This is more in the way of amusing anecdote than serious altercation, as it occurred during one of the many little 20-Euro Jackpot draws at Cyprus last fall. My opponent was making on average 2 checker-play errors per game and was usually content to be corrected without argument, and though I don't have any sense he was doing it on purpose, the errors were generally in his favor and it definitely felt like the burden was on me to defend my equity by pinning him down to the facts.
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| XGID=--B-aCCBC----Aa-cc-bcA-b--:0:0:-1:42:0:0:3:0:10 | |||||
| Blue to play 42 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.10
So, something like the above position arises, and instantly after 42 tumbles from his cup he seizes the spares on his 8 & 5 points and slams them down on my blot, making his 4-pt, which gets me almost jumping out of my chair. He agrees to correct it, but moves the checkers back in a peculiar order and then makes his Bar point, which doesn't seem right to me either --( I'm not 100% sure the position here is what the position was). I complain that the position is wrong, there's a big heated argument (he speaks no English, I speak no Macedonian) and Arda comes over to settle the matter.
I try to reconstruct the play leading to the situation, but can't really arrive at anything other than the position above, which I gradually begin to think may actually have been the position, so I convey to Arda that I'm okay with the ruling going my opponent's way -- I can't really find a reason he should rule otherwise based on what he's seeing.
By this time there are a dozen or so people clustered around the board because things got heated. Arda handles it all beautifully, very methodical, and affirms that the above position is to be the accepted position, places the 42 dice roll on my opponent's side of the table and politely invites him to make his play.
Whereupon he seizes the spares on his 8 & 5 points and slams them down on my blot, making his 4-pt!
I had been feeling pretty sheepish having been found 'in the wrong' and having caused a fuss, but the howl of delighted laughter from the large ring of onlookers who instantly recognized what I had been dealing with was terrific consolation.