In this chapter, we learn that the two men grew up playing the same game: snooker. They grew up together, and the two of them grew up to be the best players in the world. In fact, they're so good at it that they've been playing it together for over 30 years. We learn that, in the early days of the game, the best player was "the best" . In other words, he was the one who knew the most about how to play the game and how to win it. We also learn that "the more you can tolerate it ," the more you'll study it. In this case, we're talking about the fact that "tacticalists" tend to use tactics to "torture their opponents" , and "tactics" are the most effective way to win a game. We're also told that "most of the audiences" have walked out of the matches because they couldn't stand the "dragginess" of the games. The audience is all about "snookering" and "escape murphy's" moves are getting "more conservative," and that's why "dragging the pace" is such a good strategy for winning a game, says the narrator. "Hold on," he says, "time being he has...calmed himself down...outran...the remaining will"