| |
BGonline.org Forums
Summation
Posted By: phil simborg In Response To: Wrong double rule (phil simborg)
Date: Friday, 7 March 2014, at 3:31 a.m.
Unless someone on this forum hasn't checked in yet, it appears most all of us agree that we want to have a game that is decided on skill and the luck of the dice, and not on a technicality, and we don't think it is nice to play in a manner that penalizes someone for doubling when the cube should be considered dead. I see pretty much agreement by all.
Then isn't it a logical conclusion that the rules should reflect this, and do so clearly so there is no misunderstanding? How could anyone argue with that? Why hasn't it been done? This has mystified me for 20 years!
And if this is the way we feel about a cube mistake, why doesn't the same logic and reasoning apply to illegal moves, putting the wrong checker on the bar, etc. etc.? Well, it does. And that is why some of the people who believe we should be able to take advantage of a bonehead checker error by our opponent also believe the same thing about a bonehead cube error.
Their point of view and argument is valid. That is how most sports are played. If a football team has too many men on the field and they are penalized, the other side shouldn't say to the ref, "Oh, that's okay." If the rules say you should be penalized, you should be and you can't fault anyone for ruling otherwise.
But backgammon doesn't have referees; and backgammon is more than just a cutthroat competition--we are a community. We are, hopefully, all friends that share an experience for pleasure as well as competition. That is why when you play a great player and you ask him if you should have doubled or made one play or another, they give you their advice, often before the game is even over.
We don't want to have a cutthroat game that turns off new players and makes enemies and makes people walking away sad. We don't always have ideal playing conditions, and if it's 1 AM or we've been playing for 8 hours for three days and we're tired and there's noise and distractions, we don't want to see someone lose a match because the forgot the score or had the wrong score and picked up the wrong checker or misread the dice. Most of us would rather lose a match than beat someone that way. And that is the way we want to rules to read, and when the rules are fair and reasonable, we have no ethical dilemma as to whether or not to enforce it.
I used this cube example, where so far we have unanimous support for playing the game in a civil, friendly manner, to ask you to take it to the next step and see the logic of extending the same approach to illegal moves. It's the same issue: do we want to penalize for technical errors or have a more civil game that is more of a test of skill than gamesmanship?
That is why I also believe strongly that you can not intentionally, verbally mislead your opponent...you should not be able to say "if you double me I will take" and then drop, or you should not be able to fake a reach for the cube to get a reaction and not double, or you should not pretend to start scoring the game while your opponent is thinking about doubling and then take the cube. This kind of stuff may be fun in a friendly chouette where everyone knows you are joking around, but when it is done to intentionally game your opponent, it is wrong. The rules should state its wrong and there should be penalties for it, and it should be as clear as possible that the intent of the game is for people to treat each other fairly and nicely and not try to take advantage of them except by playing better. Playing NLM and allowing dead cubes and allowing these other ploys is directly contrary to that philosophy.
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.