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Cannes tourny questions >>Formats

Posted By: Eric Guedj
Date: Saturday, 25 July 2009, at 10:03 a.m.

In Response To: Cannes tourny questions (Rich Munitz)

The question of "luck vs skill" was adressed numerous times in the past (it actually reminds me of an interesting topic, posted at the time on backgammon social network, and some constructive contributions. A noticeable one came from Rich Munitz, and his quantitative approach on "17-pointer vs 3x5", etc)

So what is the deal with this?

- If we aim at seeing the best players win most of the time, the answer is rather simple: best of 7 matches to 101 points...

- If we aim at attracting players who like coin-flips better: 1 point match with clock set on 1mn + 3s/m...:)

Obviously, there is no right or wrong and (as always) "truth" lies somewhere in the middle.

Formats should be set not only in view of "What favors better any specific category of players?", but also "What does the average player like best?" ,and equally important: "What is doable within tournament's time frame?". The latter is frequently neglected, and WBC in Monaco outlined this lately..

If the element of luck was to (almost) disappear, it would be like chess, and NO amateur player would play.

Yet, the opposite is not true: Best players would always be able to adapt their play to faster and shorter formats. That's what professional do: they adapt to new playing conditions, and eventually still dominate the game on the long run. I assume that what truly matters to pros is "liquidity", i.e. "who cares about the format, as long as there is a lot of action, a lot of players, and large enough stakes"

So everything was tried in the past 10 years: From the 17 pointer at WBC, the latest Nordic Open format of 2x11 + 5-pointer decider, the WSOB Finale 3-pointer, the "Swiss format " for British Open and French National Champs, and so on..

When an organizer comes out with something new, all players think it's great...well, very much because it's...new!

But I wonder: Is this topic only about "how many sets?", and "match length"?

What about the very idea of match format? Is this the right way forward? ... Since I've started playing the game some 20 years ago, I have seen match-play format only in tournaments, and (almost) never in private cash or casual games..

As we all know, BG is out there for 6000 years - [courtesy of ckt :) ]- and in most countries in the world. ok Before the emergence of match-play, was backgammon a stupid boring game?no. Do most players in the world play 'match-format' on the beach, in cafes, in the street or at home on sunday afternoons?no! They play casual games (with or without money), and some don't even use the cube...("traditionnal Backgammon" is it?)

So my bottom-line here comes as follows:

Can't we all try to figure a completely new format for BG tournaments? Can't we try and forget the 'metaphysical questions' over "best 'x' out of 'y', with a length of 'n'" which never brought anything but merely "repackaging" the same ideas again and again?

So what then? How about ...CASH GAMES TOURNAMENTS?

(Ideas welcome of course!)

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