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BGonline.org Forums
My September 7, 2010 E-Mail to Bill Davis
Posted By: Paul Weaver
Date: Tuesday, 14 September 2010, at 6:53 a.m.
Hello Bill,
Over the last few decades you have done more net good for backgammon in the USA than any other person. You have promoted the game on a local level by successfully running weekly tournaments. You have held an annual tournament that has given hundreds of players an attractive arena in which to compete and socialize. Your newsletter has been the best in the country, if not in the world, for a long time. Finally, your ingenious idea of starting the ABT has stimulated interest in backgammon, undoubtedly increasing attendance at tournaments across the country.
You and I have known each other for more than twenty years. During this time you have done many things for me, great and small. I count you as a friend and I am confident you feel the same way. I trust our friendship is strong enough for me to be frank with you regarding some things that have been on my mind for a long time.
On Saturday, March 6, 2010, I had to play past midnight until 2:15 AM Sunday. Then I had to play the consolation semis, the money round at 10 AM. Not only was cash riding on it, but also ABT points. Gary Bauer had three more hours overnight between his matches than I did. This situation was detrimental to me and also would have been difficult for anyone else in my situation. I can deal with losing if I have been given the chance to compete on a level playing field. However, it is much more difficult for me to accept losing – indeed it was a heartbreaking experience – when I am not able to play my best game because of lack of rest.
Although I was very upset, I said nothing to you at the time because (1) I did not want to appear to be a sore loser, (2) there was nothing that could be done about it after the fact, and (3) I wanted to give myself a cooling-off period to make sure I was looking at the situation objectively.
The tournament did not move forward at the pace needed to avoid these hardships. How could your tournament be guaranteed to progress at a reasonable pace? Clocks should be mandatory. It takes much less time to run a clocked round of 15pt matches than it takes to run an un-clocked round of 11pt matches. If clocks are not mandatory, your staff should monitor matches and put slow ones on the clock.
Here is an additional suggestion: in addition to using clocks, running the last chance as a progressive event would the pressure off the 2AM – 9AM stop/start issues.
I was not certain if others felt the same way I did, so I shared my views with other participants of your tournament and it turns out that many have similar sentiments. I learned that many in past years have had to play well past midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Thank you for all you have done for backgammon, thank you for your friendship over the years, and thanks for considering my suggestions.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Paul
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