Backgammon Etiquette

Etiquette

Rude conduct

From:   Igor Schein
Address:   igor@txc.com
Date:   23 March 2003
Subject:   Conduct question
Forum:   rec.games.backgammon
Google:   c51f57b3.0303232220.7668f60d@posting.google.com

Hi, On Sun, while playing a match in a local monthly tournament, I was accused of cheating by my opponent in a rude and somewhat profane fashion. I chose not to respond to him in the same fashion, but rather silent-treated him for the rest of the match and refused the after-match handshake because I took it personally. My question is, what would most players do in my situation? Pretend nothing happened? Treat is as strictly business? Cut the guy a slack for simply expressing his frustration with my rolling 3 sets of boxes in 4 shakes (like that never happened before) and not take him literally? Thanks Igor

Christopher Alvino writes:

From what I've seen at the local chouette, the best players always seem to take things in stride. They want future games with people because it is a source of income for them, so they do what they can to ease relations. They especially want future games with people who complain about rolls because those are usually the people who don't fully understand the swings or the importance of skill (vs. luck) in long run backgammon. Things that I've seen done by expert players are: 1) calmly apologizing about the way they've been rolling 2) acknowledging that "yes, I beat you in that game because I got lucky", to make other players try to get even 3) ignoring profanities politely 4) leave if it starts to get physical or out of control 5) actively not take sides 6) not gossip So yeah, if you understand the swings in the game, you can cut the guy some slack, and try to ease his pain by admitting that you were lucky. I've even had an expert player apologize to me about the rolls he'd be getting in a 5-point match during a tournament. He wanted to make me comfortable and to play him more. I knew that the reason he had beat me *that night* had to do largely with his luck, but also that he was a huge favorite over me in the long run, and that given equal luck, he would have clobbered me. So you don't have to handle it by getting walked over or by being belligerent back. In the long run, you want to keep playing backgammon in a non-stressful environment, while keeping your self-respect. As far as declining the after-match handshake, I wouldn't have done that, only because I'd probably want to play him again. I don't think accepting his handshake would have made you a pushover. However, if that's the extent of what you did, I think you handled it very well. Chris

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