Question About How Ladders Function

Ladders
1

Hello all!

Recently I have decided to start participating in ladders (and quite a few at that), but I am having trouble understanding some of the features behind them. Most of these questions will be answered with experience in the ladders, but I have one specific question to ask: Suppose I was #50 in the ladder and I were to beat #40. Would I automatically slide to #39 in the ladder or do I have to play and beat everyone in between #50 and #40. Probably a pretty obvious question but thank you for your time and help with me on this one!

Thanks sincerely,
“GoBoard” (@_GoBoard)

2

I’m no expert on ladders but I am quite sure that in order to become #39 you’d have to beat the current #39, not the current #40.

I’m also quite sure that by transitive property, beating #x-y implies you’d also have beaten #x, therefore you only have to beat one person.

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3

We have documentation for the ladder. Maybe that will answer some of your not written questions.

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4

Thank you @smurph, In that case I don’t have to challenge everyone in the large ladders :joy: like I have been doing.

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Thank you @flovo, I will read through that.

6

On the up side… all those extra games is good for you XD.

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7

The people you can challenge are highlighted. This induce you don’t have to go 1 by 1. If you win one you take his place and everyone below (with him included) lose 1 place

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8

Yes, good for the practice!!

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9

Thank you for the verification, @violaine, as soon as I finish my current ladder games I will begin going that route instead of one by one!

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10

My experience with the ladder so far is that you keep going up just by not timing out. :stuck_out_tongue:
When I reach a high enough level, I’ll probably have to start wining some actual games.

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11

You were unlucky as this is not my experience at all

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12

True, though the people I’m challenging are going up by an equal amount, so I’ll still make progress by winning those games. :slight_smile:

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13

I’m exaggerating a bit :wink:
But I do keep going up due to people above me dropping out of the ladder by timing out.

It’s getting slower though, there’s less people above me, and the proportion of players who are determined enough to not drop out is probably higher.

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14

This certainly works when you are lower down the ladder. If you are higher up and not challenging then you drift down as people leapfrog over you. This implies that there is some kind of dynamic equilibrium state/position somewhere in the middle where you are just subject to a kind of brownian motion. Would any stats nuts care to figure out where on the ladders that position is?

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15

I think I might have just reached it (around 800th for the 19x19 ladder).
But feel free to run a more rigorous experiment. :stuck_out_tongue:

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16

Yeah.
I struggle to stay in the top 100, but the slow sliding down is incessant and disarming.
I already compared it to the Sisyphus legend.

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