I tried to explain to them why these sorts of
questions are wrong--they test telepathy not any sort of
knowledge--even trivial. They couldn't see the point. There was
$50 tab at stake after all. 1. Is this standard for
pub quizzes in Britain? 2. Does this sort of evince
what to me is obvious, that the gap between culture
and the QB sub-culture is too great--that we're
elitist and should just deal with it? To analogize:
having been once been a pretty serious chess player, I
can still recall one non-USCF sanctioned state high
school tournament--run by a non-chess but official
body--at which after 1 hour or something the games were
decided by "points." Showing a basic failure to even
understand the game--apparently position was not a
consideration. I don't suppose you could expect the average
person who plays occasionally to even understand why
this is wrong.
my 3 cents, nathan freeburg