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tournament rules and ethics--Sorry, I completely disagree with Falafel on this one

Posted By: Colin Owen
Date: Wednesday, 4 May 2011, at 3:11 p.m.

In Response To: tournament rules and ethics--Sorry, I completely disagree with Falafel on this one (Phil Simborg)

I believe Phil is 100% right. He has long waged a campaign of trying to clarify and standardise the rules of the game. Having woolly rules only leads to inconsistencies of interpretation and application - or potentially worse. What constitutes a bona fide shake and roll, for example? Not defining this helps any dishonest players (and they do exist!) to try to gain an advantage - whether it be outright cheating or simply trying to unsettle the opponent, ie gamesmanship. And having a rule where active players are EXPECTED to point out illegal/impossible plays will profit only two types of player: the careless, and the dishonest.

The player who bore his own chequer off onto the bar accepted it all with good grace. He clearly felt accountable for his mistake, and did not 'create' over it like some players might. In that moment, his neurons were not firing properly; it is supposed to be a sport of the mind.

In our own 'friendly' games, weekly club events, or maybe the lower echelons of major tournaments, we can apply - and maybe expect - a softer approach. At the higher levels of the game we should not expect any freebies from our opponents. Below the highest levels of tournament play there is an argument, perhaps, for 'softer' rules: more generous time limits, a different interpretation by directors of situations like the one Falafel refers to, no baffle box preference and so on. But we denude our game, and place it at a level below that of other competitive sports/games when we apply such thinking at the games highest level. I believe that Falafel in his post is championing an ETHOS, and that Phil is championing ETHICS; an ethos is more nebulous, and subject to confused thinking.

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