Backgammon FAQ
From damish@ll.mit.edu Fri Sep 23 00:29:04 1994
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon,rec.answers,news.answers
From: damish@ll.mit.edu (Mark Damish)
Subject: Backgammon --- Frequently Asked Questions. [monthly]
Followup-To: rec.games.backgammon
Summary: This posting contains answers to questions about the game of
backgammon. It also contains resources pertaining to the
game. It should be read by anyone interested in backgammon,
especially those posting to the rec.games.backgammon news group.
Originator: damish@ll.mit.edu (Mark Damish)
Keywords: backgammon FAQ
Supersedes: <1994Aug15.163418.8287@ll.mit.edu>
Reply-To: damish@ll.mit.edu (Mark Damish)
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 16:23:45 GMT
Archive-name: games/backgammon-faq
Posting-frequency: Monthly, around the 13th of each month.
Last-modified: September 1994
Version: 9409
Backgammon --- Frequently Asked Questions.
******************************************
CONTENTS
========
Section 0: FORE FAQ
+++++++++++++++++++
Definition , Editor , Purpose , Contributions , Availability,
Disclaimer , Editorial , Changes Gratitude , and News .
Section A: ESSENTIALS
++++++++++++++++++++++
o A1. What is backgammon?
o A2. What are the basic rules of the game?
o Backgammon Equipment
o The backgammon board
o Object of the game
o Starting the game
o Moving your men
o Doublets
o Making points
o Prime
o Blots
o Closed board
o Compulsory move
o Bearing off
o Gammon and Backgammon
o Cocked dice
o A3. What is the doubling cube for?
o A4. What is the Crawford rule? (Why won't FIBS let me double?)
o A5. What is the Jacoby rule?
o A6. What is the Holland rule?
o A7. What are those critters --- Beavers, raccoons?
o A8. What is a Chouette?
Section B: ELECTRONIC BACKGAMMON: VS OTHER HUMANS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
o B1. What is FIBS?
o B2. What is the Internet and how do I get onto it? (From OK.FAQ)
o B3. Are there any GUI's for FIBS?
o Tinyfugue
o xfibs
o MacFIBS (Beta)
o TkFibs
o FIBS/W
o xibc
o B4. Whats about LDB? (Long Distance Backgammon. BG by Email)
o B5. What other ways are there to play people via nets/modems/e-mail?
o Netgammon backgammon server
o Genie
o B6. Are there any electronic tournaments?
o B7. Do other game servers exist?
Backgammon , Bridge , Scrabble , Chinese Chess , Othello , Chess
Section C: ELECTRONIC BACKGAMMON: VS MACHINE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
o C1. Are there any BG programs out there for my computer? Where are they?
o bg06
o A PD mac program called ?
o Expert Backgammon
o Death by Backgammon
o xgammon
o C2. Which programs are good? How good is good?
o C3. Why is it so hard to write a good backgammon program?
o C4. What is TD-GAMMON?
Section D: RESOURCES
++++++++++++++++++++
o D1. I'm looking for a club to play in...
o Backgammon clubs in North America
o Playing Backgammon in the Boston area
o D2. Where are the tournaments?
o D3. I'm looking for information about newsletters and other publications.
o Anchors
o Backgammon Magazine
o BLITZ
o Chicago Point Newsletter
o Flint Area Backgammon News
o Hoosier Backgammon Club Newsletter
o Inside Backgammon
o International Backgammon Newsletter
o D4. Backgammon books and book reviews.
o BG books [summary] by Marty Storer
o BG books [summary] by John Bazigos
o How to play tournament BG [book]
o Backgammon (Robin Clay) [book]
o In The Game Until The End... [booklet]
o Learning From the Machine... [booklet]
o Other Books
o Danny Kleinman Books
o D5. A List of Backgammon Articles in Science and Business
o D6. Backgammon software and software reviews.
o BOINQ
o Hyperbackgammon
o Matchqiz (and demo)
o Expert Backgammon
o BG-SCRIBE
o The Match Strategist (and demo)
o rfibs (fibs recorder & playback)
o D7. Where does one purchase backgammon supplies and books?
o The GAMMON PRESS
o Carol Joy Cole
o Danny Kleinman
o Dansk Backgammon Forlag
o Crisloid
o D8. An index of backgammon resources available on the Internet.
Section E: MISC.
++++++++++++++++
o E1. What other games can be played on a backgammon board?
o Hyper Backgammon
o Nackgammon
o Narde
o Diceless Backgammon
o Acey-deucy
o E2. How does one become a better player?
o E3. Misc.
