Subject: Never won winnables!

VERY difficult game, imo:

Game: 9x2 14526-7;....  Game stats: 21/1/4.8%/1972;....  Player Elo: 2194.464 ▲ 1.758.

And *still* unsolved - altho now nobody going forward will know that, sadly.

It does wreck a nice surprise, doesn't it?

YES!!  A point I've been making since nigh unto eternity.  But that's only a secondary (or maybe even tertiary) objection to his cheating.

I can see why this one has such a low win rate. I had two free columns and my freecell open and that’s when it got tricky! I would imagine overconfidence at that point is what kills.

Go see for yourself!

I was afraid I was gonna be the first one to play this pain in the ass game but it turned out to have been painful for others too.

To get my first free column I had to do something that I had to double check because it seemed like I shouldn’t be able to do it. 

Try it!

It is won now

Game: 4x10 19198-5

Game stats: 7/1/14.3û%

I think that this was one of my most difficult 4x10 games ever:

Game: 4x10 20589-7;....  Game stats: 16/1/6.3%/2040;....  Player Elo: 2193.045 ▲ 2.365.

It brings my current streak to 22, which ties my all time best, yea!!

Tough stuff.

Take that, you dirty game, you!

Game: 6x6 23161-6;....  Game stats: 4/1/25%/1658;....  Player Elo: 2171.393 ▲ 0.396.

To Bangles 

I have now tried your bitch ass game of 10x1 #15694 -10 twice now, but have no desire to try again. I still have no clue how to even clear a column. You can own this game and feel damn proud of yourself.

Congrats 

Outs 

https://www.freecell.net/f/c/view_game_stats.html?var=10x1&diff=10

I declare a 10x1 challenge to one and all, who are geeky enough to be reading this 

My recent play

I'm going to try that other one that Bangles posted.

I keep adding to this post.

I noticed that in Bangles stats for that game, that it was their first 10x1 of the day. Don't you feel like the first game after a break is often very hard?

At the time he posted that game, I 'wondered' what he meant by "had to double check", but decided not to voice that wonderment.  And yes, outskirts - first game after a break are the delight of Denny's evil dealer.

Okay so I played Bangles 15833 game once and it was a fairly easy one. My recent play says I played it twice but I did not. I started it, saved it, came back later and somehow hit replay but I swear I only played it once. No one else has played it and it's now 12/2.

I mean I was dumbfounded that it could work…played it out in my head multiple times before I had the guts to really do it. Like a double take.

But you are here, I have a question for you, TN. You have questioned how much I keep track of in my mind. And I realized I don’t understand your surprise. 

You play 12x0. To win those, you MUST have a plan to have a free column (or two) before you move a card. Right? If not…how in the world do you win so many in a row?? And if you do do it, then sometimes you must run into a game where to get that free column it involves a long series of moves before the column is free.

how do you play if it’s not the way I do??

You haven't been here that long, bangles, but during my (well, my associate TNmountainman's) run for the 12x0 record (since topped by james blackburn-lynch) I documented as I went along - and I stretched it waaay out.  So yes, OF COURSE what you say is true.  And a few times herein the capability of various players to remember X number of moves has been noted (by themselves), and at least a couple of times those numbers of moves stretched credulity.  "It's been a topic", in other words.  And I don't believe I questioned how much you keep track of in your mind.  But the fact that you brought up both "in my head" and "in my mind" makes it seem as tho you were possibly reading *my* mind - or extrapolating into it, no?  Your success in 10x1, 7x4, and 9x2 seems *extremely* impressive.  No way in the world could I approach any of those (longest streak) numbers.

Doing a deep dive into this thread reveals lots of amusing stuff, to me at least.

The number of moves I can see ahead in my head has grown to at least 16, I noticed. And I do miss the "number of moves" feature!!!

Lol @ Brew. I'd assumed his nick alluded to beer, but perhaps it's witch's brew. 

TN,

yes, I knew what you were thinking. Anyone who has been on these boards knows.

by the way, I am James. Thought you knew.

Wow.  No - had NO idea!!! 😲

And welcome back - altho late, I guess....   There's been a couple of times I "took your name in vain" in regards to some musical question or other (math??).  Don't know if you saw those.

Lol. I thought Bangles was female but it was just a not-so-sure feeling so I used a neutral pronoun. 😄 I also have wondered if they were a Bangle. 

I pretended Susanna Hoffs was playing freecell.

With a name like the bangles, you've got to be female.

Maybe she's his wife 😁

Game: 8x3 20291-10;....  Game stats: 3/1/33.3%/1760;....  Player Elo: 2175.009 ▲ 0.673.

Fun game!

Not the most interesting but if you are looking for a bit of a challenge

Game: 4x8 18228-5;....  Game stats: 5/1/20%/1926;....  Player Elo: 2190.251 ▲ 1.445.

This game was extra difficult because I couldn't see the black Aces, and just had to guess, and get lucky!

There is a trick for that. Just flash on the card in front of the aces you can't see, by using the card locator buttons! You're welcome!

