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BGonline.org Forums
Clocking
Posted By: lenny
Date: Tuesday, 16 December 2008, at 5:05 a.m.
If you want backgammon tournaments to draw increasingly larger attendance, as I would imagine the avid studiers here lust after, then widespread use of clocks would be foolish.
As the various fever dream anecdotes from recent Los Angeles get examined, it should be obvious that clocks can divert players from thinking about the game itself, can be productive of hard feelings, can be productive of director's blunders, and can serve as the tool of the angle shooter. Add in the not insignificant details re No Standard Method/No Standard Hardware, and you get a free form mess which would never be fully worked out.
In addition to the above, clocks would work against newer players(even newer "masters)" in a very substantive manner. Neural net imprintees would recognize a large percentage of correct plays. Players without that training would get involved in long pauses which would inevitably lead to costly time penalties. The backgammon market is not one which would thrive if players are penalized for thinking. You want casual players, or casual experts, to keep playing, with casualness. You don't want to drive them away with an atmosphere that makes it clear they are outgunned.
The ideal situation would be a relaxed and non-confrontational atmosphere, with conventional game-playing illusions encouraged. Clocks work against that in competitive backgammon situations. If two WCEs and an experienced director can't get by a spilled drink in a 5 point match, what's going to happen with a full range of mismatched opponent sets, in matches where large money swings are involved? Especially if an angle shooter is involved?
You superior players should settle for your OTB edge. You don't have to get paid immediately.
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