Section 0: FORE FAQ
===================
Definition
+++++++++++
FAQ /F-A-Q/ or /faq/ [USENET] n. 1. A Frequently Asked Question. 2. A
compendium of accumulated lore, posted periodically to high-volume
newsgroups in an attempt to forestall such questions. Some people
prefer the term 'FAQ list' or 'FAQL' /fa'kl/, reserving 'FAQ' for
sense 1.
---from: The jargon file, Version 2.9.12, 10 May 1993
Editor
+++++++
Mark Damish damish@ll.mit.edu
Purpose
++++++++
The purpose of this FAQ is to answer commonly asked questions which
come up on the rec.games.backgammon news group and to compile a set of
resources which might be useful to backgammon players in general.
Contributions will be thankfully accepted. Send E-Mail to the editor
of this list for inclusion and credit in future FAQs.
Availability
+++++++++++++
The FAQ will be posted on or around the 13th (13: is such a nice
opening roll) of each month to rec.games.backgammon, rec.answers and
news.answers.
The FAQ is also available for anonymous ftp on:
rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/backgammon-faq
FAQ Pointer:
A 'FAQ pointer' will be posted to rec.games.backgammon monthly, about
2 weeks after the FAQ is posted.
diff file:
A diff file will created and posted to the rec.games.backgammon news
group at the same time the FAQ is posted. This will contain the
differences between successive FAQs. It will not be posted to the
*.answers newsgroups, nor will it be archived at rtfm.mit.edu. The
purpose of the diff file is to show recent changes without having to
browse the entire FAQ. DO NOT use this file to update previous versions
of the FAQ as it will have been edited!
HTML version:
An HTML (hypertext) version of the faq has been created. It is
currently the `source' document for the ASCII version posted to
rec.games.backgammon, and the rtfm archive. Most of the body of
the html version has been marked up with preformatted sections.
This is a tradeoff, as the quality of the ASCII version takes
precedence. Within the document there are ``links'' from the
table of contents, links within the document, and several
links to ftp sites and other documents which make getting around
the document, and the backgammon portion of internet quite easy.
This version of the FAQ is called bg-faq.html, and may be downloaded
for local reading with a Web-Browser, or may be read on line at:
ftp.netcom.com /pub/damish/bg-faq.html
Disclaimer
+++++++++++
This posting is provided on an "as is" basis, NO WARRANTY whatsoever
is expressed or implied, especially, NO WARRANTY that the information
contained herein is correct or useful in any way, although both are
intended.
Editorial
++++++++++
As a result of keeping the source document for the faq in HTML,
this ascii version has a new look. I will correct the excess
whitespace and the 80 column wrap. Other than that, what do
you think?
Changes
++++++++
Changes may be spotted by examining the 'diff' file, which is posted at
the same time as this FAQ. In the diff file, a '<' charactor preceding
a line indicates that the line has been removed. Likewise, a '>'
charactor indicates an addition. The diff file is edited and should not
be used for updating from previous versions.
Gratitude
++++++++++
Major and minor contributions and suggestions from the following:
Jeremy Bagai Matchqiz review.
Matthew Clegg The entire 'What is Internet' section.
Paul Ferguson Mac PD BG info. FIBS Client info.
Michael Jampel Chess Server Info.
rjohnson Additional info for rules section A2.
Mika Johnsson Original Backgammon article compilation.
Rolf Kleef Nackgammon.
Asger Kring Danish Newsletter, Book supply info. more.
Andy Latto Jacoby, Holland, Beavers, Chouette, Useful advice.
Peter Nickless Acey-Deucy Submission.
Perry R. Ross LDB (Long Distance Backgammon) mail server info.
Mark Rozer Inspired me to play this game.
Gerry Tesauro Backgammon article pointers.
Michael Urban Boston area playing spots.
Kit Woolsey BOINQ and Hyperbackgammon Software reviews.
Michael J. Zehr Book Review, Holland rule, Combinitorics answer.
More.
Vincent Zweije FIBS description. Narde description. Proof reader
deluxe.
[I apologize if I missed anybody]
Thanks for ALL corrections sent!
PLUS Thanks to all who have submitted material to the
rec.games.backgammon news group, whether or not it
has been used here. Material from rec.games.backgammon
is credited where used.
May you roll above average when you need it most.
News
+++++
Information that may or may not be included in the current FAQ:
-- Check out the backgammon WWW page created by Stephen Turner.
Use Mosaic or Lynx and read:
http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/backgammon/main.html
-- I've set up an anonymous FTP directory which contains several
backgammon related programs and demos including the 'race'
bearoff source, Kit vs. Jeremy match in text format, and a
demo of Tom Johnsons program 'The Match Strategist' (See
section D6 for more info on Toms program).
ftp.netcom.com /pub/damish
Section A: ESSENTIALS
=====================
A1. What is backgammon?
