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ruling in Madison

Posted By: Tom Keith
Date: Thursday, 10 September 2009, at 8:13 p.m.

In Response To: ruling in Madison (Gregg Cattanach)

Greggs arguments against "Legal Plays":

1. If my opponent makes an illegal play, and I don't correct it (because I didn't see it), then he realizes he made an illegal play, now he wants to get out his knife.

I assume you're not serious. Why would your opponent be angry that you made the same mistake he did?

Part 2, it is completely uninforceable. There is no way to exact a penalty for failing to correct my opponent's illegal play.

Should everything in backgammon have a penalty?

Part 3, you create an ethical dilemma for a player EVERY time the opponent makes an illegal play. Should I pretend to not notice and play on (increasing my $$ equity) or assist my opponent with his sloppy play

I don't understand this. Are you saying, because you have a chance to increase your equity by not following the rules, a legal-plays rule would tempt you to cheat? What about the current rule? It rewards you every time you intentionally make an illegal play that your opponent doesn't catch. Surely that provides a much bigger ethical dilemma!

Part 4, (and I have yet to hear anyone with a counter-argument for this), what possible rationale is there for putting ME in charge of helping my opponent when he makes an illegal play? I certainly don't have to when he makes a bad one.

It is a matter of whether you believe the playing of (and the catching of) illegal moves should be part of the game.

I think the reason many people like legal plays is that it is how the game is supposed to be played. Online play sites don't support the concept of illegal plays. Presumably they would if it was an aspect of the game people liked.

What about some of these other situations?

1. Your opponent sets up the board wrong. Should you have the option to accept the illegal setup?

2. Your opponent writes down the wrong score at the end of a game. Should you have the option to accept his score?

3. Your opponent accidentally bumps the board, your checker falls off the bar, and he doesn't notice. Should you have the option of leaving the checker off the bar?

You could make the argument that avoiding (bad) illegal moves and catching your opponent's (good, for him) illegal moves adds to the challenge and skill of the game. As far as that goes, you're right. It takes a lot of concentration to catch both your and your opponent's illegal plays. But is this good? Not all "skillful" additions make for a better game.

When we were small kids our parents taught us how to play Monopoly. They had added many extra rules and that's how we played for years. Then one day we read the real rules and on a lark played one game that way. It was amazing. The real rules, basic as they were, made the game a lot more fun.

Sometimes simpler is better.

Tom

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