The Authoritative Minesweeper Guestbook

Feel free to chat, make suggestions, or tell your scores!


10/17/02 03:09:52 PM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Congrats, Brian! Welcome to the club
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10/17/02 02:07:32 PM  
Name: Elmar Zimmermann
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: outsch!
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10/17/02 01:24:56 PM  
Name: Lasse Nyholm
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: nothing really, compared to the 42 I missed a couple hours later. www.oek.dk/~lanyje/minesweeper/pics/missed42.jpg - Lanyjé
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10/17/02 01:16:28 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Whats so extraordinary about a 43, Lasse?
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10/17/02 01:12:23 PM  
Name: Stephan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Congrats to Brian, admiration for Lasse - und ein herzliches Willkommen an Tobias!
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10/17/02 12:27:03 PM  
Name: Tobias Baensch
Best expert: 91
Best intermediate: 28
Best beginner: 3
Comments: Hope to get under 90 seconds next month... this page is a real motivation by reading the World Records!!! Greetings to all you Minesweepers, who also have the problem that your mind is so full of this game that you've all the images in mind while going to sleep (and damaged fingers too...)!!!
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10/17/02 10:01:40 AM  
Name: Lasse Nyholm
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: just got my fourth 43 - 3BV 139, could/should have been a new record if I had just played a bit better strategically/logistically in the last part of it. Well see for yourself on the video. - Lanyjé
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10/17/02 06:53:48 AM  
Name: Brian Cornell
Best expert: 58!
Best intermediate: 17
Best beginner: 2
Comments: Just got a 58, breaking my old record of 60. It sure feels nice being a member of the sub-60 club.
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10/16/02 02:26:27 PM  
Name: Manu
Best expert: 59
Best intermediate: 12
Best beginner: 1
Comments: Today I got : 19*2 ; 18 ; 17 ; 16 ; 4*66 ; 68 but also a missed 57 ( 2 clicks left... )
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10/16/02 01:57:19 PM  
Name: Jarad Kevorkian
Best expert: 63
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Haven't written in a while, but I am still reading. I am in a bad slump right now. I feel like my speed has grown but I just cant get that sub 60, its really starting to piss me off. Had a couple games that shoulda beat it but I screwed it up with stupid guesses. Been stuck at 63 for about 3 months. What does everyone think about the internet minesweeper that I read about from the addicts page for $9.90. I'd be down for doing that.
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10/16/02 07:00:56 AM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Chess is a deadly game. I should play it more oftan!!
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10/15/02 03:40:38 PM  
Name: David Barry
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I played some chess on Yahoo Games a few years back, and had a rating of about 1900. I would be lucky if my actual rating was 1000. I could probably get that up to the mid-1500's, but I don't have the time at the moment to study lots of chess... I don't have enough to play much minesweeper, though I did get a 62 the other week.
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10/15/02 01:21:26 PM  
Name: Roli
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Great job Georgi and also congrats to Elmar for his 52 on Intermediate! I made my forediploma in anorganic chemistry today, too! With a 3.0 though. Greetings, Roli!
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10/15/02 04:40:32 AM  
Name: Elmar Zimmermann
Best expert: 66
Best intermediate: 19
Best beginner: 2
Comments: hi guys! finally i'm through with all my exams for this semester. it's been 5 long almost minesweeper free weeks. (except for some scores for AR) right now i'm trying to get my int score down. i'm keeping my arms warm by juggling. got 52 contacts with 4 balls yesterday. hopefully i'll get back to you later with some new scores to report. Elmar
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10/15/02 02:24:53 AM  
Name: Mikael Jonker
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Those two addresses works, thanks. I was trying http://case.twobit.net, which is how it's linked from this site.
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10/15/02 01:36:16 AM  
Name: damien
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: hey gareth...i once did 28 on beginner...i have a pic somewhere. 25 is insane..i just had some lucky guesses.
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10/15/02 01:35:14 AM  
Name: Stephan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Mikael, there shouldn't occur accessing problems neither with http://www.active-ranking.de.vu nor with http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~bechtel/ranking/
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10/15/02 01:21:05 AM  
Name: Mikael Jonker
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Does anyone else have problems accessing the active ranking page? I haven't been able to access it since Friday.
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10/14/02 05:22:27 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I like my new photos at the yahoo page! And i love my new photo at the yahoo page from 1986!
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10/14/02 03:23:43 PM  
Name: Maxy macmac
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I like sandwiches!
