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BGonline.org Forums
My BG Pet Peeve
Posted By: Matt Cohn-Geier In Response To: Article from June 2010 Chicago Point by Larry Leibster (Stick)
Date: Friday, 30 July 2010, at 3:36 p.m.
I have a BG Pet Peeve: unclocked tournament matches.
Have you ever played a 5-hour match in a 90 degree room with no air conditioning and no clock? No? I have! When my opponent won the opening roll (62) at DMP he felt it was appropriate to think about how to play it for 40 seconds. Unfortunately, I had left my knife in my hotel room. In retrospect, it would have been faster to get the knife.
These long matches turn into a huge bracketing nightmare when the tournament has more matches to play. The only tournament I've seen with a relaxed enough schedule where it didn't make a huge difference is Monte Carlo.
Several times I have played in finals matches (against both 'slow' players and 'fast' players) where my opponent has asked not to use a clock because it's the finals. We don't hold up any more matches, but this invariably means that we are going to play a 3+-hour match. Fun times for all.
Another thing that's great fun: unclocked doubles matches! I know it's DMP, but excuse me for the next minute while I take a pip count and then figure out how I will play all of the upcoming 36 rolls, which, of course, we won't actually play that way without first arguing about it for 2 minutes and finally flipping a coin to make the decision.
Also, recorders provide a great service, and I want to express my appreciation for recording others' (or even your own) matches. No offense is intended, but if you can't record a match on a clock, please don't record.
I hope I never have to play an unclocked tournament match again. Also, I'll never leave my knife in my hotel room again.
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