I lost to it only once.

THANKS, outskirts!  I wish I had remembered that yesterday, lol.

Game: 9x1 29830-5;....  Game stats: 43/1/2.3%/2196;....  Player Elo: 2276.097 ▲ 3.111.

This must be one of my best ever!

Correction:  One of *OUR* 'best' ever - if there is such a thing when cheating.

Game: 10x0 13576-5;....  Game stats: 21/1/4.8%/2143;....  Player Elo: 2165.916 ▲ 3.78.

This is probably my best ever 1-game 'Elo' increase!?

I REALLY do wish that more players were using cards on difficult games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Especially whenever a personally best streak is at stake.

10x1 game number 15878-5. So OK, this has been won before - stats 92/1. Level 5 games are supposed to be easy, and this is an always winnable variant. Fortunately, I only has a short streak - 10x1 is my nemesis variant, I find it very hard to get a decent streak going. (I don't use cards and haven't for a long time).

That's hairy! I challenge Bangles, and Tony's cards! (& everyone else)

I tried 4 times so far, and plan to try some more, because it's not just hairy, it's fascinating. Later, dudes & dudettes 🤠 

[Edit:  I think it's fairly obvious.......but to be clear......this post was in response to G_G_G's.  outskirts's wasn't yet visible when I posted this.]

😯  Cool - to that last part!  I *believe* that is different from our last discussion of such.  Welcome back to the light!  And a great counterpoint to the post above yours!

And I agree with you about the 10x1s...... 

I thought that comment about cards might get some attention. I hadn't seen TT's post when I posted mine. No, I haven't used cards for a long time, not even when a long streak is at stake. I just spend whatever time it takes. I probably can't think ahead any more moves than anyone else and sometimes after choosing the most likely first sequence of moves without seeing how it will create more freecells it is satisfying and often surprising how it works out. But does anyone else find 10x1's frustrating? Why is that? If you target a high ELO score don't ever play 10x1's would be my advice. (I don't care about ELO score, only streaks)

I do think I used to be better at that variant than now...but yeah, often those games seem to have numbers of ways to bury oneself after a long stretch of moves, when looking as if victory's some mere snap of the fingers.

GGG,

ELO is my focus. That’s why I play 10x1’s. Why? They are the right mix of “worth it” and “relatively easy.” 7x4’s would make more sense purely from worth it because they are baseline around 1700 while 10x1 have a baseline around 1600. But they are so much harder with my play style. With only one FreeCell there are many fewer possibilities that I need to track through. My times on 7x4 are more than twice my 10x1 times.

They just aren’t as fun. I like 9x2’s also but they are a hair more complicated and less worth it.

As for the challenge, it’s hard to get fired up to play a game that is definitely going to take a long to solve but get 0 ELO for because I selected it.

Maybe when I am tired of having too good a time.

I'm of the same sentiment as Brew. I don't know how you get a 99.4 win percent playing 10x1. Mine is 89%. 

I don’t touch a card until I can plan a way to get a free column with my free cell empty. But even that is not enough as I have lost multiple times with that exact situation. If I get two free columns, I feel like I am in the clear. So, the other thing I have developed after losing three in relatively quick succession that way is to make sure my free column does not cost me a very tall pile on top of both red or both black aces or twos and not to allow two large columns (3 or 4 columns) of the same kinds of cards (e.g. black 9 red 8 black 7). Those seem to be the most insoluble issues that come up even with a free column.

The advantage of 10x1 is that there aren’t that many options, relatively.

Also, I only started playing 10x1’s recently. You played, I assume, when they weren’t all winnable.

I think that is what is so fascinating about Goosey's 10x1 game number 15878-5. It has millions of options. 

Game: 5x6 25805-5;....  Game stats: 7/1/14.3%/1986;....  Player Elo: 2284.444 ▲ 1.223, !

Gosh, another one already:

Game: 5x6 19659-5;....  Game stats: 7/1/14.3%/1971;....  Player Elo: 2286.316 ▲ 1.124.

99+% winning percentage on ALL of 10x1, 9x2, 7x4, 13x0, and 8x4 is really, really, really extraordinary.   Of course it's easier (and possible) now that we're in the "Freecell Lite" era........but it's *still* really, really, really extraordinary.

If that’s directed at me, thank you. But I agree it is because of FreeCell Lite. Particularly in 10x1. Hop is ahead of me in essentially every category in every variant. But his win percentage in 10x1 is 98. That’s because, I strongly suspect, he played when unwinnables were waiting for you. thebangles never did. 

Yes, that was directed at ("to", more precisely - but "to him who has ears......", etc.) you.  We know you've got a prodigious math brain, but hey - you've been able to well-harness it to this task.  And apparently........your 'patience'(?) to visualize waay down the road before plunging in is somewhere up in the (unknown) nth percentile.  The marrying of those two gifts/talents is beyond merely "impressive".  Now if you could just learn a little bit of music to flex your right brain's muscle......😂

Wow.  I see you took down that 2/28 game, after an epic fight, apparently.