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BGonline.org Forums
A US Backgammon Tournament rule query from R.G.B.
Posted By: Daniel Murphy In Response To: A US Backgammon Tournament rule query from R.G.B. (Michael Petch)
Date: Sunday, 3 February 2013, at 9:06 a.m.
Depends on who you ask, Michael.
If I'm running a tournament, even under the current ABT rules, no checker borne off and wrongly placed on the bar is going to be ruled to be a condonable illegal play. Because, after observing 20 years of interminable discussions about nebulous rules that need revising, and hand-wringing accolades to players who do the supposedly sportsmanlike thing that is supposedly contravened by supposedly clear rules, I have concluded that such a ruling serves no good purpose and is detrimental to the spirit of the game. Which for me is more important than niggling over whether ABT Rule 4.4 or 4.8, OR WBA Rule 4.2.2 or 4.2.3, overrides the other. Alternative arguments, that a player could condone the play but ethically shouldn't, or could and ethically can, although well-meant and not obviously wrong, just don't interest me anymore.
So, my ruling: a checker that is borne off and wrongly placed on the bar is borne off, and not on the bar; that action is not a condonable "illegal move" that the cited rules cover; both players are obligated to immediately correct the position of the checker; and whether or not they do so immediately, the checker is borne off, and not on the bar.
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