There's a great scene in the novel _Marathon_Man_ in which it is
described how it isn't always necessary to overwhelm a seemingly
superior opponent in order to defeat him. Goldman gives as an example
how a lesser basketball player could make Kareem Abdul-Jabbar miss a
shot simply by giving him a nudge at just the right moment.

Of course, Abdul-Jabbar was one of the greatest players of his age.
Some goof claiming to have superior credentials in philosophy and law,
but who spends 12 hours a day playing a brainless and ****witted "zen
game" in Usenet, certainly isn't a formidable intellect or a
demonstrably superior opponent, and it doesn't require much of a nudge
at all to get him far off his game. It was fun being the one doing the
nudging anyway.