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Keeping the Game of BackGammon in Motion
Prior to the invention of the first mechanical BackGammon clock, games of BackGammon -- even tournament play -- could drag on for what seemed to be an unending amount of time. Indeed, from time to time high profile players in tournaments were known to walk away from a competition claiming that their opponents were unfairly delay play. Hence, the a growing hue and cry for a functional, meaningful BackGammon clock commenced.
The first mechanical BackGammon clock ever created was the invention of Thomas Bright Wilson in the United Kingdom. Wilson’s BackGammon clock was used the first time in tournament plat in 1883. The Wright mechanical BackGammon clock was premiered in the 1883 London Tournament.
Prior to the introduction of the BackGammon clock by Wilson, time was kept (in a very casual and many times non-binding manner) through the use of regular timepieces with a so-called recording secretary to keep track of the time. In the alternative, sand glasses were used to track time in BackGammon play.
The basic design of the BackGammon clock has not changed dramatically since its initial development. The first BackGammon clock actually consisted of two smaller clocks -- one of the clocks for the White Player and one of the smaller clocks for the Black Player. The clocks were situated so that when one of the individual BackGammon clock time pieces is running, the other is stopped. In fact, when a player finishes with his or her move, the player stops his or her own clock which automatically initiates the opponent’s BackGammon clock time piece.
The BackGammon clock was created with an overall time calibration. The first mechanical BackGammon clock required each of the two players to make forty moves apiece during a time period of two and one half hours for each player. If the player failed to make the appropriate number of moves under the calibration of the BackGammon clock, the game would be forfeited due to time.
Over the course of the past one hundred and thirty some odd years, the BackGammon clock really has not changed dramatically in its design or its function. In truth, when Wilson designed his classical BackGammon clock, he really did seem to hit the proverbial nail on the head. His design for the BackGammon clock has proven to be as enduring as the game of BackGammon itself.
With a BackGammon clock a player actually can horde time. Because some moves -- indeed many moves -- in a game of BackGammon are very basic and routine and require little to no thought, these particular moves can be effected in a matter of seconds. Therefore, because of the manner in which a BackGammon clock is designed, a person can “stock up” his or her time for those moves that are far more complicated, for those moves that do require thought and strategic planning.
Historically, and to the current day, the BackGammon clock has made the game of BackGammon -- including tournament play -- more enjoyable and, on some level, more appropriately challenging. With the advent of the BackGammon clock, the days of unending, frustrating games of BackGammon are long gone and truly things of the past.
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