+++++++++++++++++++++++
``Backgammon is an obstacle race between two armies of 15 men each,
moving around a track divided into 24 dagger-like divisions known as
points.''
``It's just a game.''
-- Many
``It's a game of skill and luck.
When I win I can claim it's due to my good skill.
When I lose I can claim it's due to my bad luck.''
-- submitted by David Forthoffer davidf@lpd.sj.nec.com
``There's an aesthetic to the game, a flow. People think the game consists
primarily of math --- calculating odds and so forth. That's not true.
It's essentially a game of patterns, a visual game, like chess. Certain
patterns fit together harmoniously, make sense in a away that is
nontrivial.''
-- Paul Magriel
Answering ``Why do you play backgammon'':
``We have become a spectator society, one that experiences excellence
and creativity only by watching it on television or by reading about
it in newspapers or magazines...Perhaps the best way of becoming
something more than a spectator is to pursue activities that do not
receive mass media coverage. We can invent our own art forms, or at
least re-label existing forms as art. Backgammon, though it is very
old and very common, is an excellent art form. Patterns of points and
blots undergo poignant mutations. The player strains to work with them,
to control them. One's identity is not entirely intrinsic, nor is it
purely acquired. We can shape ourselves just as we can shape our
surroundings. By playing backgammon, that is - by creating patterns of
blots and points - I help to shape my identity, I set myself apart from
the spectators. I become alive.''
-- Felix Yen (from Anchors, Jan 92)
A2. What are the basic rules of the game?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Backgammon Equipment
--------------------
- A Backgammon board or layout.
- Thirty round stones, or checkers, 15 each of two different colors,
- A Backgammon board or layout.
- Thirty round stones, pr checkers, 15 each of two different colors,
generally referred to as `men'.
- A pair of regular dice, numbered from 1 to 6. (For convenience,
two pairs of dice, one for each player, are generally used.)
- A dice cup, used to shake and cast the dice. (Again, it is more
convenient to have two dice cups.)
- A doubling cube---A six-faced die, marked with the numerals
2,4,8,16,32 & 64. This is used to keep track of the number of
units at stake in each game, as well as to mark the player who
last doubled.
The backgammon board
--------------------
Backgammon is an obstacle race between two armies of 15 men each,
moving around a track divided into 24 dagger-like divisions known as
``points''.
The Backgammon layout is divided down the center by a partition,
known as the ``bar'' (See Diagram 1), into an outer and inner (or home)
board or table. The side nearest you is your outer and home tables;
the side farther away is your opponents outer and home boards. The
arrows indicate the direction of play.
For purposes of convenience we have numbered the points in the
diagram. Though the points are not numbered on the actual board,
they are frequently referred to during play to describe a move or a
position. Your (X's) 4-point or 8-point will always be on your side
of the board; your opponent's (O's) will always be on his side of
the board.
A move from your 9-point to your 5-point is four spaces (the bar
does not count as a space). A move from White's 12-point to your
12-point, though it crosses from his board to yours, is but one
space, for these two points are really next to each other.
Diagram 2 shows the board set up ready for play. Each side has
five men on his 6-point, three men on his 8-point, five men on his
opponent's 12-point, and two men, known as ``runners'', on his opponents'
1-point. The runners will have to travel the full length of the
track, the other men have shorter distances to go. Note that play
proceeds in opposite directions, so that the men can be set up in two
ways. Turn the diagram upside down to see the layout if play were
proceeding in the other direction.
+-------------------------------------------------->
|
| +-----------------------------< X moves this direction
| |
| |
| | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
| | +------------------------------------------+
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | | | | +----+
^ v | Outer Board |BAR| Home Board | | 64 |
| | | | | | +----+
| | | P O I N T S | | . . . . . . | Doubling
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . | Cube
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | +------------------------------------------+
| | 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
| |
| +---------------------------------------------->
|
+---------------------------------< Y moves this direction
Diagram 1 (Numbered from X's point of view)
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
+------------------------------------------+
| X . . . O . | | O . . . . X |
| X O | | O X |
| X O | | O |
| X | | O |
| X | | O | +----+
| |BAR| | | 64 |
| O | | X | +----+
| O | | X |
| O X | | X |
| O X | | X O |
| O . . . X . | | X . . . . O |
+------------------------------------------+
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Diagram #2 (Numbered from X's point of view)
Object of the game
------------------
The object of Backgammon is for each player to bring all his men
into his home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first
player to get all his men off the board is the winner.
Starting the game
-----------------
Each player casts one die. The player with the higher number makes
the first move, using the two numbers cast by his die and his
opponent's. In the event that both players roll the same number, it
is a standoff and each rolls another die to determine the first move.
In the event of subsequent ties, this process is repeated until the
dice turn up different numbers. (In some games, players double the
unit stake automatically every time they cast the same number; others
limit the automatic doubles to one. In tournament play, there is no
such thing as an automatic double.)
