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DEAD CUBE RULE

Posted By: Rich Munitz
Date: Monday, 4 September 2017, at 5:16 p.m.

In Response To: DEAD CUBE RULE (Phil Simborg)

I agree with Phil that it is important to have clear rules. There are many situations where there is no clear consensus on how it is best handled. It is important in these situations that the rules clearly state one way or another how it should be handled. It is impossible to please everyone. But it is possible to make a clear rule that eliminates the ambiguity.

The next matter of importance is internal consistency. Players will not necessarily have the entire rule set memorized, but you still want them not to be violating the rules regardless. It is therefore best for a set of rules to be based on some guiding principles (concepts) that will enable a player to correctly predict what a rule will be without needing to commit every distinct case to memory. Many situations fall into the Legal vs Responsible categories. A consistent rule set should pick one of them as its guiding principle and stick with it throughout. The USBGF rule set has adopted the guiding principle of "Legal". Without having to understand every possible situation that could potentially arise, a player can ask themselves the very simple question: "would XG or GridGammon allow this to happen"? If the answer is "no", then you as a player must not allow it to happen either. The alternative "Responsible" guiding principle is every bit as valid; we simply chose not to go that way. As a matter of consistency, you can't adopt Legal Moves and then not also adopt Dead Cubes. It has to be both or neither.

Messages In This Thread

• DEAD CUBE RULE
  ross gordon -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 12:41 p.m.
  • DEAD CUBE RULE
    Bob Koca -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 2:06 p.m.
    • DEAD CUBE RULE
      Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 2:37 p.m.
      • DEAD CUBE RULE
        Stick -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 12:23 a.m.
        • DEAD CUBE RULE
          Frank Talbot -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 4:35 a.m.
          • DEAD CUBE RULE
            Stick -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 5:53 a.m.
            • DEAD CUBE RULE
              Phil Simborg -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 3:49 p.m.
              • Penalty points
                Bob Koca -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 3:56 p.m.
              • DEAD CUBE RULE
                Stick -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 7:33 p.m.
                • DEAD CUBE RULE
                  Phil Simborg -- Tuesday, 5 September 2017, at 12:12 a.m.
  • DEAD CUBE RULE
    Bob Koca -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 2:07 p.m.
    • DEAD CUBE RULE
      Michael Petch -- Thursday, 7 September 2017, at 7:24 p.m.
  • DEAD CUBE RULE
    Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 2:18 p.m.
    • DEAD CUBE RULE
      Bob Koca -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 2:21 p.m.
      • DEAD CUBE RULE--don't understand Koca
        Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 3 September 2017, at 3:36 p.m.
    • DEAD CUBE RULE
      JohnK -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 1:21 p.m.
      • DEAD CUBE RULE
        Art Grater -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 9:55 p.m.
    • DEAD CUBE RULE
      Rich Munitz -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 5:16 p.m.
      • DEAD CUBE RULE
        Bob Koca -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 5:26 p.m.
  • DEAD CUBE RULE
    Stick -- Monday, 4 September 2017, at 12:26 a.m.