{"id":1911,"date":"2011-12-13T20:49:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T00:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/?page_id=1911"},"modified":"2012-11-21T08:53:35","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T12:53:35","slug":"the-backgammon-challenge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/?page_id=1911","title":{"rendered":"The Backgammon Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spoiler Alert.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don’t want to read the whole sorry tale, Debbie wins on the last day by taking both games.<\/em><\/p>\n

Debbie while cleaning out a closet found a backgammon set. Thus was born the Great Backgammon Challenge of 2011-2012. We’ll keep track of who wins each game[1]<\/sup> over the winter, and on the first day of Spring 2012 (March 20th<\/sup>) the winner of the most games gets to name their prize.<\/p>\n

I am confident of victory, despite having had to build a fence around our back garden the last time I entered into one of these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/th>\nDebbie<\/th>\nChuck<\/th>\nNotes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/13\/11<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/14\/11<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie slaughtered me in the 2nd<\/sup> game. I only had two pieces borne off when she finished.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/16\/11<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/18\/11<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/19\/11<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie hammered me brutally in the first game. I barely squeaked out a victory in the second. I’m not feeling confident.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/20\/11<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/21\/11<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12\/22\/11<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\/4\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nI almost gammoned Debbie tonight in the first game!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\/30\/12<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\/31\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie won the second game tonight only through some unholy pact that let her roll doubles 3 times in a row at the end.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/1\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/1\/12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/10\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nI’m glad no one was counting how many times I said, “bleep it” tonight. The dice were being very cruel.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/16\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/20\/12<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/21\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie rolled doubles 3 out of her last 4 rolls to make a game that should’ve been a walk-off for me way too close.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/22\/12<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\nI should just forfeit and end the misery.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/26\/12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nMaybe there is hope after all.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\/28\/12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nGammon! Gammon! Gammon! Chuck is great! Let’s feed him chocolate cake!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/2\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/7\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nStatus quo maintained<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/8\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie says my one game lead is, “not the result of skill.”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/9\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nNo one is giving an inch as we rush towards the March 20th conclusion.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/10\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie rolled double 6’s, twice, at the end to win the second game. Not that I’m bitter or claiming I would’ve won except for her freakish luck.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/11\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie’s freakish ability to roll doubles when needed is starting to creep me out. On the other hand, maybe a trip to the craps tables in Vegas is in order…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/12\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nOk, some have challenged me on my constant whining about Debbie’s freakish ability to roll doubles. So tonight I kept count: Debbie rolled 9 doubles, I rolled 3. I know, I know, that proves nothing. I’m just saying…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/13\/12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nWe both rolled 8 doubles tonight.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/17\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nDebbie rolled 8 doubles, I rolled 6.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/18\/12<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\nDebbie rolled 8 doubles in the first game and I rolled 1.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/19\/12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nThis is nothing unusual, but Debbie rolled double 6’s to win the first game.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3\/20\/12<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\nThe penultimate day, and Debbie snatches victory from jaws of defeat by winning both matches. The first she won in the usual manner by rolling 5 doubles to my 1. But she won the second despite only rolling 2 doubles to my 3.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/th>\n32<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

1.Everything we know about backgammon we know by reading a set of instructions translated by someone who didn’t know much English, and didn’t care to learn any more. What we are playing probably only coincidentally resembles regulation backgammon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spoiler Alert. If you don’t want to read the whole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1911","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}