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BGonline.org Forums
Keep Socialism Out of Backgammon
Posted By: Bill Riles In Response To: Keep Socialism Out of Backgammon (Michael Petch)
Date: Wednesday, 26 January 2011, at 1:11 a.m.
Perhaps we have a different semantical perspectives.
You seem to think that all resource materials should be available for free to anyone. Plenty of resource materials are available for free -- one can find great discussion here, google any term and/or concept and you can find considerable information, and a myriad of other examples exist.
Further, I do not know a single world-class or expert player that will not answer a few questions or discuss, in detail, a few positions -- we see it here on the forum all of the time, I see it at every tournament I attend, I gladly participate or contribute when/as I can. Here on the forum you see players, including some of the greats, rolling out positions and sharing the results continuously -- doubtlessly because they want to know the answers, but they share the information. It requires lots of time, computer equipment, etc.
However, should a great player -- who has already spent years and countless dollars in the development and refinement of his/her game -- put additional time and efforts into a book, an article, comprehensive lessons, etc. then by all means he/she should be reimbursed for their efforts.
A great player should not be expected, beyond his/her own wishes, to play developing players 'pro bono' to dispense their hard-earned knowledge to others. This would generally have to be done at the expense of something in their lives -- free time, study time, playing time, money-making opportunities, etc. They may well get a bit of fulfillment from such efforts, and that is great (subject to their own choices), but they're not going to help their game.
Beyond reading, study, casual play, and the like, chouettes and tournaments, of grossly varying costs, are available to refine one's game -- that is a large part of how the vast majority of accomplished players got to where they are.
Utilize the free resources, use a free (GNU) or inexpensive (XG) bot, watch matches by better players (easily done for free, on-line or in-person), study available (free) recorded matches by great players, play in inexpensive tournaments and/or chouettes. But a player -- new, learning, or otherwise -- must realize that there are investments to be made with acquiring any skill. Time, money, energy, brain power, networking, friendships are all currencies of trade that may be used. But remember, every great player you see has a history of such investments behind them.
We all want to see the game grow and, to varying degrees, we are all interested in assisting in that growth but with each new individual it must be a two-way street. The skill and knowledge of the accomplished player was not awarded as an entitlement, it shouldn't be dispensed as an entitlement.
To be good at something is a privilege, not a right. Every successful person -- businessman, salesman, teacher, athlete, player, whatever -- achieved their status the same way, they earned it. As Richard and David variously stated, we can and should provide opportunities; however, we cannot and should not attempt to provide similar results. That requires individual efforts, skills, ambition, motivation, etc. The current entitlement mentality throughout our culture is so very damaging to all -- both, as you would say, to the 'haves' and to the 'have nots'.
I'm probably representative of many here. I'm not a great player, but I'm not a bad player. Like everyone else I've put in a hell of lot of work to reach this point. I read a lot, studied a lot, played a lot, analyzed a lot. I've bought video equipment to record my matches for study. I've acquired bots for analysis. I study other people's matches. I play tournaments and, in so doing, I pay to play the better players -- to challenge myself and to learn what I can. I'm rarely out of the playing room at a tournament -- if I'm not playing, I'm watching.
I think you do a disservice to many players by suggesting they're greedy and/or selfish, that they're unwilling to give or to share. Many have given a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money to establish the USBGF as a resource for all.
But nothing in life is free nor should anything in life be an entitlement. One can make an effort and be surprised by how much assistance they receive; or, they can make a demand and receive nothing.
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