Moving your men
---------------
Each player's turn consists of the roll of two dice. He then moves
one or more men in accordance with the numbers cast. Assume he rolls
4-2. He may move one man six spaces, or one man four spaces and
another man two spaces. Bear in mind that, when moving a single man
for the total shown by the two dice, you are actually making two
moves with the one man---each move according to the number shown on
one of the dice.
Doublets
--------
If the same number appears on both dice, for example, 2-2 or 3-3
(known as doublets), the caster is entitled to four moves instead of
two. Thus, if he rolls 3-3, he can move up to four men, but each move
must consist of three spaces.
The players throw and play alternately throughout the game, except
in the case where a player cannot make a legal move and therefore
forfeits his turn.
Making points
-------------
A player makes a point by positioning two or more of his men on
it. He then ``owns'' that point, and his opponent can neither come to
rest on that point nor touch down on it when taking the combined
total of his dice with one man.
Prime
-----
A player who has made six consecutive points has completed a
prime. An opposing man trapped behind a prime cannot move past, for
it cannot be moved more than six spaces at a time---the largest
number on a die.
Blots
-----
A single man on a point is called a blot. If you move a man onto
an opponent's blot, or touch down on it in the process of moving the
combined total of your cast, the blot is hit, removed from the board
and placed on the bar.
A man that has been hit must re-enter in the opposing home table.
A player may not make any move until such time as he has brought the
man on the bar back into play. Re-entry is made on a point
equivalent to the number of one of the dice cast, providing that
point is not owned by the opponent.
Closed board
------------
A player who has made all six points in his home board is said to
have a closed board. If the opponent has any men on the bar, he will not
be able to re-enter it since there is no vacant point in his
adversary's home board. Therefore, he forfeits his turn, and
continues to do so until such time as the player has to open up a
point in his home board, thus providing a point of re-entry.
Compulsory move
---------------
A player is compelled to take his complete move if there is any
way for him to do so. If he can take either of the numbers but not
both, he must take the higher number if possable, the lower if not.
[Another way of saying this...]
* If both parts of the roll can be played legally, then this must be
done. Note that you may play the roll in such a way as to move fewer
pips than the larger die indicates by playing the smaller die first ---
this is common in bearoff situations, and legal as long as each part of
the roll is played legally at the moment you play it.
* If only one part of the roll can be played legally, then you must play
the higher die if possible; if not, play the lower die.
--kw
Bearing off
-----------
Once a player has brought all his men into his home board, he can
commence bearing off. Men borne off the board are not re-entered into
play. The player who bears off all his men first is the winner. A
player may not bear off men while he has a man on the bar, or outside
his home board. Thus if, in the process of bearing off, a player
leaves a blot and it is hit by his opponent, he must first re-enter
the man in his opponents home board, and bring it round the board
into his own home board before he can continue the bearing off
process.
In bearing off, you remove men from the points corresponding to
the numbers on the dice cast. However, you are not compelled to
remove a man. You may, if you can, move a man inside your home board
a number of spaces equivalent to the number of a die.
If you roll a number higher than the highest point on which you
have a man, you may apply that number to your highest occupied
point. Thus, if you roll 6-3 and your 6-point has already been
cleared but you have men on your 5-point, you may use your 6 to
remove a man from your 5-point.
In some cases it may be advantagous to play the smaller die first
before applying the higher die to your highest point (See Compulsory
Move). For example, suppose you have one checker on your 5 point,
and two checkers on your 2 point. Your opponent has a checker on
the ace (one point) and on the bar. You roll 6-3. You may play the
3 to the 2 point then the 6 to bear a checker off the 2 point
leaving your opponent no shots (no blots for the opponent to hit).
The alternative, using the 6-3 to bear checkers off both the 5 and 2
points, would leave your opponent 20 out of 36 ways to hit your
remaining blot.
Gammon and Backgammon
---------------------
If you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne
off a single man, you win a gammon, or double game.
If you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne
off a single man, and he still has one or more men in your home board
or on the bar, you win a backgammon, or a triple game.
Cocked dice
-----------
It is customary to cast your dice in your right-hand board. Both
dice must come to rest completely flat in that board. If one die
crosses the bar into the other table, or jumps off the board, or does
not come to rest flat, or ends up resting on one of the men, the dice
are ``cocked'' and the whole throw, using both dice, must be retaken.
A3. What is the doubling cube for?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The introduction of the doubling cube into the game is largely
responsible for the leap in popularity of modern backgammon.
