Earlier, we featured an interview with Vrushali, the hot-shot contender. Now, the aged veteran has his say about the game:
Interviewer: What do you think of Vrushali?
Ben: As a person? She’s great. As a reversi player? She’s doomed against me.
Interviewer: Oh really, and why’s that?
Ben: Well, I beat her last time, didn’t I?
Interviewer: Good point. On the subject of your last game, Vrushali said that she had you beat for most of the game.
Ben: I wouldn’t say most of the game.
Interviewer: No?
Ben: Nope. I mean look, I’ll admit she had me beat for much of the midgame to the point where I thought all my moves would be just about survival and damage control. But, I think that at the start of the game, I was winning.
Interviewer: So what happened?
Ben: I didn’t see a couple of openings that I had left for her, and she capitalized on them. Again. And again.
Interviewer: So, she was a good opponent?
Ben: Definitely. A big chunk of my fall from the lead in the beginning was due to her being able to find good ways around my traps and to find the weaknesses in my formations. I mean, she was totally merciless in the mid-game. She left me no good place to run, and when I made a mistake, she straight PWNED me every time.
Interviewer: Did you think you were going to lose?
Ben: Oh yeah. While I got to an edge first, it didn’t matter. She positioned her pieces so well that she captured two corners before I even got one. AND SHE JUST DIDN’T MAKE ANY MISTAKES!
Interviewer: When did it turn around then?
Ben: Well, towards the end of the mid-game she started getting sloppy. She made quite a few mistakes and I’ll admit I was so desperate she probably wasn’t quite sure what I was doing.
Interviewer: So you confused her?
Ben: Not on purpose. But, I think her making mistakes was only part of it. The real reason she lost was because the two corners that she had captured were useless to her.
Interviewer: What do you mean?
Ben: Well, in our attempts to fight for the corners, we had made it so that the two corners she captured didn’t amount to much of a bonus for her. We had so many pieces on that side of the map [both of her corners were on the same edge] that she couldn’t do anything with them. But, because I got a corner that was still useful, I was able to quickly turn the score.
Interviewer: I see. So, to wrap this up, what do you think will happen in today’s game?
Ben: Well, more of the same. There was nothing wrong with my strategy in the last game – I just have to make sure I don’t make too many mistakes. But, it will be a good game. Vrushali and I are very evenly-matched.
Interviewer: Well, good luck to you.
Ben: Thank you!