Reporting Live From the Pittsburgh Backgammon Tournament

News Type: Other — Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:23 AM EDT

Lucky duck wasn't too lucky.

Does this look like a champion backgammon player or a student of the month?

Written Saturday morning: I've been playing backgammon for years. For the last five years or so I've been playing it online, often the last thing I do before I go to bed. It helps me relax and while I started out treating it as mindless fun to help my brain take time off before going to sleep, tournaments like these remind me that it's a much more intellectual game than it first appears... or at least compared to how it's played by most people. At tournaments it's all about the cubes. More about that later.

Right now I'm jumping online at two computers at the hotel where the tournament is being held so I can't stay online too long. Besides one of the many internationally known players participating here is going to give a free lecture for novices I want to hear.

There are tournaments for novices and for those with more skills. I'm a novice. They also have quickies and microblitzes, where you pay $20 or $30 to get in but if you win you win a few hundred bucks. How exactly this is legal I'm not completely sure. I just knew that I spent $50 yesterday to do one quickie and one blitz and quickly lost both times. So I have a lot to learn still.

One year ago today I came to my first tournament and quickly was eliminated. But I was fascinated by what I saw here, a whole another world, a fascinating subculture of people whose lives essentially revolve about backgammon. If you read Word Freak (which I suggest you do), or see the documentary Word Wars, you'll see there's a similar subculture for scrabble. And Wordplay talks about those obsessed with crossword puzzles.

So, yes, my name is Scott and I'm a backgammon freak.

At first I thought I'd just come here and play and observe and learn. But when I saw they had computer access I decided to treat this also as sort of a sociological experiment - I find these people fascinating. What makes them tick? They all have different strategies, though many share beliefs that calculations matter most (they are constantly figuring out the odds of this or that happening). One chastised me for conceding a game saying I could have won - I just would have needed double sixes three times in the next four rolls. So, yeah, sometimes they know the odds are long but still think one should go for it. Most seem nice especially when I tell them I'm new (if they say, "Is this your first tourney?" I lie a little and say yes, hoping - and getting - extra patience and advice."

One told me, "You are too conservative." I laughed and he blanched but I didn't explain that there are many here at Newsvine who think I'm too liberal. But I knew what he meant, too conservative in my game play.

You know how in poker some play with sunglasses on and some listen to headphones and you have to wonder if that's all just for themselves or also too psyche out their opponents? The same is true here. I seem to recall one guy last year dressed like a monk.

There's usually a few who stop to photograph each interesting move. Several listen to headphones. Some refuse to talk, some won't stop talking. A few are from Russia and speak little English and when I start thinking, "Wow, you are either really good or really cocky to come play here" that leads to madness and defeat.

So being a fan of fowl fun I brought my own secret weapon. Hopefully this will serve as my lucky charm. I plan to set him by the board for all games starting today. If if amuses me and distracts the opponent then I will be a happy guy.

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Scott (Scoop) Butki's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Personal Narratives, Silly and Stupid
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