what she wants. She window-shops. She touches, smells, rubs, looks in the mirror, asks questions, tries things on (as if trying to determine if the berries gathered are ripe enough to pick yet). If I go shopping with my wife my head hurts. I feel tired, bored, brain freezes. It is painful. My brain is not wired to do that and enjoy it.

@bytjie
Initially I thought that you are from one of the English speaking countries, which one made no real difference to me. Only when I've reread Philippe Auguste post "Is jie Chinese (姐 older sister)?" I had a moment of doubt thinking that maybe he is right on the money and you are in fact Chinese ...

As to probability calculations - no effect.

But it does make you even more exotic to me - I am imagining you seating right now at the beach in Amanzimtoti, playing a vuvuzela to fend off the sharks from the shore ( the orphans from Lesotho that are in your care are scared easily ), reading "The Art of War" and making moves in your match against retrospekcja jeża .

btw. congratulations - you back on top even before the bostonfred match expired !
can't wait for the one with retrospekcja jeża to end - I'll have to watch it !!!

@Philippe Auguste

"If I go shopping with my wife my head hurts. I feel tired, bored, brain freezes. It is painful. My brain is not wired to do that and enjoy it." - I feel exactly like that when I am shopping with my wife for groceries, vegetables and stuff like that. The "hunter"/"gatherer" behavior in this situation is similar as well. But when we are shopping for something of a different emotional value for me and her, its different.
The thing is that for me tomato is a tomato - if is not rotten its ok; my wife wants it to look good, to smell nice and so on.

When we shop for lets say computer parts, the "hunter"/"gatherer" behavior is reversed. I am "gatherer" - I ask questions, touch, rub, look through manual, check on-line for reviews. She just buys what an expert advised her - she comes, gets it and goes home. For her processor is a processor - if not, fried its ok :-)

Concluding: I think "hunter"/"gatherer" behavior is not gender related but emotion/lack of emotion towards the shopped item related.

When the hunter is inspecting his arrows and spearheads, he is meticulous. When he is looking at berries (lol), he is not. When the gatherer is looking at berries, she does so with actual interest. When she is looking at the hunter's tools, she cares less.

cheers to all of you,
its not only about the game,
get a piece of real life too,
sorry for my "drink behaviour" but i have too, see you later ;-)

4 ↑ 16 Mian 2049

Good job Mian..

I'm sure Creeping_death is eager to know how you managed to 'cheat' to get up there ;)

Congratulations