Backgammon Online

03-Jul-2013
18:26 PST

Place anything here that is in the spirit that the original host intended, ie positive, constructive, humorous or complimentary.

03-Jul-2013
23:24 PST

Any thoughts on the following idea....

Run a monthly "Champion of champion" tournament.

To qualify, one must have reached the number 1 position on the ladder in the previous month.
Proof will have to be provided - a copy of the message sent by ZE staff when one reaches the top.
So, if we were to go ahead with this in August - only players reaching the top in July would qualify.

The tournament should be short - unlike the current champions tournament which will last 6+ weeks.
Maybe a single game contest between all the players (no cube)???

The whole tournament would last less than a week (I think) and the winner would have bragging rights for the month.

Your thoughts and suggestions?

03-Jul-2013
23:41 PST

If you really want to irritate your opponent, why not try this?

1. Call his worst rolls for him.
2. Call your second best roll, and if you roll your best roll, complain.
3. If he wins a game or match, tell him how lucky he was.
4. If you win a game or match, tell him how amazing it was you won with all those bad rolls.
5. Whenever he's thinking about a tough play, or counting pips, tap the table impatiently, sigh heavily, and keep shaking your dice to distract him.
6. Whenever you get a perfect roll that closes him out or ends the game, pretend you don't see it right away and make the play very slowly, acting like you're thinking about doing something else.
7. Whenever he makes a daring play, like leaving a voluntary shot, or gambling for a G instead of doubling and it doesn't work—be sure to tell him you wouldn't have done that.
8. If you gammon him, tell him he was very lucky not to get backgammoned.
9. Whenever he rolls a repeater, even if it's a terrible roll, remind him that he really should shake his dice.
10. Practice your rolling technique so that whenever you have an important roll the dice will be off the table and you'll have to roll over several times.
11. If you are sure you are not going to double, finger the doubling cube for a while and then change your mind.
12. Yell "YES!" whenever he rolls a really bad roll.
13. Especially if you are playing with his board, eat something really messy while you play and drip food all over the checkers and the board. (If you smoke, ashes look lovely on an opponent's board.)
14. Whenever he has a forced play, tell him it's forced and move his checkers for him.
15. And lastly, if you win, be sure to report it to the tournament director in the loudest possible voice.

I too hope I haven't offended anybody. For those of you without a sense of humour - this post was meant as a joke.  

No animals were harmed while making this post.  

HA Ha Ha - it would seem as though we are going to have to devise suitable disclosure statements that will need to be attached to the end of each post.

My suggestion is that everybody should add the following to each message he/she sends.    

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this message. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this message by mistake and delete this message from your system

Message transmissions in this tournament cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. This
message is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments.

05-Jul-2013
01:37 PST

I volunteer (since no one else has) to host the next tournament if Kumara Kid would be gracious enough to post the results for me as we go along. I do not claim to be a masterful leader, an expert psychologist, nor a mind reader. I just volunteer my services, period. Some qualities I do possess are very thick skin, the ability to try and see both sides of the coin, and perseverance, I will not quit. I enjoy the game, want to get better, and I enjoy playing with like minded people that also want to have a good time and encourage one another, even give tips to one another. I do not want any part of the bickering and back and forth that we have seen in the past few weeks. Let's chalk that up to a learning curve and see if TC#3 can be better.

So here is what I propose as a format (very similar to TC#2):

1. Round Robin where everyone plays everyone using the doubling cube to 5 pts. Resignations or Eliminations will have all of their results removed, (per the vote in TC#2). Crawford Rule and Dead Cube Rule in place.

2. Same format as TC#2 with the same playoff scenario, same point structure, top 8 qualify. Ties will be handled in order by:

A. Head to head results.
B. If more than two are tied then it will go to points differential in the related (between the tied people) games. This will factor in the cube and margin of victory in the related games.
C. The third tie breaker will be the ZE backgammon rating of the tied people as of the day the tournament starts.

3. There will be a time limit to finish all of the round robin games. This will depend on the number of people that want to play, but I am thinking right now either 3-4 weeks from our start date. Players with games left at the deadline will be eliminated completely along with all of their results (per the vote).

3. As far as qualifications to play in the tournament, I am asking for one of 3 things:

A. Past ladder champion that shows up in the bio or as in one case we just saw where I think 2 people vouched for someone's past success.
B. #1, 2, or 3 in any ZE tournament as evidenced in the bio.
C. A backgammon personal best rating of 1825 or higher.

What this gives us is some qualifications that ensure a certain quality standard.

As the host, I am asking for absolute power on acceptance into the tournament and on being able to eliminate anyone that does not play with a certain level of sportsmanship. Rude behavior will not be acceptable and will only be addressed one time per player, which I will handle in a private warning message. If something needs to be brought to my attention, I am asking for private messages on that as well. Past behavior will be a factor as well, although I do believe in 2nd chances. However that 2nd chance may or may not be given by me. If it is given, it will be with a very short leash, however. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

If something unforeseen and major comes up, I like the idea of the voting process which we have already used, but I will try not to waste everyone's time on minor issues. I fully expect we will learn new and better ideas that the host of TC#4 can implement if they so choose that will help each of the following tournaments to have their own flavor, characteristics, and hopefully improvements.

If these stipulations sound good and you guys want me to do this, then I will start new threads for TC#3 along the lines of Kumara Kid , one for sign up, one for polite conversation or ideas or tidbits or humor, and one for results. I am thinking start the sign up process Monday and start the Tournament 7/13/13.

My apologies to our English Professor for any and all grammar errors, run on sentences, or syntax errors. Finance is my thing!

05-Jul-2013
01:47 PST

You have my full support and happy to post results.

05-Jul-2013
03:07 PST

Count me in! I like your philosophy!

05-Jul-2013
08:49 PST

Thanks Abriscoe for hosting T3. I look forward to participating and already appreciate your thoughtful approach.

05-Jul-2013
09:22 PST

I will participate. Please count me in.

05-Jul-2013
15:01 PST

I'll play too, thank you abriscoe!

05-Jul-2013
15:12 PST

looking forward to it!
Good job Razz and KK.