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BGonline.org Forums
Clock Rules - Tournament schedules, proposal
Posted By: Tom Keith In Response To: Clock Rules - Tournament schedules, proposal (Stick)
Date: Wednesday, 24 April 2013, at 8:08 p.m.
Stick, I don't think Paul meant that doubles would never be played, just on the first roll.
Paul, for a taste of what playing backgammon is like using a clock without a delay, here are some excerpts of Kit Woolsey's commentary of a 1996 World Cup match that was played using a standard chess clock, before Bronstein clocks were commonly available.
For understanding this particular game, it is important to know that the match was played using chess clocks. This had been an unusually long match. Blue had played quickly throughout the match and had around 25 minutes left on his clock, so he was under no time pressure at all. White, on the other hand, had played at an average pace, and as a result had a little more than four minutes left on his clock. For most games having four minutes on the clock would be more than sufficient if one plays quickly. However if the game gets complex, four minutes might not be enough regardless of how fast one playes, since it always takes a few seconds to pick up the dice, shake them, roll them, make a legal move, and punch the clock. ... Under these circumstances, the strategies of the players will change because of the clock.
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The theoretically best play is almost certainly 6/1. With the clock in play, however, Blue is definitely correct to hit the second blot. He doesn't at all mind having his checker on the ace point sent back, since that will give him additional ammunition for further blot-hitting to lengthen the game. Also, moving the back checker up to the 20 point increases Blue's chances of picking up White's other blot. If Blue hits that blot, White will have so many men back that the game will almost certainly be a long one.
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The best theoretical play is probably 8/2*, 2/1. With White's clock ticking on every move, Blue is having none of this. He wants to be 100% certain of picking up the other blot. He doesn't mind if White hits him back on the ace point, and he doesn't mind if White anchors on the two point. Blue simply wants to send a bunch of men back and flood the outfield, making it impossible for White to bring his back men out without getting hit. It is now going to be very difficult for White to complete this game in four minutes regardless of how fast White plays.
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White is scrambling to find any legal play now, with the clock mercilessly ticking away. Obviously both 23/21*, 12/8 and 13/11*, 12/8 are considerably superior to the actual play. White knows this, but under the time pressure he is simply playing the first legal move he sees.
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Blue is just shoving checkers around now. White's clock will soon be falling, and White has made no progress at all toward ending the game. Most of all Blue does not want to let White escape a back checker without being forced to hit something.
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At this point the flag on White's clock fell, which meant that Blue won the match on a time forfeit. It is quite likely that for White to win from here it would have taken him another four minutes to do everything which would have to be done, since White has 221 pips left to go as opposed to the 167 from the opening position. Blue's overall plan of complicating the position and forcing White into time trouble was successful.
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