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10/14/02 10:25:04 AM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Daniel: I play a lot of chess on the internet. I've played about 5000 games over the past years on Yahoo Chess. Mostly quick games, i.e. 5 min per player per game. My rating usually hovers around 1700, although I'm told that 1700 on Yahoo roughly corresponds with 1500-1600 for a club player.
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10/14/02 10:14:27 AM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: nice improvements in Minesweeper though
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10/14/02 10:13:33 AM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: You're a far better chess player than Minesweeper in my opinion Daniel. That's an incrediable rating. You didn't get in contact with me during the Summer. I'm in 2nd year in Sallynoggin College studying to become a personnal trainer and sports therapist! Send us a mail. P.S I dig you Steffen!
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10/14/02 06:37:51 AM  
Name: Daniel Lynch
Best expert: 88
Best intermediate: 18
Best beginner: 3
Comments: Finally, I managed to get a (not really) semi-respectable expert score. I got it from 97=>88. Recently I got my Intermediate down from 22=>18. I'm a no flagger but only because I hadn't realised about double clicking... I can't wait to see if it brings down my expert time. All I need is about 15 seconds to make the Big League table. Wish me luck. Are there any other chess players who minesweep? My rating is 1800ish. (Owen... were you doing the LC this year?)
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10/14/02 04:02:15 AM  
Name: Stephan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Great job Georgi! That record was really overdue!
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10/14/02 01:47:20 AM  
Name: Roelof Smit
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Great job Georgi!
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10/13/02 10:20:03 PM  
Name: Gareth
Best expert: 86
Best intermediate: 25
Best beginner: 2
Comments: What's the record for most dense 8x8 custom board solved? My best is 25 mines
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10/13/02 05:36:34 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Your last messages´ P.S. is what i have related to, Owen.
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10/13/02 03:37:33 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Good job Georgi! I sure hope that I am not in a 9 month slump right now, but that is what it feels like. I want to be on that top 100 before new-years.
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10/13/02 03:35:16 PM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Well done Georgi What's this I do Steffen?
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10/13/02 02:55:34 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Great Job! Next big jump will hopefully not wait that long again! I hardly played the last days. Got a personal minesweepercrisis , may be i ll do like owen does.
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10/13/02 02:17:20 PM  
Name: Georgi
Best expert: 73 ---> 66 !!!
Best intermediate: 17
Best beginner: 2
Comments: Well, well.... After a lot of missed would-be-records and some sub-70 possibilities, I finally did it - a beautiful 66 board-133 3bv http://www.geocities.com/joro100/screenshots/GKermekchiev66.png More than one year ago I've made jump from 80 to 74 and then stucked there for 9 months. Before this 66 I had 63 sub-80 games. I knew sub-70 was close By the way few day ago I've got my second 17(Int)
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10/13/02 08:28:52 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Think i have to practise then... hehe! 280 really is very fast!
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10/13/02 07:49:31 AM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: OK Steffen ! We don't count the tempo the same way : on your site the tempos are indicated twice faster than the way I count. I mean that if you select "220" on your site, the music is played at 110. That is the tempo I can play at the moment. On my CD, it is played at 280 ( 140 )
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10/13/02 06:51:31 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I think one has to play the maple leaf rag very quickly . At this site http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?iTarget=http%3A//www.wholenote.com/cgi-bin/page_view.pl%3Fl%3D24%26p%3D2 i guess my tempo would be at 200-210... But it sounds bad if i try to do even faster. Seems there is my limit.
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10/13/02 03:26:04 AM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Thanks guys ! Paul, what do you think is the correct tempo to play "Maple leaf Rag" ? On the CD I have, it's played around 140, but it seems impossible to do. As I am more used to play classical music than Rag, I thought it was the normal speed... Another thing : is it forbidden to play this music with previous knoledge of the score, like in minesweeper ?
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10/12/02 03:00:47 PM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Such a GREAT night yesterday and tonight I have woes on my mind from the unfinished business from the day before. Bad night tonight. Left for home early at 10.30 but I'm off in a while for some beer and poker with my home boys. WHy? P.S I never play minesweeper any more. the game has hit a metamorphic rock.
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10/12/02 01:52:57 PM  
Name: Brian Cornell
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I'm a big ragtime fan. Although the Entertainer and The Maple Leaf Rag are both well known, I enjoy a lot of his other works. Try listening to the Fig leaf Rag, the Magnetic Rag, or the New Rag. Download the version played by Joshua Rifkin. He has made the best ragtime recordings. I enjoy playing the works of Joplin on the piano. Espcially Elite Syncopations. The Cascades sounds good fast too.
