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Touch Move rule, dangers

Posted By: Timothy Chow
Date: Thursday, 1 September 2011, at 12:51 a.m.

In Response To: Touch Move rule, dangers (Nack Ballard)

I am totally with Nack as far as being skeptical about the impact of the new rule as far as "attracting new players to the game."

People aren't attracted to or repelled by a game because of technicalities like this. What kid decides to avoid baseball because the infield-fly rule is unfriendly to beginners? The rise or fall in popularity of a game is primarily a social phenomenon, having little to do with the rules and having everything to do with the place of that game in society.

At most, the touch-move rule will discourage some casual players from entering tournaments. But I think even the strongest proponents of the touch-move rule are fine with having the rule apply only to the strongest brackets, which a timid first-timer isn't likely to want to enter anyway.

Finally, even if I grant everything else for the sake of argument, I don't grant that the way to attract players is to coddle them. There's a lot to be said for making the elite brackets of a league seem really elite. It adds glamor and prestige. You want to play in the big leagues? Then you have to play by the big-league rules. It's the same psychological principle that sales people use when they charge enormous sums for high-end products. Do you think De Beers would become more successful if they cranked out diamonds by machine and sold them for a dime a dozen?

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