|
BGonline.org Forums
Justified?
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: Justified? (Mr Majestyk)
Date: Thursday, 7 June 2012, at 3:27 p.m.
Once a year in Chicago there is an event called "Learnapalooza" where people can sign up and get a one hour free lesson in any number of games and skills from knitting to bridge, to bee keeping to accounting, chess, social networking, child psychology etc. etc. Each year I give a "How to Play Backgammon" seminar.
Last year 40 people showed up for my 2 one hour sessions.
The first question I ask everyone is "Why do you want to learn how to play backgammon?"
Almost every one answers that it is because they have a friend or family member that plays and loves the game and they want to be able to play with them. And almost all say that it looks like a lot of fun.
For most people, that is the perception, or image of the game...it's a fun game, not too hard to learn and play, and a nice, social past time.
To the general public, that is the major image of the game. The serious tournament and money players, who are what we have on this site, are a very tiny minority of the backgammon players in the world.
Does this image need a facelift or new image? I think not. I think it's wonderful that backgammon is thought of as a fun game, easy to learn and play, and a great social past time. That is an image we want, and as people get more involved, they will see and learn the skill and with some good PR, emanating particularly from the Federations around the world, they will learn that it is a great intellectual endeavor--a mind game, like chess and bridge and scrabble.
By the way, this year's Learnapalooza is July 21st in Wicker Park, and if any Chicago area players would like to come help, the more one-on-one interaction the better.
|
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.