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Tartrate Number
   

Go players can brag about their Shusaku Number. KGS players can brag about their tartrate numbers. tartrate has a tartrate number of 0. If you have played a game with tartrate, your tartrate number is 1. If you have played a game with someone whose number is 1, your number is 2, and so on.

What's your tartrate number?

(Note: You must have played someone who played tartrate *after* they played tartrate to actually get a tartrate number. If you play someone who then later plays tartrate, you will not get a tartrate number that way).

Dieter: Why is that ?

Dansc: I really don't understand this, either...

The idea comes from the famous mathematician, Paul Erdös (air-dish). If you wrote a paper with Erdös, your Erdös number was one. see [ext] http://www.oakland.edu/~grossman/erdoshp.html

Dieter: That we understand. In fact I brought the idea to Go myself, creating the Shusaku number. It's the note we don't understand.

Velobici: The note above means that Tartrate numbers are not retroactive. For example, if Jim plays Bob and then at a later time Bob plays Tartrate, Jim does not have a Tartrate number. Jim must play Bob again in order to get a Tartrate number of 2 by playing Bob. Of course, Jim is not limited to playing Bob; Jim could even play Tartrate himself.

Dieter: Definitely I am not making myself very clear, although it really doesn't matter: it was just a silly question on a silly subject. I obviously understand the mechanism, but I do not see why it is more valuable to play someone after he has played tartrate than before. If this is also the way the Erdos number works, then I understand it is mere transposition of the mechanism but I still don't see the point.

Velobici: Perhaps the matter is one of prominence. Once a mathematician has co-authored a paper with Paul Erdös, he has achieved a certain level of prominence. Before that, he's just another doctor of mathematics. So co-authoring a paper with him after he gets his Erdös number is more prestigious that co-authoring with him before that. But this is just rampant speculation on my part ;).

EscapeGoat?: My understanding is that this is actually not a requirement of Erdös numbers. In other words if A writes a paper with B, and later B writes a paper with Erdös, A now has an Erdös number of 2. I think my feeling is confirmed by the explaination on [ext] http://www.oakland.edu/~grossman/erdoshp.html. I also seem to recall mathematicians trying to figure out the Erdös number of historical figures (like Euler), which of course could only make sense without this rule.


kungfu:

I've managed to get a tartrate number of two. This means the only way for me to advance is to now play tartrate. Likely? Well, I *do* have a tartrate number of 2 :) tartrate (0) - breakfast (1) - taiji (2). tartrate (0) - Solaris (1) - taiji (2).

I suggest kyu players look down TheCaptain's path, while high dans might look down Galileo's games for an answer.

-kungfu

Heh, that may not be necessary. ZeroKun played an even game with tartrate. He sure put up a good fight. :-) --BlueWyvern


Tropsy:

If playing people before they actually played tartrate was allowed, I'd have a tartrate number of 2, since I played ZeroKun... But since it doesn't work, I guess I'll have to do some reasearch... Maybe my tartrate number is infinite(haven't played anyone who has a tartrate number of his own), who knows...


Migeru: Rats! I played Solaris7d? at 10 am on April 14, and he played Tartrate at 9pm on the same day! There goes my Tartrate number of 2...


FFLaguna: I have a Tartrate Number of 2, thanks to ZeroKun. ^.^


Dansc: I think my Tartrate Number is 3.

tartrate (0) - Galileo (1) - Tsurukame (2) - Dansc (3)


IanVanSice : i think everyone has a tartrate number of 2 or 3, because of zerokun, i know i do. :)


cubyrop : Don't forget that a whole gaggle of kyu-level players, myself included, played tartrate in a simul game. If you don't count that game, then bear in mind that it's arguably as difficult to get a game with ZeroKun as it is with Tartrate ;)



This is a copy of the living page "Tartrate Number" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.