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BGonline.org Forums
It is The best video from VoB--great video but
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: It is The best video from VoB (Mochy)
Date: Tuesday, 21 November 2017, at 3:46 a.m.
I was delighted to be invited to do commentary on the finals match in Vegas. But after watching this match drag on and on (over 3 hours) I couldn't stand to sit there any longer without taking a nice, long break. No clock!!!!
How much fun is that to watch? How many people out there want to watch a player agonize for 2 minutes over a relatively simple bearoff play? And I don't blame the players...if they have unlimited time and lots of money and prestige involved, why not take a very long time on every move?
What could have been a really fun and exciting match, with fun and interesting commentary, excellent audio and video, and interesting players giving it their all, was painfully slow and often so boring we commentators had to fill the space with stories about the players or longer descriptions about the possibilities of what the players might be thinking about.
The time for mandatory clocks is well overdue. This game is better for the players and spectators with clocks. Only novice matches and maybe some short side events should be allowed to be played without clocks. Watching two great player tap the board to end their turn is demeaning to the game.
Why spend all the time and effort to stream, record and post matches if they take forever and instead of getting people interested and excited about backgammon, it turns them away?
The USBGF has the ability and authority to make clocks mandatory, and a huge majority of the players prefer the game to be played with clocks; and virtually all the higher level players prefer it; and it is better for the game. So why not make it happen?
Someone please give me a good reason why clocks should not be mandatory? And why the USBGF ruling committee shouldn't take action on this now?
By the way, I also believe every finals match should have a monitor. In the past year we have seen illegal moves, wrong scores, people forgetting to use the baffle box and it not being caught by the opponent; clocks continuing to run; checkers being moved illegally or put back in the wrong place; people taking breaks for too long; fast-rolling; and all kinds of stuff that a monitor would help prevent.
We want our finals, and our major streamed matches, be look and be fair and professional. A monitor will improve the game for the players and spectators and no reason not to have one, again, on all finals and every important match as long as there is someone available, and there virtually always is.
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