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10/12/02 01:30:39 PM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I've also played The Entertainer. A simplified version, though... The original is a bit too difficult for me (as, I suppose, it would be.. I started playing the piano a year ago). I also played the Chet Atkins version on guitar a few years ago. Coincidentally, I bought a Scott Joplin cd only last week
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10/12/02 12:45:28 PM  
Name: Paul
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: You've reminded me of my favourite Scott Joplin quote (like I know *so* many things he said!), "ragtime should never be played fast" (does that make it the opposite of how we play Minesweeper?). Mind you, the piano roll versions of Maple Leaf Rag that I've heard (played by Joplin himself) have generally been quite quick. On the piano (well, keyboard), the only rag I know any of is The Entertainer, but I've never put in the time to learn the final two sections (probably my favourite parts of the piece). On the guitar, however, I do play the Maple Leaf Rag (in C) which I tend to race through. That's mostly due to the fact I occasionally use it as a warming up piece, as opposed to something that I want to make sound good. A recommendation for a Joplin rag that I'd say sounds great when played at high speed; Original Rags - though I don't know how easy/difficult a piece it is (on the piano, anyway).
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10/12/02 10:20:20 AM  
Name: Stefan Pettersson
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I'm looking for a few people interested tp beta-test my new minesweeper game. It is developed with the original MS minesweeper in mind and has the same functionality and controls. However, the game (the executable file) itself is packed and encrypted to prevent tampering and it features an online highscore (score submission is also encrypted to prevent modification). Besides this it is also "skinnable". Experienced minesweeper players are prefered. If you're interested, send a mail to stefpet@algonet.se and tell me a little bit about yourself (please tell me your best beginner/intermediate/expert scores).
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10/12/02 10:07:08 AM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I know there are pianists here... Who has ever tried to play "Maple Leaf Rag" ( Scott Joplin ) ? It's Sooooo Hot when you try to play it very fast !
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10/12/02 03:11:00 AM  
Name: Roelof Smit
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: It isn't a final decision Manu, it's just provisionally. We can change it into a 9 if it is accepted as a world record. Till then, the 15 stands.
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10/12/02 02:50:56 AM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Thanks Dan. Roli's 9 wasn't counted so I personally consider that the WR is now 11. Congrats to Sriram who was first to complete in 11 sec an inter board ( a 36 3BV one that wasn’t known before ). If it has been decided that a board completed with the previous knowledge mustn’t count, let’s be logical and give Matt a 12. I find it unfair, but that is what our absence of decision leads to.
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10/11/02 06:17:16 PM  
Name: Dan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Active ranking has been updated.
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10/11/02 03:42:18 PM  
Name: Matt
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Yes I watched my 14 video many times, but certainly not hundreds....more like 20, at the most
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10/11/02 12:56:02 PM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: What are you all trying to say ? Matt already explained that he knew the DB by heart, as he had watched his first video 100s of times ! How is it possible to watch a video 100s of times and not beeing able to remember the exact place for the 40 mines ? All players now know how to play this board, must we play it a way that makes the others think that we had never saw it before ? It has always seemed obvious to me that Matt ( like Roli ) took advantage of the knoledge he had of the board. It's normal and logical. There is nothing we can do to avoid it. Our idea of minesweeper is simply dead ( at least for inter ). Let's create another game, with no bug, as I've already said in the addicts-group.
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10/11/02 08:02:54 AM  
Name: Dan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Matt, Elmar and Marc are correct. Either you decided to risk taking a 50/50 guess or you used prior knowledge(probably unintentional). The point is that someone playing the dreamboard for the first time does not know there is a 3-1-3 pattern in the corner. At the time you placed the flag below the 1 you only saw the 1-3 and did not know about the other 3.
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10/11/02 07:55:59 AM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Yep. What Elmar said. You made the flag before you saw the whole of the pattern.
