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BGonline.org Forums
Clocks (lengthy)
Posted By: Stick
Date: Friday, 17 October 2008, at 4:19 a.m.
Most of what is below has been stated before by other people on these forums. I've condensed it all into one post along with a couple of personal additions to hopefully push clocks into the near future.
The Light Side of the Force
The main objective, to move the tournament along smoothly and avoid annoying delays from one round to the next. Clock the master’s jackpot and the open/championship field from the start. If you wait til there’s a problem, a match has fallen behind (usually significantly if someone actually notices) the damage has not only been done, but then the wrong people are being punished. It’s the next rounds that will be clocked, not the one that actually held up the tournament, and it’s the guy who has been waiting for 4 hours + 2 hour dinner break to play who is annoyed.
I do not think we need to clock the intermediate or beginner divisions. The reason is twofold. One, I don’t believe they have the same time issues as the open division since they have less players and possibly even play shorter match lengths. Two, if only the ‘big boy events’ are being clocked, it will convey a sense of professionalism, something to aspire to, to not only be able but be forced to play with a clock.
If backgammon is ever going to grow I feel adding clocks, and eventually adding time restrained tournaments, is one way of making it more appealing to the general public. Many have mentioned the worry of losing players over making clocks mandatory, I will tell you now that some tournaments next year are going to lose me personally if it isn’t mandatory. I plan on emailing every TD of every tournament I may possibly go to well in advance next year, stating my position on clocks. If I’m undecided on attending a tournament and it isn’t clocks required at least at the request of one of the players, I will not go.
My sleep schedule is, and always will be, a wreck. I manage to drag my happy ass out of bed whenever they tell me to at these tourneys, but when I do I expect to play within’ a certain time frame, I don’t expect to get up and still be waiting on some match that didn’t finish from the night before because Slowpoke1 & Slowpoke2 were having a battle of the minds over how to play an opening 31. I also like a flow to a tournament, knowing that even though I finish early because I play quickly that the matches behind me won’t drag to Buzz Lightyear infinity & beyond. In Peoria I did not get a bye, I played my first match and was finished probably before anyone. I did not play again until after dinner.
One set of dice meaning no longer will your opponent be shaking his dice while you’re trying to concentrate on your turn. No longer will there be a dispute over what was rolled if you make an illegal move. No longer will there be fast rolling. No longer will cheats be able to as easily introduce loaded dice into the game and have an advantage. (not that I think this goes on on the ABT but it’s still better safe than sorry in some cases) No longer can you moan, gripe, bitch, or complain when your opponent is taking a picture, writing down a position, or even talking to bystanders on his time. If I want to quench my thirst by taking an unnecessarily long drag on a crown & coke while shaking my dice or let my time run while I’m switching a song on my ipod because I have no idea how New Kids on the Block got uploaded it’s all good for you, my opponent, it’s diminishing my time.
People planning flights home on Sunday won’t have the inherent worry that they do now, “will it finish on time”. With every match clocked it is highly likely that everything will run smooth like butter. Right now I typically do what Ray does, I plan to stay an extra night in the hotel and leave the morning after. I have that luxury, most people do not. Most people are very rushed on Sundays if they’re still in the tourney it seems, trying to either renegotiate flight plans or map out if they’ll make it on time.
The Dark Side of the Force
Where do the TDs get the money from? I feel this issue is easily solved. They charge a small fee, $5 for eg, at X number of tournaments in the championship field until the cost of the clocks has been covered. There have also been people who have offered to toss in a benji which I think is overly generous and would not recommend this route. It should be no hassle to collect this money over a short period of time. Peoria had 43 people in the championship division, 43x5 = $215. If you hit a bigger tournament like Michigan it had 94 in the open, 94x5 = $470, quite a big dent.
The other way to resolve this, and my personal choice, is tell everyone to buy their own f’in’ clock! If everyone gets their own clock then we won’t have the transportation issue with TDs having to lug large amounts of clocks around, each individual will bring his or her own. The TDs don’t supply boards, dice cups, dice, let’s add clocks to that list.
If the route of the directors purchasing and lugging the clocks around is chosen I agree that transporting them from one tourney to the next could be a bit aggravating. I would volunteer myself to help lug them around, noting that I am in a decent spot for Midwest events and drive to a fair few of them. (I could also be persuaded to drive to more if I was hauling around clocks)
Next issue, setting the clocks. Come on, is this really an issue? Initially sure, but players will quickly adapt and learn or the clocks can all be preset before the tournament.
Would a tournament require a larger staff to handle clocks? I don’t believe so, but that’s only my perception. For a normal tournament if it was the TDs who owned the clocks ahead of time I would have all the clocks preset, numbered or somehow identified, and sitting at the tables in the room. If, however, it was the player’s responsibility to bring the clocks (my preferred method again) then they’d simply plop down and play as they do now and the TDs wouldn’t have to worry about any extra staff or organazation.
The reason that the staff in X tournament, Peoria was mentioned, spent a lot of time dealing with clocks is because the thing wasn’t mapped out to be clocked from the beginning. This changes so much you can’t even imagine, planning on doing something one way and following that plan rather than hopping around, trying to keep track of who is falling behind, who isn’t, and if match Z or P needs a clock put on it. Clock them all, no hopping, no dealing, just a fast everything starting and finishing on time with everyone getting some solid sleep if they so choose so tournament!
Traveling with one’s own clock may cause an incident, I do not know. I can imagine airports by now can tell the difference between a carry on chess (backgammon) clock and a bomb. Be careful when traveling all the same, depending on the type of clock, harsh travel could fubar the screen.
The Non Issue Issues
Noise. Outside factors, even your opponent. Without clocks it doesn’t matter if your opponent babbles on endlessly about what he thought of the last game or chats with someone on your turn. If you’re thinking you simply take more time, if you were counting pips, shit, you have to start over. With clocks it wouldn’t be so amicable. I wear headphones more and more because otherwise I can’t block out people. If I hear an interesting conversation close by I don’t want to run them off, I want to join the convo. I tune in & tune out, it works for me, but others it may not. Or, they may have Rory in front of them singing along, something that I’m sure is of the utmost pleasure to the ears, while they’re trying to think. If we introduce clocks there will be an adjustment period and some things, such as this, will come up and have to be figured out. Overall I think the noise level in the room will come down a tad but nowhere near chess room silent.
Time controls .. what should they be. I think initially the majority of people who have discussed it seem to be good with 2/15 which would allow for a smoother transition for slow players or others not accustomed to clock usage. 2/12, which I prefer out of all the standard settings, (the faster the better, same thing I tell every new girl I meet) doesn’t rush me in the least. Until the rules and mishaps are ironed out though I think we should adopt 2/15 and aim for 2/12 in 2010.
Other Notes of Interest
People with disabilities being alloted more time … I don’t agree with it and that’s another reason why I support 2/15. I don’t want to punish people with clocks, only move the tournament along in a timely manner. With a 2/15 time control I believe almost all should be able to make that pace, whether you can’t read the dice or you have to swipe the board twice to find them.
Stick
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