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Taking a principled stand on clocks

Posted By: Jason Lee
Date: Sunday, 25 March 2012, at 9:30 p.m.

I played this weekend in Cleveland, my first time there. Joe Miller runs the Cleveland tournament, and did so just fine. Joe's tournaments are not clocked -- the only clocks that were used were done so at the mutual consent of the players.

After I was eliminated, I found Joe and gave him my thank yous for running a good tournament. Things started on time, the staff was attentive, the hotel was in a good spot (very close to the airport). It's a good tournament, nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong with it either.

Except for one thing: I told Joe that I wouldn't be back to his tournament, because of his clock policy. He took it well, as I expected him to. He then asked me if I was going to be playing in Pittsburgh, and told me that as Steve Hast is taking over again, Pittsburgh is unlikely to be clocked. I said that I'd probably play in Pittsburgh since I can drive there, but not Cleveland, since that takes a flight.

I wrote Joe back today. Here is the entire email, with emphasis added just for this forum:

Hi Joe --

Thanks again for running the Cleveland tournament. Running backgammon tournaments is hard work, and always appreciated by the players, but directors do not get enough credit for their hard work.

As I left your tournament, I told you that I would not be coming back because of your clock policy. At the time, you asked me if I was going to play Pittsburgh -- as Steve Hast is taking over, it seems that there will not be mandatory clocks in Pittsburgh any longer. I now regret what I said -- I told you that I'd go to Pittsburgh but I wouldn't go to Cleveland -- because I could drive to Pittsburgh but had to fly to Cleveland.

I thought about this afterwards, and decided that I was being hypocritical. I am taking a principled stand on clocks, and it would be really unfair to you if I decide one tournament is OK and the other is not. Maybe this is not really the answer you wanted, but I feel better about it: your tournament this past weekend will be the very last I ever play where I cannot insist upon the use of a clock. So, if Steve Hast does not allow me to insist upon a clock, I will not play in his tournament either.

I'll reiterate what I said in Cleveland to you: this is not personal -- I saw enough in Cleveland where I will tell anybody that you do a fine job running a backgammon tournament. Each person has to make their own decisions about what backgammon tournaments to attend, and why. For me, I've now decided this one sticking point is a deal breaker.

Clocks in backgammon are not the wave of the future... they are the present. I am a part of a new generation of players who feel much more comfortable playing WITH a clock.

I wish your tournament great success in the future. Whether played with clocks or not, I very much wish for backgammon to grow in the United States.

Best wishes,

JLee

So, that's it. No more backgammon tournaments for me where the Open division is not at least "Clocks Preferred." This is a tough decision to have to make, seeing as how this will (apparently) keep me away from Pittsburgh, which is only a four-hour drive away. This may curtail my backgammon playing, making the New York tournament the only one in a four-hour drive radius.

I'm posting this to BGO for a lot of reasons. I have for many years been a strong advocate on this site for the use of clocks. I post a lot here, have strong opinions, and I pretend to think people listen to what I write, whether they believe in what I say or not. I feel as if I have contributed quite a bit to the backgammon community, even if in small ways. I've run tournaments at three different clubs, posted a lot of nonsense to BGO (including the OLM), and have tried to help out the USBGF in little ways.

There is a clear trend in the last five years, where clocks, once a novelty and a feared thing, are now mainstream in backgammon tournaments. A very large number of tournaments are clocked (in the Open division). A large majority of players now are comfortable with clocks, or at least aren't UNCOMFORTABLE.

We aren't there yet, but the day is coming where a very large percentage of players will want the tournaments to be clocked, and it is my hope that this will put enormous pressure on the holdout directors, to the point where they are forced to bend to popular demand and institute the use of clocks. They must adapt, or natural selection will take its course.

Entertain yourself by going back on this site alone to the oldest posts, and find the arguments made by the anti-clock factions. The predictions about tournaments that require clocks have turned out to be grossly incorrect.

I have stated my intention to vote with my feet and my wallet, and *if* you feel the same way as me, it is not quite enough to just stay away. If you aren't going to a tournament because of its clock policy (whether yea or nay), then you have a responsibility to the future of the game to TELL those tournament directors why you aren't going.

Incidentally, there was some hullabaloo on this site recently over the use of the word "boycott" -- so if you like, this is most definitely a boycott.

Cheers to all,

JLee

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