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Gambits

From PubNight

During a game of Doms there is bound to be at least one silly mistake - these are called Gambits. Chess players are rightly offended at the popular extension of "gambit" from the technical usage to mean "any opening tactic". They should therefore be even more offended by the madly extended use here - it started with the original Westwood Gambit which was a "gambit" in the popular sense, if viewed ironically and just grew from there.

For many years, when Doms was played more often than it is now, this ur gambit1 was named after the most recent player to use it. With the paucity of recent domming, awarding it in perpetuity to the original (in every sense) perpetrator seems appropriate.

After years of painful research the PNC has agreed the following gambits:

  • Moore's Gambit : Starting with a dom which isn't a double
  • Orlando's Gambit : Playing a dom which can't be played at either end
  • Westwood's Gambit : Playing a dom, which can be played at both ends, at the end which scores the least
  • Hall's Gambit : Playing the right dom at the right end but playing it the wrong way round

Gambits form part of the oral tradition of pub night dominos; they are closely related, but clearly distinct from, the slogans and announcements that are made before, during and even sometimes after play.



Notes:

  • 1 : yes, I have used "ur" there just to confuse people who only spk txt