Each face of the doubling cube bears a number to record
progressive doubles and redoubles, starting with 2 and going on to 4,
8, 16, 32 & 64. At the commencement of play, the doubling cube rests
on the bar, between the two players, or at the side of the board. At
any point during the game, a player who thinks he is sufficiently
ahead may, when it is his turn to play and before he casts his dice,
propose to double the stake by turning the cube to 2. His opponent
may decline to accept the double, in which case he forfeits the game
and loses 1 unit, or accept the double, in which case the game
continues with the stake at 2 units. The player who accepts the
double now ``owns'' the cube---which means that he has the option t
redouble at any point during the rest of the game, but his opponent
(the original doubler) may not. If, at a later stage he exercises
this option, his opponent is now faced with a similar choice. He may
either decline the redouble and so lose 2 units, or accept and play
for 4, and he now ``owns'' the cube. A player may double when he is on
the bar even if his opponent has a closed board and he cannot enter.
Though he does not roll the dice, for he cannot make a move, he still
has the right to double. Note that gammon doubles or backgammon
triples the stake of the cube.
A4. What is the Crawford rule? (Why won't FIBS let me double?)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From the FIBS help screens:
If you are playing an n-point match and your opponent is ahead
of you and he gets to n-1 points you are not allowed to use
the doubling cube in the next game to come
EXAMPLE:
5 point match
score
game # You opponent
1 0 3
2 0 4
3 1 4 (you were not allowed to double in this game)
4 3 4 (you were allowed to double again)
... ... ...
The Crawford rule is universally used in backgammon match play.
A5. What is the Jacoby rule?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Jacoby rule is used in money games. It states, that a gammon
or backgammon may not be scored as such unless the cube has been
passed and accepted. The purpose is to speed up play by eliminating
long undoubled games.
The Jacoby rule is never used in match play.
A6. What is the Holland rule?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This rule applies to match games and states that in post-Crawford games
the trailer can only double after both sides have played two rolls. It
makes the free drop more valuable to the leader but generally just
confuses the issue.
Unlike the Crawford rule, the Holland rule has not proved popular,
and is rarely used today.
A7. What are those critters --- Beavers, raccoons?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In money play, if player A doubles, and player B believes that he is
a favorite holding the cube, he may turn the cube an extra notch as he
takes, and keep the cube on his own side. For example, if A makes an
initial double to 2, B may, instead of taking the double and holding a
2 cube, say ``beaver'', turn the cube an extra notch to 4, and continue
the game holding a 4 cube.
If A believes that B's beaver was in error, some play that he may then
``raccoon'', turning the cube yet another notch (to 8 in the example). Cube
ownership remains with B. B may then if he wishes turn the cube yet
another notch, saying ``aardvark'', or ``otter'' or whatever silly animal
name he prefers (the correct animal is a matter of controversy), and so
forth.
Beavers and the rest of the animals may be played or not in money
play, as the players wish.
Beavers and other animals are never used in match play.
-- Andy Latto
It should be noted that the original cube turner can drop a beaver.
For example, suppose I miscount a bearoff and double, you accept and
say you want to beaver. I realize something is wrong and recount.
If I am horribly behind, I can drop the beaver, paying you the value
on the cube before you beavered.
-michael j zehr
A8. What is a Chouette?
+++++++++++++++++++++++
A Chouette is a social backgammon variant for more than 2 players.
One player is ``the box'', and plays against all other players
on a single board. One other player is the captain, and rolls the
dice and makes the plays for the team that opposes the box. If the
box wins, the captain goes to the back of the line, and the next player
becomes captain. If the captain wins, the box goes to the back of the
line, and the captain becomes the new box.
Customs vary as to the rights of the captain's partners: In some Chouettes,
they may consult freely as to the way rolls should be played. In
others, consultation is prohibited. A compromise, where consultation
is allowed only after the cube has been turned, is popular.
Originally, Chouettes were played with a single cube. The only
decisions that players other than the captain were allowed to make
independently concerned takes: If the box doubled, each player on the
team could take or drop independently. Today, multiple-cube Chouettes
are more popular; each player on the team has his own cube, and all
doubling, dropping, and taking decisions are made independently by all
players.
-- Andy Latto
Section B: ELECTRONIC BACKGAMMON: VS OTHER HUMANS
=================================================
B1. What is FIBS?
+++++++++++++++++
[Addresses edited to reflect FIBS move to Sweden]
From: zweije@wi.leidenuniv.nl (Vincent Zweije)
FIBS stands for First Internet Backgammon Server. It is a
telnet server you can use to play backgammon. You can reach it
by telnetting to fraggel65.mdstud.chalmers.se 4321
(129.16.235.153, port 4321). Sometimes tournaments are organized
on this server.
It is a good idea to read the help screens on-line.
B2. What is the Internet and how do I get onto it? (From OK.FAQ)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[This is copied verbatim, with permission, from OK.FAQ. References to 'OK'
are referring to the bridge server.]
