At what point in a match is the result really decided?

If the winner is clear long before the end, the rest of the match is just waiting for the clock. This entry shows how to find the last moment the result could still have changed, and how to use it across many matches.

Why this works

The final score hides when the outcome was settled. The moment the winner went ahead for the last time and never gave it up is when the match truly ended, and many matches decided early are a sign of snowballing.

When not to use it

Not meaningful where scores come in huge lumps, or where the final moments are worth far more than the rest. There, measure how close the match stayed in the last minutes instead.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 35 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "At what point in a match is the result really decided?" (read_entry when-is-a-match-really-decided) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP