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BGonline.org Forums
A few bad arguments don't outweigh many good ones!
Posted By: phil simborg In Response To: How I wish I had more time to rant in general (Ken Larsen)
Date: Monday, 6 December 2010, at 5:17 p.m.
When you have a club with 5 point matches and 8 or 10 people showing up, you probably don't need clocks, and your points are valid. People do have more time to talk and socialize, and they aren't used to clocks. But consider this.
If you used clocks, they would get used to clocks--it only takes one, or two matches at most, to get comfortable with using a clock;
If you used clocks, they would be used to them when to go to larger tournaments and be better prepared and comfortable with them;
If you used clocks, in the same amount of time, they could play a lot more backgammon. You could play 7 or 9 point matches, or swiss, or round robin, and they would get a lot more play for their money.
If you used clocks, there would be even more time for socializing, before and after matches, when the socializing is supposed to happen...NOT DURING THE MATCH.
If you used clocks, those people who do not want to stay around late at night, because they have to get up in the morning, would be more likely to come because they can be sure to be done by a reasonable time.
If you used clocks, the game would be fairer and more interesting to play. A person would not have the advantage of taking more time to make a play simply because he is not considerate of other people's time. We all have the same amount of time to consider our plays, and how we use that time offers an interesting variable into the game and increases the strategy we must employ by deciding how and where to use our time.
If you use clocks, you reduce the potential for someone having a faulty, or crooked pair of dice;
If you use clocks, you reduce the problems caused by fast rolling;
If you use clocks, you give your tournaments the atmosphere of a more formal level of play than "casual" backgammon that people normally play, making the tournament experience more intense, competitive, and, "special."
Certainly there are arguments for being casual and social and not putting pressure on people, and they are good argument, but I believe the above far outweigh those arguments.
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