Backgammon Etiquette

Ellen · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 19

Could anyone give his or her opinion on this (weird) scenario that we came across at a small and friendly backgammon tournament last week? Player A and B were having a game. Player B., in keeping with the informal spirit of the game, kept turning his head to chat to fellow players, watching the TV screen and getting up to grab himself a drink. At one point, Player A. made a move while Player B. wasn’t looking at the board. When Player B. enquired what move was made, Player A. refused to tell him, stating that he had made a legal move and he wasn’t obliged to say what. What does backgammon etiquette say about a situation like this?

Are there any rules that state that Player A. needs to state what his move was? And if not, are there any unwritten rules in backgammon etiquette that cover this type of problem?

GulBara · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 19

Mmm… A very interesting question indeed – and one that had me thinking long and hard! I would say that there are two sides to this coin.
On the one hand, you could argue that Player A. is right in not revealing the move that he made. His move was legal and that is consistent with backgammon rules. His response was a way of saying that B. should have been paying close attention to the game and if he wasn’t it is his problem.

However, on the other hand, you have unwritten backgammon etiquette rules that say it is rude and discourteous for players to play their moves until the other player is paying full attention to the game and is not distracted. This was clearly not the case here.

In my humble opinion, there should be some middle ground here. If the tournament was (as you say) small and informal, players should be conducting themselves with the highest degree of sportsmanship. That includes making sure that no rules of simple etiquette are broken. If I were asked to judge this situation by the tournament managers, I would say that Player A. should have told Player B. what move he made the first time, with a warning that if he didn’t pay attention to the game in the future, he wouldn’t be told what moves were made thereafter. I think this would keep everyone happy in the long run.

And finally, as a point of observation, Player B. is obviously very new to the game if he could not pick up which checkers were moved.