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What about “Feisty” Phil?

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Wednesday, 5 September 2012, at 12:50 a.m.

In Response To: What about “Feisty” Phil? (Taper_Mike)

I did not use a clock. Why? Because after I made my post I talked to several people about it, and I realized that the tournament director had decided to run a tournament without clocks, and some people came to that tournament who don't like clocks, and for me to "force" the issue on them by making them use a clock (which I could do simply by insisting that I would take hours to make a move if a clock wasn't used) would be in bad form and not very nice to those people.

So while I believe a clock makes for a far better game, EVEN WHEN THERE IS NOT A TIME PROBLEM FOR GETTING THE MATCH DONE, I also believe in respecting the rights of others who disagree with my opinion.

But mostly I respect the tournament director's opinion. This is far from the first time I did not like or agree with a tournament director's rules, procedures, policies, or way of handling things--I am sorry to say it often happens. However, if I am told honestly what the rules are in advance and I know what to expect when I enter, I believe I owe it to the director to live with his rules. I also owe the director my support and friendship and good will because they take enough crap from people and get far too little recognition for all they do for the game. Steve Hast is one of our true giants of backgammon, having run one of the best tournaments in the world year after year, and treating everyone with kindness, good humor, and fairness, and when I thought about it, treating him with respect, and the other players who came hoping not to use a clock, was more important than my making a point of it.

Now, you have already heard many arguments in favor of clocks and why many of us believe it greatly improves the game in many ways, so I won't bore you with it; and you have seen the No. 1 US player of all time, Neil Kazaross, state that he will never go to another tournament that doesn't require clocks; so I will join Neil in doing all I can to convince directors, the USBGF, the ABT, and anyone who will listen to agree to this perspective. If you want to hear my long list of reasons, please email me and I'll be happy to respond or give you a call and talk about it.

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