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BGonline.org Forums
Legal/Illegal/Impossible moves/positions
Posted By: Robert Maier In Response To: Legal/Illegal/Impossible moves/positions (Stick)
Date: Wednesday, 23 February 2011, at 6:56 p.m.
Deliberately or not, you have twisted things here. I really don't see why there should be confusion or the specter of faulty logic between the two cases.
In the case of the 2-1 being played 3/bar instead of 3/o, the player took a checker that could and should obviously have been borne off, and placed it on the bar instead of off the board. However the checker was placed on the bar, by which I mean the level of deception involved, the non-offending opponent will by all rights have mentally borne it off as well and be to some degree more likely to not notice right away that it was placed on the bar. He should not be punished for not noticing that the checker was sitting on the bar at the moment he cast his dice. He did nothing wrong other than fail to notice that his opponent had failed to place the borne off checker in an appropriate place, perhaps as a deliberate attempt to cheat in the process.
The real life case of the 4-4 is different. For starters, the player is doing damage to himself. The non-offending opponent has nothing to do with the misplay, or making an attempt to cheat. There is no reason to protect the offending player, absent rules written specifically for that reason, which were not in effect. Absent being able to claim that the checker was being borne off, and therefore should be removed the board, I don't believe the offending player was entitled to any redress.
If we change the 4-4 position, having the blot in the home board on the 4 point, and the outfield blot on the 16 point, and they had played, 16/12/8*/4/ and then put their checker on the bar, and then they had asked for a ruling, I would rule that the checker was borne off and misplaced.
And, wherever else this lively discussion goes, I am definitely in favor of an amending of the US Rules, which states, that a player may not put their own checker on the bar. That if they notice they have placed their checker on the bar, the checker should be placed where it belongs. That if the opponent notices the checker has been placed on the bar, they should inform of such and have the checker replaced in the correct position. However you want to word it is fine. I don't particularly care in general, whether this is a stand alone addition or whether other such amendments are added, I think it stands on its own as in improvement. I would ask/encourage whatever group changes the US rule set to consider it in the immediate future, as well as USBGF to consider the matter, sooner rather than later.
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