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USBGF Rules - public comment is closed

Posted By: Rich Munitz
Date: Wednesday, 2 August 2017, at 3:24 a.m.

The 30 day period of public comment on the proposed USBGF Tournament Rules began on July 1 and officially closed on July 31. Of course, while we are always open to comments on the Rules, any comments received after this point will be held for consideration during the next Rules review.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their ideas as part of our new, open process for developing this new rule set. Comments were gathered from this forum, from emails sent to the official USBGF rules email address, or to me personally, and from comments on relevant posts on Facebook and the USBGF website.

The summary of comments received along with responses to each one will be forthcoming, as will be the final draft of proposed USBGF Tournament Rules, to be submitted to the membership for a binding ratification vote. This should most likely occur some time in mid-August.

The unique set of comments that will be documented for public distribution represent specific proposals for substantive rule changes. In all, 27 unique substantive rule changes were proposed and considered by the USBGF Rules Committee. At this point, the unanimous recommendations of the Committee breaks down as follows: Accepted - 9; Partially accepted/rejected - 5; Rejected - 13 (3 - intent to revisit; 1 - rule clarification warranted).

Additionally, and not to be documented, there were numerous comments that suggested non-substantive changes, such as to improve wording. Many comments indicated support for various specific rules and asked that they not be changed, or conveyed support for the rule set as a whole. Finally, there were the simple expressions of appreciation conveyed regarding the effort of all involved and the process being followed.

The Rules Committee in general, and I in particular wish to extend a great big "thank you" to everyone who contributed during this month-long comment period. There were lots of excellent ideas that came out of this process, and there is no question in our minds that the end product has been improved as a result. I hope you will agree and that you will vote to ratify this proposed rule set when the time comes. This experience has reinforced my belief that this is the right way to do things that affect the backgammon community, and I for one will strongly advocate that the USBGF continue to do exactly that.

Rich