For the first time in Four Cubes history, an encounter between two teams was fully filmed and transcribed. Since both team captains (Michel Lamote – Brugge BC, and Geert Van der Stricht – Gent BC) agreed beforehand to have all PRs validated by BPR, the encounter became an official Four Cubes cluster.
A little more than 24 hours after the action, all players had received XG-files of all matches in their mail-box. They could find out whether certain checker plays were right or wrong, see whether they handled the cube well or not, and keep the files for further study.
An extra benefit of recording matches can be that the loser might gain some consolation from a fine performance. While Brugge BC had every reason to be doleful after losing the Four Cubes, some relief could be found in the idea that they put up a good fight or at least played according to their skill level. Here is how the current Four Cubes holders performed (9 matches to 7 points) :
PR Brugge BC
As a corollary, however, the jubilant team might find its enthusiasm slightly dampened if their performance was not at par :
PR Gent BC
To illustrate this psychological effect further, here is how Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC) performed in 3 matches to 7 (won 1, lost 2) :
Amazing PR by Paul Van Dijke
This is a jaw-dropping performance of grandmaster level. While Paul experienced some extreme frustration on the night, he can surely derive satisfaction from these data. If his matches had not been recorded, he might have fallen subject to dejection or bouts of self-doubt. As it is, it looks like there is not much he could have done better or differently.
Same for me : as captain of the home team, I cannot afford to squander much equity. Having lost my 3 matches – horresco referens – I managed to find relief in my better than average PR :
PR Michel Lamote
Here are the other PRs :
3. Geert Van der Stricht (Gent BC) :
PR Geert Van der Stricht
4. Guy Van Middelem (Brugge BC) : 7,42
5. Bert Van Kerckhove (Gent BC) : 7,53
6. Robin Bilderbeek (Gent BC) : 9,60.
BMS(BE) would like to thank all players for their willingness to participate in this challenging format and their agreement to have these data made available to the BGFed.be backgammon community.
M