[Permission from mclegg@cs.ucsd.edu (Matthew Clegg) for use here.]
In addition to having access to a Unix system, you must also be connected
to the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide computer network which was
founded for the sake of promoting research and education. Recently,
the Internet has been broadening its mission and it's likely that
soon the Internet will be open for commercial as well as educational
uses.
Already it is possible for the general public to obtain access to
the Internet for a modest fee in many metropolitan areas of the US.
A few representative Internet providers include:
Area Served Voice No. Email Organization
----------- -------- ----- ------------
West Coast 408-554-UNIX info@netcom.com Netcom Online Comm. Svcs
Boston 617-739-0202 office@world.std.com The World
New York City 212-877-4854 alexis@panix.com PANIX Public Access Unix
Many OKbridgers play from home using a PC or Mac and a modem.
Frequently, these people have obtained access to the Internet by
purchasing an account from a "public access Unix system connected to
the Internet," which is the jargon describing the service provided by
the above companies. Having obtained such an account, it is usually a
simple matter to obtain OKbridge and begin playing (see below).
If you will be searching for a means to use OKbridge, it is important
to remember the wording, "public access Unix system (directly) connected
to the Internet." There are a number of BBS operators who have Email
connections to the Internet, but this is not sufficient. Also,
there are several network services which provide access to the
Internet but which are not Unix based (Delphi is a notable example).
For more information about the Internet, which is an amazing and
wonderful resource, see the books:
Krol, Ed, The Whole Internet: User's Guide & Catalog,
O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.
Kehoe, Brendan P., Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide,
2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1993.
LaQuey, Tracy, with Jeanne C. Ryer, The Internet Companion:
A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking, Addison-Wesley, 1993.
These books are filled with useful information about Unix and the
Internet, including how to send electronic mail, how to download
free software, and how to access some of the many information services
which are available on the Internet.
B3. Are there any GUI's for FIBS?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tinyfugue
---------
Tinyfugue is a telnet client program which breaks the screen into
separate 'panes' for input and output. A specialized version exists where
a non scrolling backgammon board is displayed in a third pane. The
specialized version is available for anonymous ftp from
figment.csee.usf.edu in the directory /pub/misc/FIBS_client.
Patches made by:
David Eggert (eggertd@sanibel.csee.usf.edu)
(window routines)
Andreas Schneider (marvin@rog.rwth-aachen.de)
(board printing routines and /board command)
figment.csee.usf.edu /pub/misc/FIBS_client
xfibs
-----
[Note: The current version of xfibs is xfibs07]
Article: 2440 of rec.games.backgammon
From: torstein@itekiris.kjemi.unit.no (torstein hansen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
Subject: Motif-based client for FIBS available
Date: 6 Jan 1994 13:03:58 GMT
As some of you fibsters already know, I have been strugling with
a Motif-based client to the FIBS-server for some time now.
As I'll be moving away from my beloved X-terminal at the end of this
month, and thus won't be able to do much more work on the client,
I hereby declare xfibs as released...
(include standing ovation here... :)
At present, and at least for a few months the code can be fetched by
anonymous ftp from itekiris.kjemi.unit.no (129.241.12.40) in the
/pub-directory. The last version last time I looked was
xfibs05-02.
itekiris.kjemi.unit.no /pub
Description of the program:
xfibs uses several seperated windows for its output. (3 to be
excact.) At the top there is the graphical view of the
backgammon board with dices, doubling cube etc.
Below is two more windows, one for text coming from the server and
the other acting like a command window.
Nice features:
The pieces may be moved by moving them with the mouse.
Depending on what is happening, the right mouse button brings up
different popup-menues with choices like roll,double,resign;
accept double, reject double; accept move, reject move etc.
To see what is available, just try it...
User configurable menues. By editing a .xfibsrc file you may
configure the menubar according to your personal taste. Look at
the accompaning xfibsrc-example file for ideas.
Also, look into the example app-defaults file for what resources
that may be specified.
\gag and \hilite commands: It seems like these commands are quite
useful. Check out the new_in_05-02 file for an explenation for its
use. (This file is living by itself at the ftp-site)
Not so nice features:
There are probably bugs...
If the mouse stops working, try issuing the move command from the
input window. That should do the trick. I hope it doesn't happen,
though.
Input window is limited in size. If you experience that your commands
doesn't get through, try deleting some lines in the window.
(Or try to reduce your shouting :))
Athena widgets are not supported.
Help needed:
There is no man-page at present. If anyone out there with some
knowledge on nroff, troff or whatever it's called could jot
down something I would be more than happy.
If you experience bugs, and actually manage to track them down,
put patches on the ftp-server in the directory pub/patches.
