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It's here -- 2009, the year of the Clock PR Campaign
Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Monday, 5 January 2009, at 5:33 p.m.
I took my GT-II to Springfield, IL Saturday for the third in the (six) monthly series Central Illinois contests. 20 players from all parts of the experience/skill spectrum.
My first two matches were against Springfield Club members with little or no ABT experience. (Both could play in the beginner sections at ABT, imo; one of those could fit in the Int.) After getting OK and encouragement from Director Randy Armstrong I asked both players if they would like to try out playing with a clock and (surprisingly) both agreed. (More surprises to come.)
Mostly out of laziness I left the clocks set for ABT standard 11-point match (so 12s/move plus 22 bonus minutes per player). Naturally I gave a short tutorial on how to play with a clock and one set of dice. Both players caught on quickly. The only times I had to remind them to hit the clock were after losing the opening roll and for cube decisions. For checkerplay everything went smoothly.
First match (7-pointer) was a dice blowout where my opp used less than one bonus minute in not scoring a point. I used about a minute of bonus time.
Second match (9-pointer) was more of a tussle. Each if us used about seven-eight minutes of bonus time in a match taking several games.
Match #3 was against another local with ABT experience (Int/Advanced divisions) who firmly declined my offer, even when I proposed not using the time for forfeiture but just using the clock for practice and to implement the one pair of dice procedure. (This player claimed clock experience in ABT events -- not sure about the second qualifcation but I believe the 'experience' part. Was pretty adamant so I didn't press for reasons.
Match #4 was also contested against a local with ABT experience (Adv and Open), a player who doesn't play much (if ever) outside of Illinois. Again I got a decline with the reasons "I find the clock a distraction" and "I'm a fast player, anyway."
My last match #5 was against a seasoned ABT open level player who cheerfully agreed to play with standard ABT settings (14 minutes for this 7-point consolation match). Each of us used a bit less than half of our bonus time.
Overall I was satisfied with this first attempt of 2009 -- 60% of matches played on the clock. Ironically the least experienced players were more agreeable than a couple seasoned vets. Not only did neither complain but the second player came up later and discussed the experience, saying he didn't have any problems and was glad to see that even I hiccuped a couple times -- once starting to pick up the dice after my turn (but before hitting the clock) and once shaking an empty dicecup. :)
Besides these playing experiences, I had a few between-match discussions with players. One in particular was with a headstrong individual who is an occasional ABT participant. He said he was very much against clocks. It came down to "I'm a traditionalist"; "I'm not interested in playing speed-backgammon" and "I know directors are all for it, but..."(!) I asked him to rate himself {fast, moderate, slow} and he said 'fast'. (I expect to hear this a lot.) He eventually pointed out that his clock experience had only been with analog clocks+rules and we both agreed that these are undesirable but of course I pointed out that this practice is fast becoming ancient history.
Two other ABT players came up later after overhearing the above discussion. They agreed with my side of the argument.
Unfortunately my schedule won't allow me to attend Charlotte where "Clocks allowed" (clocks-OR) will be the rule. The Hortons put on an excellent tournament and I'm particularly appreciative that Jeb is going forward with allowing clock usage in this manner.
I encourage all of you not only to be active in promoting clock usage but especially to do so in a non-threatening manner. In a couple years many are going to be surprised at how accepted this practice will have become and wonder "why didn't we do this years ago?" But now is a very important time because there is a perceived penal image associated with clocks currently (more ideas on that later) and we have a hurdle to cross.
One last thing I tried to do, especially with the newbies. I did not play hurriedly or frantically. Even on automatic plays I moved smoothly, pondered a bit, and then nonchalantly tapped the plunger. I want players to see that being relaxed is part of clock usage. That will ease a lot of minds. I know some of you do this already (e.g. Stick). Keep this in mind: when you are playing on the clock you are going to get interested onlookers (some at least as interested in watching the clock mechanics and effects as your brilliant play :). That is a valuable part of the 2009 campaign as well.
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