Rebel Command says he worries about people playing optimal strategies, and asks, "what's the fun of playing it then?"

The fun is in BOTH players playing the most efficient, optimal strategies possible so that they are pushing each other to the max.

Take chess for example. I know a LOT of chess openings. Most non-tournament players don't. If they make a mistake in the opening, I pounce on it. Losing is the best way to learn. If however, I were to play poorly to compensate for his poor play, then neither one of us benefits. At elite levels of play, grandmasters often play opening lines that are well-known into the double digit moves. OCCASIONALLY there will be a theoretical novelty played but it's rare. The openings are usually pretty standard. But the excitement of grandmaster chess is NOT the opening, it's HOW they play the subsequent positions.

Same with RON.
posted by Tim at 10:12 PM