| |
BGonline.org Forums
Here's a dilemma if playing legal moves
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: Here's a dilemma if playing legal moves (Steve Mellen)
Date: Friday, 19 April 2013, at 1:25 p.m.
In the chouette it was clear, from the cheering of his teammates and his own elation at hitting the shot, that he knew he had hit, but he simply was sloppy about the play, moving the checker the entire 6-4 (or whatever) and placing it on its final destination, then picking up his dice, and then the checker. It was clear he knew he had hit as it was a consulting chouette with cubes turned. But he didn't actually do it right.
So, back to match play. The player needs a 4 to hit you, and he says out loud, "give me a four" and when he rolls a 6-4 he says (in Paul Frank's style) "Yes!" And then he moves without picking up your checker, picks up his dice and then goes to pick up the checker.
Technically, whether you play legal moves or not, the rules say he did not hit you. However, it was clearly his intent, and he was just careless.
In the case of the chouette, I believe we did the right thing making a more than fair settlement (though Matt felt I gave away too much, and I am sure I did, but it was in the interest of harmony and because the others were so very angry about the situation and not only with me and Matt, but also with Albert for being so careless). But in the case of a match, I agree with Neil that this is a real problem and one of those difficult gray areas.
Of course you can "be a nice guy" and let him have the hit, but again, you are allowing your opponent to go unpunished for carelessness and not following the rules. And again, you get on a slippery slope as now you have problems enforcing other careless errors, such as fast rolling and capricious cube handling etc. etc. So it is a problem.
Again, my solution depends on who I am playing. I would tend to cut my opponent some slack in this situation and let him have the hit unless I have reason to believe he wouldn't do the same for me. Even if it cost me the match, I would do this, as I would sleep better.
As for Jeb's comment about not owing anything to your calcutta partners, let's just say we disagree on this one. When you bet on a horse in a horse race, you expect the jockey and horse to do his best. And when you enter a competition where others will be betting on you, I believe you have the same obligation. Further, if you can do things "to be nice" that allow your opponent to win when he should not get that chance to win, you are risking situations where someone might be intentionally throwing a match because of a hedge, side bet, calcutta, or other reasons.
I believe it must be a strong principle that every participant follow the rules of the game and standards of ethics, but also do everything he can within those guidelines to win.
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.