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Encyclopedia > Gamesmanship

Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win a game, such as golf or snooker. As opposed to sportsmanship, it may be inferred that the term derives from playing for the game (to win at any cost) as opposed to playing for sport. The term originates from Stephen Potter's 1947 book, "Gamesmanship: The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating," an example of ironic British humour. Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. ... This article is about the sport. ... Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a large (12 ft × 6 ft, 3. ... It is sporting to shake the hand of ones opponent after the end of a game. ... Stephen Potter (1 February 1900 - December 1969) was a British author best known for his mock self-help books, and film and television derivatives from them, though he wrote much more widely, including scholarly books on English literature, and worked producing and writing for the BBC. Potter attended Westminster School... British humour is a somewhat general term applied to certain comedic motifs that are often prevalent in comedic acts originating in Great Britain and its current or former colonies. ...

Contents

Origins

Stephen Potter cites the origin of gamesmanship to be a tennis match in which he and the philosopher C. E. M. Joad competed against two younger and fitter men who were outplaying them fairly comfortably. On returning a serve, Joad hit the ball straight into the back-netting twelve feet behind the back-line. While the opponents were preparing for the next serve Joad queried whether the ball had landed in, or out. Being young, polite university students, their opponents offered to replay the point, but Joad declined. Because they were young and polite, the slight suggestion by Joad that their etiquette and sportsmanship was in question was extremely off-putting. Potter and Joad went on to win the match. Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (August 12, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. ...


Techniques

The most common techniques of gamesmanship are the following.

  1. Breaking the flow of an opponent's play.
  2. Causing an opponent to take the game less seriously or to overthink his or her position.
  3. Intentionally making a "mistake" which gains an advantage over an opponent.

While the first method is more common at higher levels of sports, the last two are more powerful in amateur games.


Breaking the flow

Examples of "flow-breaking" methods include:

  • Feigning injury to delay the game, or to imply you won't be playing at your best.
  • In billiards, intentionally standing in your opponent's line of sight, and then suddenly moving when you "realise" you're in the wrong place.
  • Distracting your opponent by complaining about other people who might be (but weren't) distracting your opponent. This approach was recommended by Potter, who always insisted that the good gamesman must always give the appearance of being a good sportsman. If an opponent is (say) about to take a shot at billiards, it is bad gamesmanship to fidget and whistle, but good gamesmanship to distract him by requesting silence from spectators.
  • When winning a point you should look directly at the opponent, but when losing one always avoid eye contact.

This article is about the various cue sports. ...

Causing your opponent to overthink

Examples of methods designed to cause your opponent to overthink or to not take the game seriously enough include:

  • Giving intentionally vague advice in the hope of making your opponent focus on his play.
  • Asking one's opponent advice for a (fictitious) match the following day, against an implied stronger opponent.
  • Claiming that the game you are playing "just isn't my sport", or claiming less expertise than you actually possess (a mild form of hustling).
  • Indirectly impugning your opponent's sportsmanship.

Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising ones skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of confidence trick. ... It is sporting to shake the hand of ones opponent after the end of a game. ...

Intentional "mistakes"

Examples of intentional "mistakes" designed to gain an advantage:

  • In bridge, intentionally misdealing and then engaging in chaotic bidding, knowing that the hand will be void anyway.
  • In poker, intentionally raising out of turn, to induce players to give you a free card.

All of the above are considered very close to cheating, and the abuser of gamesmanship techniques will find himself penalized in most serious sports and games tournaments, as well as being deemed (if caught) a "bad sport". Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game of skill and chance (the relative proportions depend on the variant played). ... A game of Texas holdem, currently the most popular form of poker, in progress. ... Cheating is defined as an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. ...


Football

In football, it is considered good sportsmanship to kick the ball out of play if a player on the opposing side is injured; when the ball is to be thrown in, it is also considered to be good sportsmanship in this situation to kick it (or throw it) back to the other team who kicked it out. Gamesmanship arises in this situation when, rather than passing the ball back to the side who kicked the ball out, the injured player's teammates keep the ball after the throw in. Whilst not illegal or against the rules of the sport, it is heavily frowned upon. Feigning injury to cause the ball to be kicked out is another example of gamesmanship intended to break the flow of play. [1] When a free kick is awarded, members of the defending team will often pick up the ball and drop it back behind them as they retreat. Whilst not throwing the ball away, which would be an infringement, the purpose is to prevent a swiftly taken free kick. A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ...


Usage outside of games

The term "gamesmanship" is also used for similar techniques used in non-game situations, such as negotiations and elections. Broadly speaking, Negotiation is an interaction of influences. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ...


Each form is frequently used as a means of describing dubious methods of winning and/or psychological tricks used to intimidate or confuse one's opponent. Technically speaking, these tactics are One-upmanship, defined in a later book by Potter as the art of being one-up on somebody else. One-upmanship is the systematic and conscious practice of making ones associates feel inferior and thereby gaining the status of being one-up on them, as described by Stephen Potter in his tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and in film and television derivatives from them. ...


The term also appears in art theory to mean playfulness, as in "literary gamesmanship". [1][2] Another less used tactic in football is to 'take out the opposition by means of harming them with the football by direct aim.


See also

Cheating is defined as an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. ... It is sporting to shake the hand of ones opponent after the end of a game. ... Diving (or simulation - the term used by FIFA) in the context of football is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly simulating an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. ... Unsportsmanlike conduct is a term used in most professional sports to refer to a particular player or team who have acted inappropriately and/or unprofessionally in the context of the game. ... School for Scoundrels is a 1960 British comedy film, remade in 2006, inspired by the lifemanship books of Stephen Potter. ... Super-Mac was the subject of a cartoon - Introducing Super-Mac - in the Evening Standard in London, England, on 6 November 1958 [1] by Vicky (Victor Weisz, 1913-1966). ...

Reference

  • The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating is a book by Stephen Potter, from which most of the above derives, although it must be emphasized that Potter was being humorous, and always suggested that one should be a good sportsman first and foremost.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Gamesmanship (3379 words)
Players who resort to gamesmanship, and are penalised by the Referee, should never bemoan that they have taken their chance, but have been caught out by an astute Referee.
The result being that everyone became aware of the war-of-words between the rival managers; and all done to create some sort of advantage to enable one team or the other to have an edge over the other team, as the championship race for number one spot in the league was drawing to a close.
Gamesmanship acts (or supposed gamesmanship acts) and how they are dealt with by the Referee, can only ever favour one team.
Gamesmanship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (792 words)
Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win a game, such as golf or snooker.
Stephen Potter cites the origin of gamesmanship to be a tennis match between himself and the philosopher C.
The term "gamesmanship" is also used for similar techniques used in non-game situations, such as negotiations and elections.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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