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10/11/02 01:00:46 AM  
Name: Elmar Zimmermann
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Matt, of course i know what a 3-1-3 pattern is. the point is, in you 10s vid you mark that mine BEFORE you can see the 3-1-3 pattern. Elmar
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10/10/02 07:20:55 PM  
Name: Active Ranking
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: **** Deadline Friday @ 20:00 GMT/ 4PM EDT ****
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10/10/02 06:12:02 PM  
Name: Matt
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Owen, I dont believe that anyone will ever get a repeat expert board cycle simply because of the incredible number of unique boards. And even if a cycle did repeat, there's no way you could recognize it like you can on int. Elamr/Marc, Are you guys looking at the same dreamboard I am? Are you looking at the same 3-1-3 pattern in the bottom left corner? If the mine below the 1 were in a different spot (either left one square or right one square), the numbers would be a 2-1-3, or 3-1-2. That pattern, albeit not as common as 121 or 1221, is the same in that there is only one way that those mines can possibly lined up to form a 3-1-3 pattern like that.
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10/10/02 04:20:40 PM  
Name: Grzegorz Górny (POLAND)
Best expert: 67
Best intermediate: 22
Best beginner: 3
Comments: Is there any shortcut to active ranking or new page for active ranking. (( i left home because i must study now and my mouse stays home. On the other mouses i can't even get a sub'80 on expert. ((
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10/10/02 10:59:33 AM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I meant Matt's 10 and Roli's 9
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10/10/02 10:57:17 AM  
Name: Owen
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I love your sarcasm Roelof! This whole discussion is frustrating as it questions every aspect of what Minesweeper is, how you should play it and what is counted as a legitamate record. Quite annoying to say the least. If the dreamboard should be disallowed for record purposes then you may as well discount Dan's 11 board and myself and Matt's 12 board too. You could also throw in many of Matt's 12 boards too if you wanted and keep going till eventually you were left with a whole load of boards that were quite similar in how quickly they can be played. How can this be done? Who would decide? Why would you bother? There's always going to be boards somewhat better that some others. This would just ruin the game of Minesweeper. I would also like to point out that as this guestbook evolves and enlargens, more and more videos of Expert's best boards will crop up. These boards will in turn be memorised or embedded into players' subconsious. This will result in certain shortcuts in play as in Matt's and Roli's 9 and 10 respectively. It has only happened to Intermediate first as more Intermediate boards are played in every hour and more boards are also completed every hour. Eventually this " corruption " will spread to Expert I do believe. The only logical conclussion is that you accept Roli's 9 as a world record or try devise a number of points that outline the legitamaticy of any completed game as a valid time or record. I haven't read many posts below but a glanced the notion of having a board of judges or something similar. Sounds outrageous Sounds necessary! Good Luck
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10/10/02 10:04:28 AM  
Name: Roelof Smit
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Intermediate????? Haha, no Anthony, just kidding: congrats!
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10/10/02 08:38:53 AM  
Name: Anthony Rushing
Best expert: 94
Best intermediate: 17
Best beginner: 02
Comments: I wanted to post my intermediate time on the site because I just got it two days ago (sep. 08 2002) and am pretty excited, but I can't open up outlook express. If you could reply with your address that would be great. I've still got 7 seconds to go, but it'll happen one day. GREAT SITE, i love to compare times with the best!!! Lata, Anthony
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10/10/02 01:42:30 AM  
Name: Elmar Zimmermann
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
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Comments: I agree with Marc. it could've been a mistake. but Matt, weren't you the one who said he'd watched the video of the dreamboard thousands of times? again correct me if i'm wrong. but if that's true, you definetly had recognized the board at that late point of the game (8s had already passed). that 3-1-3 pattern is especially easy to remember. so to me it looks like you marked that mine, because you knew what the bottom left corner looks like. well, maybe you just wanted to take a guess, which i sometimes to as well to be faster. but if i had been in that position(not knowing the board) and wanted to take a guess, i would've clicked in the bottom left corner. that is the faster choice if you want to take a guess than marking a mine (or in your case even two)and doubleclick on the one. choosing the slower variant suggests that you recognized that particular corner and not a simple pattern. Elmar
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10/10/02 12:21:23 AM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
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Comments: Actually, Matt, I think Elmar is right. I hadn't noticed it before, because I didn't watch your video all that much. But it's true that the mine could have just as easily been located directly below the three, instead of one square to the left. You can eliminate the three mines to the left of that one on the corner, but there still remains a 50-50 guess when it comes to the two squares below the three and the one. Of course, it could have been a mistake. I often make mistakes that turn out ok and I think that's fine. But if marking that mine *was* based on prior knowledge, then Elmar is right in saying that there's really no difference between your 10 and Roland's 9.
