dicepro: The doubling cube is an integral part of backgammon - multipoint matches are required there to eliminate the luck factor. And, quite importantly, backgammon doesn't have a draw. Furthermore, a backgammon game counts for 1, 2 or 3 points depending on the board situation when the game ends.

This is not the situation with most other games (except for the "draws are not possible" in some games). A doubling cube just doesn't make sense for the other games.

There are many things that could be implemented to speed up games: autopass and autoplay (and then implemented in a useful way, not as done currently), and public shaming of people who play on (delaying their moves consistently till a few hours before their time runs out) in a hopelessly lost situation.

AbigailII:The doubling cube is not meaningless when there are draws, one must just decide what to do with draws. I thought that we would simply discard them and count them as 0-0 (like in a n-wins match). Note that it doesn't make draws meaningless. The draw rate gives more incentive to take the cube.

It sounds also possible to count a draw as 1/2-1/2, subject to doubling (a doubled draw would be 1-1, etc.). This raises the question of what to do with the Crawford rule. I suggest that when the first players reaches 1 point or half a point away of the goal, none of the players may double in the next game (note that the leader could want to double if the position is a certain draw, because a doubled draw would win the match). That variant seems to require play-testing, so the simple variant should probably be retained.