US rules Sec4.6 Suggestions
Butch & Mary Ann Meese
In November, players were asked for suggestions to
update/improve the United States Backgammon Tournament
Rules & Procedures. I have received 114 suggestions
and I want to thanks all who submitted them.
Before I send them to a panel for voting, I am going
to open them up for discussion here at
rec.games.backgammon. Each rule will be posted
separately with suggestions over a period of 10-14 days.
After all comments are collected, I will add the comments
to the suggestions and then send the package to the panel.
Only serious comments will be included.
The names of the people providing suggestions and comments
will not be included unless they specifically state they
want their name included.
Butch Meese
me...@worldnet.att.net
UNITED STATES BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT RULES & PROCEDURES
March 1990
4.6 PREMATURE ACTIONS.
No player may roll or turn the cube until the opponent
has picked up his dice. A premature roll must be
rerolled. A premature double shall stand if otherwise
valid. An opponent who has yet to complete his turn may
then do so with foreknowledge of the premature double.
Suggestion #1
Touch-move should be promoted. Checker shuffling is a big
contributor to slow play. COMMON descriptions of backgammon
include EXCITING and FAST-PACED. In addition to fair-play,
rules should be designed to stimulate interest and enthusiasm
in the game...lest there be no-play. What can we do to get
promoters interested in the game? Action!!
Chess clocks and one-pair of dice can, and eventually may,
help this problem and that of premature rolls. Until then,
I would like to see ALL ROLLS COUNT. WHEN THE DICE ARE DOWN,
THEY STAY AND PLAY. A dice roll is a voluntary action and is
penalty enough that the opponent can complete a move with
foreknowledge of the dice. Of course fake dice pickups TO
ENCOURAGE PREMATURE ROLLS must be discouraged, but should be
accepted. This can be adjudicated with a ruling IF A LEGAL
PLAY HAS BEEN MADE WHEN THE DICE WERE TEASED, THEN THE PLAY
IS COMPLETE. This works perfectly with LEGAL-MOVES ONLY.
I have passed this by many players with split reaction.
To my knowledge, it has not been used, so people don't
understand it. At the club we use NO PREMATURE DICE
ROLLS AS LONG AS A PLAYER HAS CHECKER PLAY OPTIONS.]
Suggestion #2
>A premature double shall stand if otherwise
> valid. An opponent who has yet to complete his turn may
> then do so with foreknowledge of the premature double.
I dislike this rule greatly. A premature roll is a premature
roll (ok, ok, so we allow them, but with prior agreement
between players only). Why stand firm on a premature roll,
but allow a premature double? Sorry, I wasn't around for
prior discussions when this rule came into effect -- can
you educate me?
Suggestion #3
We should come into the world community and give the offended
party the option of letting the roll stand or rerolling.
Suggestion #4
An opponent with checker(s) on the bar against a closed
board shall be given ample opportunity to roll and/or
double on his turn, even though he has no legal checker
movements.
Suggestion #5
In the absence of a "Clock/Dice rolling device" I lean
towards allowing the premature rolling of dice to stand
and the opponent being able to make his move with full
knowledge of the roll. Of course there is the problem
of your opponent dragging his dice to provoke a
premature roll...
Suggestion #6
The rule about cocked dice is clear enough as it stands,
but I think that it should be reworded to be blatantly
obvious that a) a die coming to rest flat on a checker
is cocked, that BOTH dice must be rerolled.
Suggestion #7
Additional: Pieces removed in bear-offs must be removed
from the playing area - either to the checker holder or
completely from the board. in the event of a checker
being misplaced the opponent can request its
removal or that it remains where it is.
Suggestion #8
We have added that whether or not a premature roll
must be rerolled is up to the opponent. This is the
only way a player can punish a player who keeps on rolling
prematurely. This is rule, which is used at the World
Championships in Monte Carlo, is commonly accepted
throughout Europe.
--
Hoosier Backgammon Club /\ /\
Home Page: http://home.att.net/~meese { `---' }
{ O O }
Butch & Mary Ann Meese ~~~~~> V <~~~~~
1008 Tuckahoe Street ~~~~\ \|/ /~~~~
Indianapolis IN 46260 `-----'__
(317) 255-8902 / \ `^\_
{ }\ |\_\_ _
Email: me...@worldnet.att.net | \_/ |/ / \_\_( )
\__/ /(_/ \__/
(__/
Stephen Turner
(Sent to authors and newsgroup).
I would strongly support the idea of making premature rolls stand (as happens
with cube actions in the current rules) and allowing the other player to play
knowing the roll. We use this in British Isles BG Association tournaments
with great success: we have had almost no premature rolls since it was
introduced. Of course under current U.S. rules, a clued-up player faced with
a premature roll will snatch it up and make the opponent re-roll: but not all
players are clued-up, and so the onus should not be on the player to insist,
but on the opponent to roll at the right time or face a large penalty.
In summary, this would be a major change, but, based on experience elsewhere
in the world, a very worthwhile one. It should at least be tried out in one
or two major tournaments.
--
Stephen Turner sr...@cam.ac.uk http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/
Statistical Laboratory, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1SB, England
"The Bishop of Huntingdon and Postman Pat each opened new school extensions"
(Cambridge Weekly News, 28-May-97)