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10/09/02 10:49:09 PM  
Name: damien
Comments: thanks matt...i still think some general rules will be needed for serious ranking but i agree that too many rules won't necessarily benefit anyone. one thought i kind of like is only to allow a person's first record on a particular board. for instance, i got an 18 on it three years ago, so i'd never be allowed to claim a record score on it again. as well, i've already had a replay of my 11 board (but i played it slower) but if i had gone faster it wouldn't count. only problem is people who hear about repeating boards and watch the videos before they get it the first time.

10/09/02 05:40:04 PM  
Name: Matt
Best expert: 51
Best intermediate: 10
Best beginner: 1
Comments: Elmar, Your comment about how placing a flag on the middle mine in the 3-1-3 pattern on the dreamboard is somehow using foresight and recalled memory of the board is way off. Think about it...is there any other possible spot where the 1 could be? It's simple pattern recognition. I am in a bit of consternation now because the arguments that I am bringing up against Roli can very well be applied to my 10. The obvious solution (obvious as in blatant, not as in correct) is to disallow the dreamboard from int records. This is highly unreasonable because there are at least 4 or 5 boards that have a lower 3bv than the dreamboard (lowest 26?) and by eliminating one board from contention, the whole level is meaningless. On the other hand, creating a whole new list for records achieved on the dreamboard (it's as if they are being treated as second-class citizens ) is also unreasonable simply because of the complexity involved in devising new rankings and even simply constructing the lists. Do I have a solution? No, can't say that I do, but I dont like the growing list of contingencies for accepted records looming on the horizon.
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10/09/02 03:46:20 PM  
Name: Nigel nothingdude
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Comments: My ass is the only one who gives a shit! I find it quite funny that the world records are now in doubt thanks to the very videos which where used to prove their worth! classic!!!!
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10/09/02 03:14:59 PM  
Name: Anonymous Surfer
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments:
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10/09/02 02:14:54 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
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Comments: Congrats on the 66 Roli! I must appologize for my poll in the addicts group. It was quite unfair and contained no choice wherby DBs could be accepted. I have altered the poll concurently. As a result, all prior votes were deleted. Please vote again! To he or she whom is called "who cares...": What is your problem? I think that we all can agree that Roli did what he did assuming (whether that was a correct assumption or not) that it was not cheating. he thought that he was just doing what Matt did, but being smarter about it. He is not a cheater; however, his style may well, in light of current debate, be considered cheating. Even when this happens, Roli still will not be a cheater (it is like using steroids in the Olympics before they were banned by the IOC). Besides this, your assertion that Roli memorized his new 66 expert board is a poor attempt at irony and is, I must say, the most blatent sign of vulgar stupidity ever displayed in this guestbook.
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10/09/02 01:21:46 PM  
Name: Mikael
Best expert:
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Comments: Thanks for your vote of confidence, Marc You are correct, Damien. I didn't have the dreamboard at hand when I looked at my screenshot. I just recognized some of the patterns from the DB so I just assumed it was that board.
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10/09/02 12:31:31 PM  
Name: damien
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: btw, Mikael, your 14 board is not the dreamboard...well, not exactly. your first click must have been on the mine located under the smiley face on the normal version because it got shifted to the top left corner. actually, your board is one click easier to complete than the dreamboard. also, btw, 97 and 98 are correct...andrew is studying in germany and asked to be listed for that, and yes, kirchner is american. that's amusing.
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10/09/02 11:56:22 AM  
Name: who cares...
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: just curious: a) how often did you play the same board before getting 66 on it? b) how do you call the use of a bug (oh its a feature i know... )?
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10/09/02 11:43:22 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Didnt say u cheat!
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10/09/02 11:17:13 AM  
Name: Roli
Best expert: 66! [:)s]
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Thought so that YOU don´t see a difference there, Steffen! And by the way, I don´t know, if I already mentioned it, I don´t cheat!
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10/09/02 09:44:05 AM  
Name: Christian
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Hi! Nice Site here! I always looked for something like this. But there are so many tricks on minesweeper (like slowing counterspeed etc.) that any highscore is just funny and not really interesting or representing. So thank you for this fan page and go on sweeping! CU Christian -And your brain will never stop sweeping -
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10/09/02 09:32:04 AM  
Name: Roelof Smit
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Nice idea about the minesweeper congress. Sorry, I haven't read all the messages again, because I'm very busy. Maybe we should have like 4 permanent members and 3 exchanging members (every 6 months or something). Just an idea - maybe someone else brought it up already. I would guess the permanent members should be representatives of the main minesweeper sites (Damien, Matt and Dan/Stephan/myself - I'd say Dan, given his prominent position in the community and his place on the rankings) and the best player in the world (Lasse).
