[blml] Thai braking [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[Herman De Wael]

richard.hills at immi.gov.au wrote:
> Herman De Wael:
> 
>> The problem Richard describes has many solutions, but one of the
>> main drawbacks I see is this one:
>>
>> Why stop there? Why not also create a difference between 0 points
>> and 10 points difference (currently both 0IMP). And then, why not
>> create a difference between 2S+1 and 3S= (currently both 140)?
> 
> Richard Hills:
> 
> Okay, let me see if I can follow Herman's objection.  He seems to be
> suggesting that it is a "main drawback" to improve a _bad_ scoring
> method to a _better_ scoring method because a _best_ scoring method
> is not being adopted instead.  Ergo, Herman seems to be arguing that
> zero improvement is preferable to partial improvement.
> 
> Well, at least I cannot answer this De Wael argument with my constant
> cry of "petitio principii".  Perhaps "reductio ad absurdum"?
> 
> :-)
> 

Yes indeed. Getting changes like this adopted by committees who are 
basically conservative is a lot of work. No need to do half jobs then. 
The main point this is trying to "solve" is the rounding. There is 
then no need to go to a system that just puts the rounding in another 
place. First you need to see if rounding is really that bad, and if 
you think it is, do away with it altogether!

My main point of contention with the current system of counting is 
that it is so terribly complicated! Try and explain this to any 
non-bridge player and you'll get big eyes indeed. And the 
complications are there to solve problems that existed in the past, 
but no longer apply today. Why indeed do we want to have a 30-point 
VP-scale? We clearly don't want to just tally wins and losses, that's 
certain. But why limit a win to 25? In a good competition, everybody 
plays everybody, and with the same boards! So why not do away with a 
scale that is basically just a linear transformation from the 
IMP-difference.

And then to go one better - do we really need the IMP-transformations? 
Yes, we do, because we feel that the scoring table overvalues games 
and slams in realtion to overtricks. But could we not do the same by 
altering the scoring table instead?

I believe that for the sake of simplicity, a few small changes in the 
scoring table should be accepted, making all further translations 
(IMPs and VPs) unnecessary. You could come off the table, add all your 
total points, and compare with the total points from the other table 
and decide you've won the match by 370 points!


-- 
Herman DE WAEL
Antwerpen Belgium
http://www.hdw.be