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"backgammon" on Google search declining
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: "backgammon" on Google search declining (Smcrtorchs)
Date: Thursday, 13 December 2012, at 7:14 p.m.
I agree with your comments, however, I believe that the number one people play backgammon is because it is fun. To me, it is more fun than chess or bridge or poker and many other games that I have played and know well. Yes, to become a top player takes work and math, and for many that is not fun...for those of us into that kind of thing, it makes it even more fun.
But for the casual player who does not know the depth of the game, it's still a lot of fun, and the way to get more people playing backgammon is to get more people to try it and learn the very basics. Once they learn that, and have someone to play, and see how much fun it is, they will play the game even if they never progress to studying the game and playing it at a higher level, though of course, many, like most of us, will work to improve.
So the question is how to get more people to try it? Well, they need to have access to a board for live play. However, apps and the internet have introduced the game to thousands of people, many of whom are avid players and have never played on a board. So the board is no longer an absolute necessity or cost. The answer is they need to be alerted that there is a game out there which is really fun to play, and they need a way to find out how to play easily and quickly so they can get the hang of it and get addicted to it, as we are.
There are many approaches to the above, but they all require getting more exposure and education. Some of us think that the best place to do this is in the schools, and we have had some success selling the idea to teachers and parents because they can see the benefits of their children playing backgammon...learning strategy, long-term thinking, risk/reward, and of course, the math. Learning to cope with luck and winning and losing are certainly important, and playing a board game sure beats most video games and other things kids do with their spare time. (There are some, even within the backgammon community, that argue we are "bad people" for teaching kids a gambling game, but this has nothing to do with gambling at all. There is not a game or...sport in the world that you can't bet on if you want to--so that makes everything a gambling game.)
No matter what approach, what we really need is MONEY to promote the game. Right now, what little money we have comes from memberships and donations to federations. Hopefully, together with the federations we can find some corporate sponsorship or even private grants to help alert more people to the game.
In the meantime, there is something else we can do to help grow the game, and particularly to help grow tournament backgammon, which is where most of us get the most pleasure out of backgammon. And that is to make the game as fair and enjoyable and spectator-friendly and fun as possible.
Yes, I know that many "old-timers" (I'm 68 and no youngster myself, by the way) argue that the game is just fine the way it is and has been for the last 40 years, so why change it? To that I argue that everything can be improved, and change is necessary for growth. Tournament play IS NOT GROWING and is even declining in some areas, but even if it were growing, why not make the game better and more exciting and fairer and more attractive to non-experts and children and women and families? Why not make the matches themselves more interesting and exciting for spectators?
There are many ways to accomplish improvements in the above areas, and I WILL NOT list my suggestions here, as any new idea or idea for change will be met with controversy and we simply all don't agree on the best ways to make these changes. My goal is to get people to see and agree that we can and should make changes and improvements and to see how we can and should do more to attract more people to live tournaments and to get them to come back by making the experience less expensive and more enjoyable for them. And we can do this WITHOUT costing the promoters money--in fact, with more people they can make more money--I want them to make a lot of money so that they have an incentive to run more and better tournaments!
Do you agree with me? Great. Voice your opinions to your federations and get involved to help make a difference. Far too many people simply bitch and complain about the way things are, or about the way the federations are being run, or the things we are not doing, and those same people offer no good suggestions to improve things, and they don't offer to actually get involved and help. We don't just need money and suggestions, we need people to volunteer to get out there and show people the game and how to play and help promote the game at the grass roots. I don't know about other federations, but the USBGF has people doing this and people willing to help others do this, and that is a great way to grow the game.
Sorry about standing on the soap box, but it's a little tiring to hear people just bitch about stuff instead of actually doing something to make a difference or to improve things. And it seems to be happening a lot more lately, or maybe because we all have the internet to spread our venom, more of the nay-sayers are simply being heard more.
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