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10/09/02 09:30:14 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: In my opinion there is actually no differnce between marking all the 40 mines of the dreamboard and do it in 5 or 6 seconds and -by using the knowledge of the board- play and then mark the mines one could not have known before (the normal way). By acknowledge matts 10 we now have the problem that we will have to acknowledge Roli 9 and in some days someones 5 or 6... If we do so Int will mean nothing. If we dont do so and dont furthermore acknowledge matts 10, it will also mean nothing in a way. May be "our congress" writes our problem to the planning development of microsoft for Windows 2004 or so. Happy memorizing! P.S.: Keine Macht den Minecheaters!
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10/09/02 08:54:50 AM  
Name: Stephan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I decided to keep playing intermediate just for my own joy, with the goal to be able to finish every fast board (say <35 3BV) in less than 15 seconds. I'm far from that, but got at least a 16 today.
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10/09/02 08:35:10 AM  
Name: Jon
Best expert:
Best intermediate: 30
Best beginner:
Comments: Damn this sucks yesterday i tried to get the dreamboard just so i could mark all 40 mines beforehand to prove a point, i had been doing this for a while untill it got tedious and i decided to play. I stopped paying attention to the board layouts and before i knew it, i had the dreamboard and i had already blew myself up. So here is my question, if i do this successfully and finish the dreamboard in 6 secs, do i have the world record? I dont thinks so, but many of you have said that taking advantage of my familiarity of the game is not cheating, i would like to use this extreme case to prove otherwise. Someone do this, it can put an end to this.
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10/09/02 08:18:58 AM  
Name: Yoni Roll
Best expert: 64
Best intermediate: 16
Best beginner: 1
Comments: I haven't posted here for a long time- and I almost stopped playing minesweeper (mostly because of problems with my computer and not because I didn't want to play anymore) I think I played about 10 serious minutes in the last month (I have played more on 24-30-210 board but the closest I got to finishing it is 15 mines left) I only found out about the 9 yesterday and I still haven't finished reading all of the messages. I exactly agree with Marc with what he said (about 1+1/2 pages before my message). I think what Roland made can be comapred to a situation like someone who brake a running competition using skating because using skates is not forbidden by the competition rules. The problem is that in our case some players have to wear the skates- i.e. they remember the dreamboard (or any other board) without intending to do it. Anyway, I don't have a solution to this problem..
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10/09/02 07:26:47 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Are you sure, Damien, you didn´t mix up the country at rank 97 and 98? Not important, but funny, if its right...
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10/09/02 07:02:58 AM  
Name: Marc Schouten
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Mikael: As far as I'm concerned, your record is as legitimate as anyone's. You used no prior knowledge of the board to get the 14. If I got to decide, your record would count. Of course, I don't get to decide .
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10/09/02 06:22:21 AM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Yesterday i did a 18 on a board with a 3bv of 48. Nothing special. Today the same board came up again. I noticed that quickly but played bad and even was worse (19 sec.). There cant have been many games between this repetition.
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10/09/02 05:35:57 AM  
Name: Stephan
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Very nice update, Damien. I think you should stop at Top100. For all players that have a total of sub-100, you could embed Georgi's database from yahoo. Got a 68 two days ago. Now, I have every time at least once down to 63. Hope that this row will go to sub-60 times soon.
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10/09/02 02:56:23 AM  
Name: Mikael Jonker
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: On Oct 6 I set a new personal record for the intermidiate level, 14 seconds. I was very happy about it until I today submitted the record to the world records and looked at my screenshot. It was set on the dreamboard (which I didn't even know existed until yesterday). From now on I will only play on expert...
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10/08/02 11:54:25 PM  
Name: damien
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: just to note: i did a partial update for the site (june & july) and partially updated the ranked list. i'd like to know whether you guys think i should rank only 100 players like i did this ranking, or should i have seperate sub100totals and best 100 players? what i foresee eventually is a more complex seeding arrangement of the top 400 players (never more than that...an online version could be used to allow people to challenge for positioning...i haven't given it very much thought yet since it'll be a year or two)
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10/08/02 09:27:32 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I just created a poll that asks whether or not you think that, within a new ranking system, Roland's 9, his 10, Matt's 10, or any other time on a dreamboard, should be included. One point about the council. I think that there should definetly be an odd number of members, so that there is always a decision reached. However, there should also be an alternate member who can take the place of a member whose scores are being considered. This would be an obvious conflict of interest (for, say, Matt to vote on whether to accept his newly aquired 42, the answer to which would be obvious) and would, concurently, jepordize the legitimacy of the Council.
