Backgammon Chouettes

Chouettes

Lure of the chouette

From:   Bob Koca
Address:   bob_koca@hotmail.com
Date:   12 July 2004
Subject:   chouette vs. head to head play
Forum:   rec.games.backgammon
Google:   81b9aee3.0407122043.3ed4c002@posting.google.com

After I finished up in our local tournament last weekend a chouette had started up and already had six players in it. I asked if anyone wanted to play head to head either for money or matches but everyone was happy to keep chouetting and playing the checkers 2/7th of the time on average after I joined in. I've had that experience more than once, what is the lure of the chouette with its associated downtime from active playing? ,Bob Koca

Gregg Cattanach writes:

People like the large number of cubes in play and the extra volitility, and *some* people enjoy the consulting aspect of the game once the cubes are turned. If consulting is allowed in some form, most players on the side feel involved and don't consider those games 'downtime'. Gregg C.

CKT writes:

chouettes are a good tool to learn from better players. it also allows nice comebacks when down or taking-offs when leading, once a player runs into a winning streak and keeps the box for a few games. unfortunetaly, those 5 or 6 players chouettes often turn into a neverending discussion for every decision and after each roll....

Peter Schneider writes:

I remember that Crawford/Jacoby wrote that the chouette etiquette suggests to not interfere with the captain's play unless you are seriously opposed to an action. Newcomers should be encouraged to respect the etiquette. A smooth play at a decent pace with a proper focus on the *important* actions is in everybody's interest. Regards, Peter aka the juggler

Joe Gangsta writes:

One lure is learning from better players who happen to be in the chouette. When I first started playing, the stake of our chouette was $ 3 per point. I gladly joined since there were at least 3 world-class players in the game. I considered it a chep price to pay for lessons. You might consider a couple actions to speed up the chouette once you exceed 5 players. You could take PARTNERS IN THE BOX, meaning that the box has the option of taking a partner, spreading some of the risk/reward out. You might also try an interlocking chouette. In this variation you have 2 games in progress at once with all players in both games. I've played in this version with as many as 14 players with all players having plenty of opportunity to play. However, this game moves fastest when there's no consultation and only one cube in play. Joe

Grunty writes:

Even if no consulting allowed, chouette is: * more social, so it gets more fun * more thrilling, since money swings are larger than in h2h * in your side-time, you stay alert when you're in play, and you can evaluate the other players' game when you're out.

Socks writes:

There used to be several public tables at a downtown location in Toronto. Folks would play chess or BG etc., usually for about $1 per point. Watching was encouraged. Watching a chouette (a "shoot" as they called it) was much more fun because people would actually discuss their reasons for things. I learned a bit, though some of it is polluted with the desire to produce "a good show for the crowd." Making BG exciting to watch and winning games are often contradictory. It was also interesting when the box doubled everybody, and some people dropped but somebody kept playing. It meant you got to see the game played out after a double. There would always be a lot of "see I told you so" at the end, no matter which way the game went. Another interesting factor was that there would often be players of obviously different skill levels. There were three or four guys who hung around who were quite good. There was a crowd of guys who were pretty average (that's where I fit in) and there were two or three perenials who were quite terrible. You could see the guy in the box making his calculations when one of these bad players was the captain. He'd do things like double only the captain. Or double everybody else to get them to drop and keep only the captain who would likely get gammoned. (Their rule was, if you'd been doubled and dropped you could not consult.) There were many interesting variations. For example, if the box had doubled several people and they had dropped, he got to keep the box even if he lost the game as long as he wound up making a net profit on the game. I got to see several whacky variations on the corner. For example, they briefly tried playing BG with three dice instead of two. Doubles counted the same, but tripples meant you moved six times. That didn't last long. They eventually found it to be just too much randomness. Though some few players liked it because the game was over very quickly. I also learned that you cannot trust people who play for money on a street corner. Several times one player would be distracted by something: somebody else talking to them, one of the college coeds from the college next door, etc. And the other guy would just keep rolling and moving while his opponent was distracted. Sadly, these game tables are not there any more. The store that owned that bit of sidewalk has made an outdoor cafe on the spot. Socks

Did you find the information in this article useful?

Do you have any comments you'd like to add?