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Is gamesmanship always a bad thing?

Posted By: Henrik Bukkjaer
Date: Friday, 5 March 2010, at 8:23 a.m.

In Response To: Is gamesmanship always a bad thing? (Rich Munitz)

The rules about "capricious cubehandling" (as I understand them to be in US), are necessary in non-clocked games, simply because you have no clear cut definition of when you end your turn (no dice being picked up, no clock plunger being hit, etc.).

I think that is the big difference between the cube scenario and the checkerplay scenario Phil describes (looking at different checkerplays to induce a reaction from your opponent).

If you didn't have the "capricious rule" in non-clocked games, then exactly when would you have doubled? When you touch the cube? When you turn it to the next level? When you start the forward motion? When it touches the playing surface? The problems that would arise and the number of twists and rulings you'd see would explode from what you have today. And for what reason, really? You'd probably see players cube-faking 5-6 times in a game to lure out reactions (or just to annoy). It's not really part of a mind game.

What you would do as part of a gentleman's mind game in this respect could be the following: You are improving your position, and getting closer to your preferred doubling zone. Trying to make your opponent think your position is strong, you take approx. 5 seconds "thinking" about a double, one or two rolls before you arrive at your normal doubling point. The idea is, that when you improve one or two steps further, you have what you think is a double and a take, but your opponent might have got the impression that you have improved beyond your window and pass it.

Now, especially in a clocked game, that would be fine in my opinion, and well within the gentleman-ship that's required for backgammon play.

Getting back to the capricious cube handling: In a clocked game, I could imagine this rule to be softened up, since you have a clear definition of when you end your turn, and you are using your own time for this "play" (when you decide not to double anyway, you must roll, and by then a lot of your Bronstein delay has been used).

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