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10/08/02 09:08:54 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: @Steffen: I cannot even imagine what would have to happen to make us all happy sweepers!
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10/08/02 07:44:30 PM  
Name: Paul
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Marc, Thanks for the 'welcome back' Mind you, although my postings have been infrequent, I've not stopped reading this guestbook. I find it endlessly amusing at times :-p The last couple of days though, it has been more like a daily dose of dismay ::sigh:: Now a ramble about (very) recent discussion of different ways of keeping rankings. This would involve a massive amount of work for some person or other, not to mention any group of 'experts', it is a nice idea mind you, but before polls, surely a workable system and people prepared to do the work should be found? (Maybe private emails would be a more suitable fora for that, rather than the madness of guestbooks / mailing lists).
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10/08/02 07:24:53 PM  
Name: Lance Votroubek
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Those polls have now been created. Please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minesweeper-addicts/polls to vote in these polls. Thanks! Lance
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10/08/02 07:10:38 PM  
Name: Lance Votroubek
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I am making a poll about who should be on this minesweeper panel/committee/congress/board, but we need to decide how many would be on it. I will limit the choices to 7, but I think 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 are all good numbers. Maybe I'll make a poll on that too! Lance
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10/08/02 06:32:53 PM  
Name: Big Penis
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I still like Johannes point of view!
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10/08/02 05:56:04 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: First of all, congrats to Damiens 150.000s visitor of this site - an amazing number of people with a lot of time! @James : If the problem of timer lag was all, we all were happy sweepers. @ August : I dont think we are 1000 people and i dont think we have that much liars here! I just cant believe there are people staying in the community for some month just to gain trust and tellin us wrong times. Even they will have to prove it by video if they are visiting qualitative areas of the game. The congress idea is not that bad, may be we can combine some of the collected ideas, even if this was more work for some people. An objective congress , 3 different games (at least in int) proven by screenshot and the exp proven by video? Think about it...-> Else AR will look like no one wants it to on Friday! [Congress : Stephan, Damien, Lasse .... (poll?) ]
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10/08/02 05:36:16 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: That is a very good start. But what about timmer lag caused by slower computers with many programs running? Also, I think that if a person claimed a 65 exp but had no vid, the time could still be accepted if sufficient evidence was provided proving that 65 was attainable for that person (vids of fast games, which could be made after the record of course). I definetly agree with the idea of a Minesweeper Council (I proposed it some time ago) that would officiate over the rankings procedure. I think that persons on this comitee would have to be good and active sweepers (constant AR times of sub-20 and sub-70). I think that it is obvious that what we really need is a bug-free version of the game. But since I have no idea how this would be done I will leave that up to those who have a fucking clue.
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10/08/02 05:18:30 PM  
Name: August
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: continued... 3. Known "dreamboards" are documented on a special page and cannot be used for the official list. 4. A separate records list (the one we already have) is maintained where people can send in scores, screenshots or dreamboards can be used... Obviously, this list will not be as respectable as the official one. 5. A five or ten (whatever) person congress is created from the sweeper-addicts list... and this group will make binding decisions on whether videos submitted for the "Official" records lists are valid. So just a month or so ago the world record was set for the 100 meter dash in track and field. 9.78 seconds... But that's not the fastest any human has ever run 100 meters. There are various things (wind aid, drugs, track parameters) that have caused faster times to be disqualified. The time has come for this community to set the standards for competition, people are serious about sweeping and serious about where they stand. If you look at some of the record lists around here there are hundreds of "John Doe's" who only sent a simple email with their scores on them. THE HONOR SYSTEM IS DONE FOR!!! Why should 1,000 honest people suffer from a handful of liars. One of the immediate implications of a system like this is that both Roland's 9 and Matt's 10 are not acceptable for the record because they were memorized dreamboards. It stinks, but I think it is much better for the game.
