Forum Archive : Match Play

Crawford rule--Why just one game? From:   Walter Trice Address:   wgt@world.std.com Date:   18 January 2000 Subject:   Re: Crawford rule Forum:   rec.games.backgammon Google:   FoJADG.ILv@world.std.com Andrew Grant wrote: > Why does the Crawford rule only apply for one game? As I understand it, > the reason for the Crawford rule is to stop the trailing player doubling > immediately in order to catch up quicker if he wins. But in that case why > not forbid doubling for the whole of the remainder of the match? If the Crawford rule remained in effect for the rest of the match, this would make it too hard to catch up, which would give too large a reward for a lucky early win. E.g. in a 5 point match, one player could double and win a gammon to go up 4-0. With a permanent Crawford, the trailer would then have to win 5 in a row, or perhaps 3 in a row with 2 of them gammons. This is just much too difficult. The real reason for the Crawford rule is not some abstract sense of 'fairness.' The rule is used because without it there would be some very strange cube action near the end of the match. For example, consider the score 2-3 in a 5 point match with no Crawford rule. If the trailing player doubles, the leading player can take ANYTHING AT ALL if there is no gammon threat. The worst that could happen is he loses, goes down 4-3, doubles immediately next game, and is 50-50 except for the small 'free drop' equity. Of course the Crawford rule seems weird and unnatural, and it's just one more thing that has to be explained to people who are new to match play. I once proposed replacing it with the rule that you have to win by two points (like in tennis, etc.) This rule would also eliminate a lot of the 'anomolous' cube action that comes up near the end. The problem was that organizers objected that a match could go on 'forever' with the players swapping one-point leads. I kind of like the idea anyway. But no one else does ;-) --Walter Trice   Did you find the information in this article useful?           Do you have any comments you'd like to add?

 

Match Play

1-away/1-away: advice from Bernhard Kaiser  (Darse Billings, July 1995) 

1-away/1-away: advice from Stick  (Stick+, Mar 2007) 

1-away/1-away: and similar scores  (Lou Poppler, Aug 1995) 

2-away/3-away: playing for gammon  (Tom Keith, Feb 1996) 

2-away/4-away: Neil's rule of 80  (Neil Kazaross, June 2004) 

2-away/4-away: cube strategy  (Tom Keith, Dec 1996) 

2-away/4-away: practical issues  (Mark Damish, Jan 1996) 

2-away/4-away: trailer's initial double  (Kit Woolsey, Jan 1996) 

3-away/4-away: opponent's recube  (William C. Bitting+, Feb 1997) 

3-away/4-away: racing cube  (Bill Calton+, Nov 2012) 

3-away/4-away: tricky cube decision  (Kit Woolsey+, July 1994) 

3-away/4-away: what's the correct equity?  (Tom Keith, Sept 1997) 

4-away/4-away: take/drop point  (Gary Wong, Oct 1997) 

5-away/11-away: redouble to 8  (Gavin Anderson, Oct 1998) 

7-away/11-away: volatile recube decision  (Kit Woolsey, May 1997) 

Both too good and not good enough to double  (Paul Epstein+, Sept 2007) 

Comparing 2-away/3-away and 2-away/4-away  (Douglas Zare, Mar 2002) 

Crawford rule  (Chuck Bower, May 1998) 

Crawford rule  (Kit Woolsey, Mar 1997) 

Crawford rule--Why just one game?  (Walter Trice, Jan 2000) 

Crawford rule--history  (Michael Strato, Jan 2001) 

Delayed mandatory double  (tem_sat+, Oct 2010) 

Delayed mandatory double  (Donald Kahn+, Dec 1997) 

Doubling when facing a gammon loss  (Kit Woolsey, Jan 1999) 

Doubling when opponent is 2-away  (David Montgomery, Dec 1997) 

Doubling when you're an underdog  (Stein Kulseth, Dec 1997) 

Doubling window with gammons  (Jason Lee+, Jan 2009) 

Free drop  (Ian Shaw, May 1999) 

Free drop  (Willis Elias+, Oct 1994) 

Gammonless takepoint formula  (Adam Stocks, June 2002) 

Going for gammon when opp has free drop  (Kit Woolsey, Jan 1998) 

Going for gammon when opp has free drop  (Kit Woolsey, Apr 1995) 

Holland rule  (Neil Kazaross, Apr 2010) 

Holland rule  (Kit Woolsey, Dec 1994) 

Leading 2-away with good gammon chances  (Douglas Zare, Feb 2004) 

Match play 101  (Max Urban+, Oct 2009) 

Matches to a set number of games  (Tom Keith+, Oct 1998) 

Playing when opponent has free drop  (Gilles Baudrillard+, Dec 1996) 

Post-crawford doubling  (Scott Steiner+, Feb 2004) 

Post-crawford doubling  (Maik Stiebler+, Dec 2002) 

Post-crawford doubling  (Gus+, Sept 2002) 

Post-crawford mistakes  (Rob Adams, Sept 2007) 

Post-crawford/2-away: too good to double  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, July 2004) 

Slotting when opponent has free drop  (onur alan+, Apr 2013) 

Take points  (fiore+, Feb 2005) 

Tips to improve cube handling  (Lucky Jim+, Jan 2010) 

When to free drop  (Dan Pelton+, Oct 2006) 

When to free drop  (Tom Keith+, July 2005) 

When to free drop  (Gregg Cattanach, Dec 2004) 

When to free drop  (Kit Woolsey, Feb 1998) 

When to free drop  (Chuck Bower, Jan 1998) 

Which format most favors the favorite?  (Daniel Murphy+, Jan 2006) 

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