Chouettes

Forum Archive : Chouettes

 
When is consulting allowed?

From:   Dave
Address:   imagination-inc@uswest.net
Date:   31 March 2000
Subject:   Chouette Consulting Question
Forum:   rec.games.backgammon
Google:   38E55D97.8DCBA476@uswest.net

Fellow players,

I believe the following are the usual or customary rules that govern
chouette consulting:
    1. No consulting.
    2. Consulting from the very start (at the first roll of the dice)
    3. Consulting only after the first TURN of a cube (barring automatic
doubles).

(Of course only one of these rules is selected to govern consulting for
a given chouette session, and consulting only applies to checker play;
cube discussion is never allowed.)

The other night during a chouette game one person on the team doubled
and the box dropped him.  We play where each person has his own cube.
Being a three man team, this left two players against box.  Since a cube
had been turned the remaining two members of the team started to consult
on their subsequent dice roll. The box objected, saying since the lone
doubleler was dropped and is out of the game, the remaining team members
can not consult.  We have never played this way before and it was the
first time I have ever heard of such a modification.  In effect the box
was saying that there is no consulting unless a cube has been ACCEPTED.
Fortunately it did not matter, it was the last game of the night and
multiples sets of large doubles destroyed our prime vs prime game and
the box won.

I realize that any chouette session can have any set of rules as long as
there is agreement between players and there are a lot of variations to
choose from.  For example, there could be a rule if a woman walks into
the room with a trained monkey on ice skates, then the box automatically
wins a gammon across the board.  But in general there are usual and
customary rules that most games draw from.

So has anyone ever heard of a chouette consulting rule stating:   no
consulting unless a cube has been ACCEPTED?

Regards,
Dave

Christopher Yep  writes:

I believe it's actually quite common for players to play where a crew
member can consult if and only if his cube has been turned at least once
(and still active; i.e. if he's out of the game due to a double/drop he
of course has to remain silent).  Thus, in this convention, in the above
scenario, the remaining two crew members could not consult.  Only after
the non-captain crewmate's cube is turned is he allowed to talk with the
captain.  Thus, there is no consulting until at least one cube has been
accepted, and then the only players allowed to talk with the captain are
those whose cubes are on 2 or higher.  This is actually the first time
I've heard anyone play with the consulting rules that your group uses.

I play in a chouette where consulting is allowed at all times.  However,
I believe that the convention of "consulting allowed by a crew member
only after his cube has been turned" is likely better.  It makes for a
faster game in the early stages while the stakes are still low and where
the moves tend to be easier (note that with Jacoby one is never forced
to both lose a gammon and remain silent throughout the entire game).
After one's cube has been turned, the moves are likely more difficult
and more is at stake, so it makes sense to allow a crew member whose
cube has been turned to consult.  Any equity that a strong player gives
up by not being able to advise a weak captain in the early stages of the
game is likely to be made up when he gets a turn in the box against
another (or the same) weak captain.

Albert  writes:

Another point in favor of consulting only aftr one's cube is turned is
that it makes for a more dynamic chouette. All sorts of subtle doubling
strategies arise out of the interest crew members have in being able to
consult, or from the box's interest in preventing top crew members from
consulting -- "sub-optimal" doubles and drops often abound and it's part
of the fun to guagfe various members' proclivities in these areas.

In a chouette that allows unrestrained consulatation throughout the game
there is a tendency for the choices to be made by the two most
accomplished players, unless the field of players is very evenly matched.

Albert (long time no speak)

Gregg Cattanach  writes:

The way our group works, (Atlanta, GA) is a player cannot consult until HIS
cube is in the game. (Everyone has their own cube.)  In your example, the
player that was dropped cannot consult (of course), and the two remaining
players in the game with cubes in the middle still cannot consult.  If the
box took the single cube from the player, then that player can consult with
the captain, but the remaining player with the cube in the middle must
remain silent, until his cube is in play.  If it was the captain that
turned the only initial cube and it was taken, then the captain can talk,
but only
to himself!    (LOL)   If the captain turned the only initial cube, and it
was dropped, the person that took over and the remaining player still could
not consult.

In other words, if you want to talk, YOUR cube must be in the game, not
just any cube.  This seems to work out OK, and it often can give the box a
little more advantage (he needs all the help he can get,  LOLL), because
you will see team members turn very early cubes, just so they can help the
captain, (perhaps a weaker player).

That's how we do it, at least, and it seems to work out OK.

One 'exception' to the cube turn consulting rule that we use, is if the Box
has a partner, (usually only allowed if there are 6 or more total players
playing), the Box and partner can discuss all cube decision, doubles and
takes, right from the beginning of the game.
 
Did you find the information in this article useful?          

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

 

Chouettes

Automatic doubles with carryover  (Alexander Zamanian, Jan 1999) 
California rule  (Peter Anderson+, Nov 2001) 
Captain drops and others take  (Grafix8888+, Sept 2000) 
Chouette cube strategy  (Stanley E. Richards+, Mar 2011) 
Cube proxy  (Ilia Guzei+, June 2003)  [GammOnLine forum]
Dream chouette  (Phil Simborg+, Sept 2009) 
Extras  (Daniel Murphy, Feb 1997) 
Extras  (Albert Steg, July 1996) 
Extras  (Anthony R Wuersch, Mar 1995) 
Fish-hunt rules  (Chuck Bower+, Feb 2006)  [GammOnLine forum]
Interlocking chouette  (wintom+, Jan 2008) 
Jacoby rule  (Doug Doub+, Aug 2005)  [GammOnLine forum]
Legal plays only  (Gregg Cattanach+, Aug 2001) 
Los Angeles Rules  (Joe Russell, Apr 2013) 
Los Angeles Rules  (Justin N.+, Aug 2011) 
Lure of the chouette  (Bob Koca+, July 2004) 
Mandatory beaver  (Roland Scheicher+, Mar 2002) 
Mandatory beaver  (David Montgomery, Jan 1999) 
Money management  (Albert Steg, Sept 1998) 
Online chouette rules  (John Graas, July 2003)  [Long message]
Order of succession  (leobueno+, Aug 2011) 
Order of succession  (Albert Steg, June 1995) 
Procedure when captain doubles  (Bill Riles+, Feb 2010) 
Split cube actions  (Neil Kazaross, June 2003)  [GammOnLine forum]
Strategy  (Michael J. Zehr, Sept 1998) 
Variable stakes  (Christopher Yep+, Apr 2000) 
Waiting for teammate to double  (Øystein Johansen+, July 2001) 
When box takes a partner  (Dan Pelton+, Mar 2009) 
When does player retain the box?  (Daniel Murphy, Jan 1997) 
When is consulting allowed?  (Dave+, Mar 2000) 

[GammOnLine forum]  From GammOnLine       [Long message]  Long message       [Recommended reading]  Recommended reading       [Recent addition]  Recent addition
 

  Book Suggestions
Books
Cheating
Chouettes
Computer Dice
Cube Handling
Cube Handling in Races
Equipment
Etiquette
Extreme Gammon
Fun and frustration
GNU Backgammon
History
Jellyfish
Learning
Luck versus Skill
Magazines & E-zines
Match Archives
Match Equities
Match Play
Match Play at 2-away/2-away
Miscellaneous
Opening Rolls
Pip Counting
Play Sites
Probability and Statistics
Programming
Propositions
Puzzles
Ratings
Rollouts
Rules
Rulings
Snowie
Software
Source Code
Strategy--Backgames
Strategy--Bearing Off
Strategy--Checker play
Terminology
Theory
Tournaments
Uncategorized
Variations

 

Return to:  Backgammon Galore : Forum Archive Main Page