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10/08/02 05:17:21 PM  
Name: August
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Here is an idea to solve THE problem. The following propositions assume that we all visit this website and play minesweeper because we enjoy the game, we want to see who the best players are in the world, and how we honestly match up with them. 1. Records for the beginner level and inclusion of these records into combined skill rankings are completely removed from this website... I don't feel like sitting around for a few days waiting for a two-click 1 on beginner and I don't think others really do either. 2. Two separate record listings are posted. The first list is the "Official World Records" list. A majority of people either own or have access to a computer that is fast enough to run Camtasia. To have your score listed on the "Official" list for the expert level you must have a video of that game. --- Here's the catch. --- For the intermediate level you must have a video not only with the game you want verified... but also with the game you played before it on the same video. (With a special emphasis on clicking in random locations to start games, also no noticible board memorization.)
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10/08/02 05:08:49 PM  
Name: Big Penis
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I like Johannes point of view!
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10/08/02 05:04:51 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: The active rankings times might be the middle of 3(?) different(!) boards! Not in beg of course, but for int and for exp i´ll find that a acceptable solution. What do you think -> Do you know a better way? At least the active ranking will have some of his "purity(?)" in future!
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10/08/02 04:54:28 PM  
Name: Steffen Stachna
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: I dont think it was said before in that way so i´ll now just bring it to the point. Playing Minesweeper and playing Minesweeper with the knowledge of the board "by heart" are not the same-> one cant compare those times!-> Therefore my opinion now is, that rankings including both are meaningless! The next step would be even a 6 or a 5, which seems possible now! Does that really make sense? I think our discussion now will lead us to the fact, that there is no way to compare each with each. If there was a bigger board with more mines and no one can find a repeating board->tell me if this is the solution(?). One could say now that even in the past we´ve played under different circumstances caused by smaller/bigger 3bv´s. But this "evolution" now is another quality, which makes the whole game (for me) questionable.
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10/08/02 04:39:42 PM  
Name: James
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: OK. We have to get this resolved soon because I was just playing Int and had to stop. I was afraid of getting the DB or some other recognizable board (whould anyone call me a cheater?). Lets resolve this by creating a set of rules (a constitution if you will) so that all of htis apprehension can evaporate and we can all get back to what we love. Jon's essay offers a good starting point.
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10/08/02 03:33:05 PM  
Name: Sorin
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: That was me with that 87. I also got a 91 3BV but missed at 2 seconds. Today i got a nightmare: 245 3BV- the worst so far and also lost at the beginning. It is very simple to create random boards and the possibility of repeating is far smaller than on this minesweeper. I would say impossible... I don't understand why Microsoft, or the programmer that did the program chose this variant. What is we all would have sub 10s on int? what then? will the AR be the only true ranking? An online multiplayer game?... Nicely said Jon!
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10/08/02 02:48:02 PM  
Name: Jan
Best expert: 72
Best intermediate: 17
Best beginner: 2
Comments: I don't know, if Roland has cheated and I don't want to know. I just heard about a cheat, with which u r able to play the same board 4 several times, but I don't know, how it works exactly. It's clear 2 everyone, that Roland isn't the best Intermediateplayer in the world, because of that it's just ridiciolous 2 call him "Worldchampion". He's a good player 4 sure; 15s is a good record @ Intermediate, but there r still some better players. And I just wondered, how u can say u r looking 4 the DB and then ...simsalabim... here it is! It worked 2 times in just several days... I don't believe him.
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10/08/02 12:55:40 PM  
Name: Elmar Zimmermann
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Ryan: someone got a 87 3BV board on expert some time ago
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10/08/02 12:49:36 PM  
Name: Brian Cornell
Best expert: 60
Best intermediate: 17
Best beginner: 2
Comments: This debate is all rather silly. I'm going to keep playing minesweeper the same way I have always played it. I enjoy sweeping, and I won't let other players' dubious styles affect that. The records here aren't exactly official, so what is everyone worried about? If you love this game, keep playing it like you have always played it. That being said, here is a scores update. After having scored 26 3s on the beginner level in my career, I finally scored a 2. Not that this is so great, but it felt nice. I also tied my record on expert. Now I will get back to sweeping.
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10/08/02 12:34:45 PM  
Name: Manu
Best expert:
Best intermediate:
Best beginner:
Comments: Let me know what you think… PS : I had noticed that the board before the DB was always the same several months ago. And reading Jon's essay ( which is fantastic ! ) I realise that I'm not the only one ! PPS : We REALLY REALLY have to make a choice for the future of the game guys ! I don't want to play solitaire or Icy-tower !
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