Искусство победы нечестными методами

Game strategy of dubious methods

Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end". It may be inferred that the term derives from the idea of playing for the game (i. e. to win at any cost) as opposed to sportsmanship, which derives from the idea of playing for sport. The term was popularized by Stephen Potter's humorous 1947 book, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating). It had, however, been used before by Ian Coster in his autobiographic book Friends in Aspic, published in 1939, where it was attributed to Francis Meynell.

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 12 feet (4 m) behind the back line. While the opponents were preparing for the next serve, Joad "called across the net in an even tone: 'Kindly say clearly, please, whether the ball was 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 were in question was extremely off putting, and distracted them for the rest of the contest. Potter and Joad went on to win the match.

If the players personally know or have experience with each other, lies and other conversation topics can be used. In wrestling or many combat sports, it could be targeting a limb which the opponent has been carrying an injury.

In association 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 had intentionally 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. A high profile example occurred during the game between Portugal and the Netherlands in the round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the game, already marred by numerous cautions and four red cards, further deteriorated because of such an incident. Also, in a 1998–99 FA Cup fifth round match between Arsenal and Sheffield United, Arsenal's winning goal scored under these circumstances (although as a result of a misunderstanding rather than a deliberate action) was so contentious the Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger offered to replay the match. Sheffield United accepted, though Arsenal went on to win the second game by the same score, 2–1. Feigning injury to cause the ball to be kicked out is another example of gamesmanship intended to break the flow of play, though if detected, it may be regarded as unsportsmanlike conduct, which is a breach of the laws and hence is no longer gamesmanship. In response to claims of feigned injuries during the 2006 World Cup, the Premier League asked players, managers and referees to end the custom as of the 2006–07 season, instead preferring a referee alone to determine whether a break in play is needed. 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. Some goalkeepers are known to use gamesmanship in an attempt to gain an advantage on penalty kicks. This was particularly notable in the 2022 World Cup final, where Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez employed gamesmanship while French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris did not, the latter later stating "There are some things I can't do rattling my opponents, crossing that line I'm too rational and honest a man to go that way."

The term "gamesmanship" is also used for similar techniques used in non game situations, such as negotiations and elections. 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. The term also appears in art theory to mean playfulness, as in "literary gamesmanship".

Potter's double edged ironies did not spare the gamesman himself (he slyly named one prominent protagonist 'Bzo, U., holder (1947) Yugo Slav Gamesmanship Championship', for example). Potter acknowledged repeatedly that "the way of the gamesman is hard, his training strict, his progress slow, his disappointments many", and recognised that as a result "the assiduous student of gamesmanship has little time for the minutiae of the game itself – little opportunity for learning how to play the shots, for instance". Yet one of his "correspondents" owlishly admits, "there is no doubt that a knowledge of the game itself sometimes helps the gamesman". Hence "perhaps the most difficult type for the gamesman to play is the man who indulges in pure play. He gets down to it, he gets on with it, he plays each shot according to its merits, and his own powers, without a trace of exhibitionism, and no by play whatever". The book gloomily concludes, "we amateurs have to fight against the growing menace of young people who insist on playing their various games for the fun of the thing indulging rather too freely, if the truth were known, in pure play".