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BGonline.org Forums
Pgh LAbor Day BG Tourn- Director's Decision
Posted By: johnk In Response To: Pgh LAbor Day BG Tourn- Director's Decision (Alfred Mamlet)
Date: Wednesday, 5 September 2012, at 4:44 a.m.
Yes, Thank you Steve, Ryan, Butch, Mary Ann and Jeff for running such a great tournament! It was great to see Robertie, Magriel and KG playing once again. Clocks were a non-issue - at least for those who attended.
It shouldn’t surprise me anymore how strongly clock proponents on this forum advocate their position – but still I thought there would be more recognition now that a tournament can be run successfully and on time without clocks. I know in the past there have been ridiculously long matches that have delayed tournaments unreasonably and if clocks were the only solution to that problem I would also be a big clock proponent. I really don’t dislike clocks all that much. In the 100 or so matches I’ve played with clocks I’ve been below 2 minutes 6 or 7 time at most (12 seconds once) and usually I have over 10 minutes. But I think the game is better without clocks. There’s so much variable complexity in backgammon and difficult positions come up at a variable rate. Most matches can be easily finished within the standard allowed time but I’d hate to lose a match because too many complex positions come up in the same match. Of course it usually doesn’t come to that since players will play fast, if sub-optimally, when they need to since it’s obviously better than losing the on time. But why should we have to. It seems many clock proponents like the extra competitive element clocks impose (and many are or were competitive chess players) but to me at least the game is plenty competitive without clocks. Playing without clocks does impose more responsibility on players to play at a reasonable rate and on directors to monitor matches that are getting behind. It might be useful to announce the time remaining in a round periodically – say every half hour – and even for players to self-report slow matches. Having score placards at every table might also be a good idea making it easier for directors to notice slow matches. There are other possibilities too. One compromise might be to relax the times, at least at some tournaments to, say, 3 minutes per point. There’s more I want to say but its getting late so I’ll stop for now. It seems like clocks are not going away but Steve and his crew have shown that a tournament can be run great and on time without clocks. Thanks again Steve.
Oh one more thing – I really liked doubles without clocks. It was lots of fun hearing consulting – and occasional coffeehousing - between experts. If clocks are used for doubles I’d like to see an even more relaxed time allowance.
John Klein
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