Forum Archive : Rulings

Disagreement on final cube From:   Chuck Bower Address:   bower@astro.indiana.edu Date:   7 May 2004 Subject:   Ruling #2 requested Forum:   GammOnLine At your local club, two regulars have begun a 7-point match. These players are late middle-aged and intermediate in strength. From your experience, both are men of integrity. U.S. Tournament Backgammon Rules and Procedures: "5.1 KEEPING SCORE. Each player shall keep a running match score and compare his score with opponent's at the start of every game." Knowing the rules, after setting up for game two, Player 1 says: "Zero, two, to seven." Player 2 replies: "I lead four to nothing. I won a gammon with the cube on two." Player 1 counters: "Yes, you won a gammon, but the cube was never turned." "DIRECTOR!!!" You make the call. TarHeelFan  writes: I would ask Player 2 to describe the point at which he doubled. That could jog the memory of one or both players as to what actually happened. E.g., Player 1 may say "I remember you thought about it then, but rolled." If the players do not agree at that point, then the ruling is based on where the cube is. As an aside, it is probably better to confirm the score at the end of each game -- before the cube and checkers have been reset. But I confess that I usually confirm at the beginning... Chuck Bower  writes: Jeb got my point. I've actually seen this occur, as have most who have played face-to-face backgammon for a reasonable amount of time. Why are the rules written this way?? If the rule said "compare scores at the end of the current game, before resetting checkers and cube..." wouldn't this kind of contention disappear? The rules are supposed to minimize the number of disputes. I think we (collective backgammon community) blew this one. What do you think the chances of the US Rules being amended for this (and possibly other) weakness?   Did you find the information in this article useful?           Do you have any comments you'd like to add?

 

Rulings

Checker knocked off bar  (Chuck Bower+, Sept 2003) 

Clock rules and gin positions  (Chris Yep+, Dec 2007) 

Clock rules end of turn  (Jason Lee+, Dec 2007) 

Cocked dice  (Rodney Lighton+, July 2012) 

Cocked dice  (Ed Rosenblum+, Dec 2009) 

Cocked dice  (Chuck Bower+, July 2003) 

Cocked die on first roll  (Cloyd Laporte+, Nov 2006) 

Crawford game double  (Øystein Johansen+, June 2004) 

Crawford game double  (Joe+, May 2004) 

Crawford game double  (Raccoon+, Sept 2003) 

Crawford game double  (Claes Thornberg+, Apr 1998) 

Dice sliding  (Chris Yep+, Dec 2007) 

Disagreement on final cube  (Chuck Bower+, May 2004) 

Disagreement over cocked dice  (DeaconBlue+, May 2005) 

Disputed roll  (Roland Scheicher+, Mar 2004) 

Disputed roll  (Chuck Bower+, Mar 2000) 

Doubling to wrong value  (Stein Kulseth+, Nov 1998) 

Equipment changes  (Jason Lee+, Feb 2004) 

Error in setup  (Stick+, Dec 2007) 

Incorrect setup  (Ken+, Mar 2004) 

Kibitzing  (Ilia Guzei+, Feb 2006) 

Misplaced cube  (Ned Cross+, Mar 2004) 

Misplacing a checker off the board  (Sam Pottle+, Apr 2006) 

Misplacing a checker on the bar  (Jeb Horton, Dec 2002) 

Moving checkers before you roll  (Gregg Cattanach+, Mar 2006) 

Moving with two hands  (Jason Lee+, Jan 2011) 

Opening roll loser picks up his die  (Chuck Bower+, Oct 2007) 

Playing to wrong match length  (Klaus Evers+, Jan 2006) 

Playing to wrong match length  (Marty Storer+, Mar 2005) 

Playing to wrong match length  (Steve Mellen, Feb 1998) 

Playing wrong opponent  (Hank Youngerman+, Oct 2005) 

Premature actions  (Raccoon+, Feb 2008) 

Premature roll  (Chris Yep+, Dec 2007) 

Repositioning dice without notice  (Chuck Bower+, Oct 2007) 

Rerolling cocked dice too quickly  (Raccoon+, Nov 2006) 

Rolling 2 dice instead of 1 to start  (Bob Koca+, Oct 2007) 

Rolling when opponent is closed out  (Raccoon+, Nov 2006) 

Rolling wrong dice  (TarHeelFan+, Sept 2005) 

Taking photos of positions  (Stick+, Dec 2007) 

Touching the doubling cube  (Ken Bame+, Nov 2006) 

Touching the doubling cube  (Chuck Bower+, Apr 1998) 

Two cubes on the board  (Jason Lee+, July 2005) 

Video dispute resolution  (Jason Lee+, Feb 2006) 

When are the dice "up"?  (Ilia Guzei+, Feb 2006) 

Writing down positions  (Klaus Evers+, Jan 2006) 

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