Put wishes for new or improved feautures in the /pub/wishes
directory. I won't be able to do anything about them though, but
there might be some kind soul out there that wants a programming
challenge :)
Conditions for use:
If you actually use the program, could you send me an e-mail
message stating so? It would be nice to know if the program is
useful for anyone else but me...
Final comment:
HAVE FUN, AND A HAPPY NEW FIBS-YEAR TO EVERYONE!
Torstein Hansen
torstein@itekiris.kjemi.unit.no
[pick up any patches/bugfixes as well]
MacFIBS (Beta)
--------------
Article: 2455 of rec.games.backgammon
From: Paul Ferguson
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
Subject: MacFIBS is coming, folks, seriously...
Date: 10 Jan 1994 17:16:40 GMT
Seeing the announcement about an X FIBS client, I thought it was
a good time to update people about MacFIBS, a Macintosh FIBS client.
I've been working on MacFIBS for the past several months; some of
you may have seen me on FIBS testing the program. However, due
to work committments (ah, work...) and personal committments (ah,
wife...), I have had very little time to work on it. I apologize
for all those Mac users who have been waiting patiently. The wait
should be over soon.
Like xfibs, MacFIBS provides multiple windows: a board window for
dragging pieces and dice, a terminal window for debugging or
directly typing FIBS commands, a score card/statistics window,
a user list window, and a chat window (complete with "gag").
MacFIBS requires a MacTCP connection to the internet (direct, SLIP,
or PPP). I may do a dumb terminal (serial) connection later, if
demand (and time) warrants it. MacFIBS also requires a color
Mac and at least a 68020 system (sorry, Plus/SE/Classic users;
life sucks...)
If you are interested in participating in beta testing MacFIBS,
please send me a note. You must have the required stuff mentioned
above, as well as the ability to receive large binary attachments
via the internet.
See you on FIBS!
--fergy
TkFibs
------
From: keithv@chiwaukum.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Vetter)
Subject: TkFibs - an X interface to FIBS available
Date: 4 Apr 1994 19:31:41 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Announcing TkFibs, an X based, graphical user interface to Fibs.
TkFibs is a tcl/tk client that provides a better interface to Fibs. It
displays two windows: one a graphical depiction of the board, the other
session window with Fibs ala the bottom two windows in tinyfugue.
I've been using the program for over 5 months now so it should be very
solid. I've run it on DecStations, SparcStations, HP 735 and Alphas.
The biggest caveat is that it requires TCL/TK to run. TCL/TK is a
very nice scripting / user interface package for X. It is available
from ftp.cs.berkeley.edu in /ucb/tcl.
TkFibs is located at shuksan.cs.berkeley.edu /pub/tkfibs
Send comments, suggestions, bugs, etc to:
tkfibs@shuksan.cs.berkeley.edu
Enjoy
keith vetter
FIBS/W
------
FIBS/W v2.21
FIBS/W is a Microsoft Windows(TM) based client for FIBS. FIBS/W provides a
graphical game board and mouse-driven interface to the FIBS server. Most
operations required to play a game can be executed using mouse, keyboard,
menus or toolbar buttons.
Powerful configuration options for many common Internet host systems,
and communications service providers, and a built-in communications
scripting language allow FIBS/W to automatically dial and connect
to FIBS via the Internet with a single mouse click.
To use FIBS/W you must have a modem and access to a dial-in Internet
host computer providing Telnet services. FIBS/W currently only supports
host machines which provide dumb terminal-server access to the Internet.
FIBS/W does *not* currently support TCP/IP, PPP or SLIP protocols.
If you can connect to the Internet using Windows Terminal, then you
can use FIBS/W.
FIBS/W requires version 3.1 or later of Microsoft Windows, or any
version of Windows for Workgroups or Windows/NT. FIBS/W will also run
as a Windows application under OS/2 2.X.
FIBS/W is provided as Shareware. The registration fee is US$40. This
version of FIBS/W includes a Nag Screen (a mildly annoying dialog
which is displayed every time the program is run) but is otherwise
fully functional.
