| |
BGonline.org Forums
30 second penalty for fast grabbing
Posted By: Colin Owen In Response To: 30 second penalty for fast grabbing (Jason Lee)
Date: Sunday, 6 November 2011, at 2:49 a.m.
Jason expresses his dislike for the potential 'lucky dip' nature of the current sanction for premature rolling. But what else can you do? It seems a natural penalty that the opponent gets to choose whether the roll stands, or must be retaken. Should we perhaps let the innocent party choose what the 'roll' will be?!
Applying arbitrary reserve time sanctions to early grabbers also doesn't seem to satisfy natural justice (to me). Why do players early grab? It is for (at least) one of two reasons. Most commonly they are trying to jump the gun, thereby saving time. For such an act it seems much more natural to simply remove the delay time for their next turn. They tried to save half a second to a second (and only an actuality if their move time subsequently exceeds the delay) - not such a big deal. Instead they have lost much more time; that's enough of a penalty.
More significant is the other reason why a player may early grab (or even early reach). This is, of course, to try to pressure the opponent into actually pressing the clock (instead of merely reaching for it) when, at the last moment, he may perceive that he's overlooked a play that is much better! This is much more invidious, though would be difficult to prove. Whatever the reason(s) for doing so, it seems to me that the natural sanction for early grabbing should be that the opponent gets to stop the clock (ie 'pause') and reconsider his move without his clock running. Reasonable limits should apply here - just as they might if the players were not using a clock. When the play is finally confirmed then the opponent waits for his delay to count down before reaching for the dice. Could it be potentially abused by a sharp player, soliciting an early reach in a complex position? Of course, and it would be unethical; but if you don't early grab you're protected!
Applying 30 second penalties or whatever to one's reserve time (meaning the players have to wait 42 or 45 seconds before proceeding) is too arbitrary for me, and the much greater chance of a resultant default seems disproportionate. In general, players who early grab (or indeed merely early reach) display - as well as impatience - a lack of respect for their opponents. But potential penalties should be natural rather than arbitrary, and reflect the generally minor nature of the infraction.
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.