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A better clock for backgammon

Posted By: Tom Keith
Date: Wednesday, 11 March 2015, at 1:06 p.m.

In Response To: A better clock for backgammon (Colin Owen)

To have any kind of Fischer style setting merely encourages players to skimp on shaking and rolling the dice, and to move pieces in a slapdash manner, not to mention picking up a seemingly cocked die before it actually comes to rest.

Maybe not.

1. If you start with a relatively small reserve time (e.g., two minutes), you can afford a longer delay time (say, 15 seconds). That by itself relieves some of the pressure to play quickly. Further, you could have a rule that limits your give-back to, say, 3 seconds per turn. Playing a move faster than 9 seconds wouldn't earn you any bonus at all and 9 seconds for an obvious move is a pretty leisurely pace.

2. Having a rough equilibrium between time gained and time used makes it easier for players to manage their time. You can just look at the clock to see if you're low on time -- you don't have to continually calculate how much longer the match is likely to take. Knowing that you can dig yourself out of time trouble relieves the pressure to play quickly.

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