In this post, we look at the World Cup mode and what it takes to make it to the World Cup final. Can the Stoa inspire us? In addition, a raffle awaits you.
Dear friends,
we will not be able to avoid talking about my goals for the Skat World Championship and using some success principles. In this article, number lovers and fans of the practical philosophy of Stoicism will get their money's worth.
Success Principle 1: „Always start with the end in mind!”
All action is preceded by an idea. Whether we are aware of it or not, the act or what has been said has already manifested itself in our brain even before we have exercised it. It is no different with projects. As a rule, these are bridled from behind. Let me illustrate this with three examples.
Example 1: Architecture. Each building is not simply started at will, but planned down to the last detail. Static, dimensions and design are planned in a model before construction.
Example 2: If I wanted to participate in the amateur world championships in triathlon in Hawaii, I would inform myself in advance about the qualification times of my age group and then compare them with my previous results, and find that I would be far too far away from that.
Example 3: And what does it take to reach the final of a Skat World Championship? To answer that, I would first like to describe the mode to you. The final is preceded by a main round of 15 series. These are divided into 5 days á 3 series. I will explain the exact procedure of the main round to you at a later date. After the 15 series, the best 16 results qualify for the final, in which another 5 series are played in one day - a true skat marathon. But how many points are needed to reach the final? In order to get to the bottom of this question, I have chosen, as far as possible, the points of the 16th place from the main round of a European Championship and World Cup from the year 2000 out. At this point a big thank you to "Mr. EDV", Lutz Rübe, for his meticulous results service.
You quickly see that the required minimum cut for the final tends to correlate with the number of participants. The more people participate in the World Cup, the higher the match result will have to be. At the time of my request, there were about 130 registrations for this year's World Cup. Based on this number of participants, I will probably have to play a 1100 cut in each series to make it to the final.
My first online World Cup as a reference
But how realistic is that? Well, when participating in this year's Online Skat World Championships, I was able to show the following result in my first 15 lists of the preliminary round:
Points: 17872
Average round: 1191
Game quotient: 10,9 / 0,7 / 4 (Win / Loss / Opponents)
Game share: 32,22%
Win quotient: 93,68%
Opponent: 18,23%
So I had already proven that it was possible. And I maintain that reaching the final will stand or fall with a game share of 33%. This means that at least 12 games played (11 of them won) are needed to achieve the necessary score.
Success Principle 2: "Focus on what is in your power!"
And what about the reproducibility of my pleasing result of the Online Skat World Championship? Unfortunately, this is ultimately out of my hands! As much as no one has any influence on his genes, I have no influence on the cards that are assigned to me. We can only try to make the most of it – from our genes and our cards!
But what factors are within my sphere of influence? For this I would like to draw you a mental picture of what can go on in the head of a skat player – during the World Cup 36 times per list, 2 hours at a time, 3-5 times a day, for a week:
Imagine an artist balancing on a rope juggling two eggs in his right hand, picking up small objects with his left and reciting a poem. Then you get an idea of how much information has to be processed during the Skat. And this is where the two most important skills of good skat players come into play: a large amount of RAM and a high level of concentration. In addition, of course, there are the thought processes automated by experience, which in turn leave more room for information processing.
Cognitive processes such as memory, concentration, planning or speaking can be positively influenced by sufficient sleep, endurance sports and nutrition beneficial to the brain (so-called brain food: omega-3-containing foods, such as avocado, legumes and fish, but also dark berries and caffeine). Memory training (At work, I count the pots as often as possible and remember the subtotals.) and meditation also have positive influences on memory and concentration.
As a Skat friend said: "In the end, we only have the mindset in our hands." Think from game to game, from list to list. Dealing constructively with frustration, droughts, lack of maps, mistakes and defeats. Adapt correctly to our opponents. Go to work with joy and ambition.
Success Principle 3: "There are no defeats/mistakes - either we win or we learn. Everything is feedback."
Last but not least, I'll send you home with a raffle. Your task:
What is my list average in the main round after 15 series?
If we assume that I play a positive result and a player in the main round may scratch the 19,000-point mark again, then my average will land between 0 and 1266 points.
Leave your tips in the comments.
The closing date for entries is 12 August.
The two guessers who are closest have the choice between a card game of the World Cup with the signatures of the 16 finalists or an article from my merch assortment.
Good Luck!