FIBS/W is available via anonymous FTP at:
resudox.net in the directory /pub/pc/windows/games/fibsw
Robin Davies.
robind@resudox.net
FIBS: Q
xibc
----
From: d9jesper@dtek.chalmers.se (Jesper Blommaskog)
"xibc" is an X11 client to the First Internet Backgammon Server. It
is using the freeware packages Tcl, Tk and Expect. Normally, you have
to fetch and compile those to be able to run xibc, but not anymore
(provided you have a SunSparc!).
ftp.cd.chalmers.se:pub/xibc/xibc-X.XX.tar.Z
ftp.cd.chalmers.se:pub/xibc/xibc-X.XX.README
ftp.cd.chalmers.se /pub/xibc/
# If you need an executable (Sun-SparcOS 4.1.x only):
ftp.cd.chalmers.se:pub/xibc/binREADME
ftp.cd.chalmers.se:pub/xibc/BX.enc
# If you need an executable and don't have a Sparc, then you need
# to compile Tcl, Tk and Expect on your own. Here's the ftp addresses:
sprite.berkeley.edu:/tcl/tcl7.3.tar.Z
sprite.berkeley.edu:/tcl/tk3.6.tar.Z
sprite.berkeley.edu:/tcl/tk3.6p1.patch
ftp.cme.nist.gov:/pub/expect/alpha.tar.Z
(all but the patch are present at cme.nist.gov)
Features of xibc include:
* Log out from FIBS but keep the interface on the screen (maybe
iconified). Permits you to start xibc in your X startup files
and keep it up all time.
* X resource Tk*xibcLogfile that names a file where to log match
results. Example from my own file ~/.Xdefaults:
Tk*xibcLogfile: ~/spel/backgammon/xibc.log
* Resource Tk*xibcDelay that sets the programmed delayes in the
interface (the time interval between the different moves in a
sequence). Time is in milliseconds. May also be changed during
a session from a menu (but may not be saved).
Example: Tk*xibcDelay: 500
* The command line has some emacs/tcsh-style "cooked" line features:
C-n next line in history
C-p previous line in history
C-a first on line
C-e last on line
C-u delete whole line
C-d delete the character after the insertion marker
and also
C-s toggle "autoscroll" mode of the text window
C-l toggle logging of game to a log file
C-c log out from server and quit the interface
* There is a menu option called "Emergency". It may also be invoked
with "M-e". It reloads the whole board position from the server.
Nice when the interface screws up (it does sometimes).
* A menu option "Empty textwindow" will delete all rows in the text
window in access of 500. May someday become an X resource.
Don't try to push the interface to hard, that is, don't try to break
it. You will most definitely succeed (not hard at all, I guess). Since
I'm sort of an artist, I don't like breaking my own things so I
haven't really tried to find the bugs.
Special features (also called known bugs):
* Try the "look" command.
* Play a game against "You".
* Do several things at "the same time".
* Answer questions like "Accept double" or "join/leave" from the
command line, not by using the interface.
If you try them out, remember there's always the "Emergency" command
around.
-Jesper Blommaskog, author of "xibc"
-----
[Just a reminder to client writers. Some of us live behind 'firewalls',
or can only obtain phone access. Please remember us!]
B4. Whats about LDB? (Long Distance Backgammon. BG by Email)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- ldb - Long Distance Backgammon. Play backgammon by E-mail.
Program written by Perry R. Ross (perry@aap.com)
From the ldb man page:
Ldb allows two people to play backgammon over a network using electronic
mail. It runs on character-oriented terminals, or emulators thereof, using
the curses screen package. It will run on most UNIX dialects, as well as
VAX-C under VMS 5.0 and above. Ldb handles all aspects of starting,
playing, checking, and scoring games. It enforces all normal game rules,
as well as several optional rules, and will not let you make an illegal
move. When you have made your moves, ldb will automatically package your
move and send them to your opponent.
-----
The latest version is 1.3.2. Version 1.3 can be found in directory
volume36. Patches can be found in subsequent volumes at your favorite
comp.sources.misc archive site. Patch 1 is in volume 39. Patch 2 is in
volume ??. Use:
'unix_prompt$ archie ldb'
to locate the sources.
[from Perry]
I mentioned in that patch that, for people who can't figure out
how to get ldb or how to apply patches, I'd be happy to send
them a complete copy of the latest version. You might want
to put the same offer into the faq.
[Has anybody written a PC/Mac version using CC-mail via a Novell network?]
[from Perry...]
Well, I'd always intended to do a PC port, but just never got around to it.
I was a bad boy, 32-bit wise, so there would be a little effort involved
making it 16-bit clean. There's a package that simulates curses on a
PC, I've heard. As far as the particular mail transport, ldb doesn't
really care. It puts outgoing messages into a text file and executes
a user-defined command to send the message. Incoming mail can be read
from a user-defined file (or pattern, to read multiple files), which
ought to be pretty transport-independent. It wouldn't be that hard
to port, I don't think.
[Anybody have a little ambition?]
The ldb 'game starter' operated by leopard@midnight.WPI.edu
(Leo Gestetner) has been shut down. [ Are there others? ...Mark]
B5. What other ways are there to play people via nets/modems/e-mail?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Netgammon backgammon server
---------------------------
- There is now a second backgammon server on-line, running on a 486 UNIX
box. 'Netgammon' can be reached 24 hours at balder.novalink.com 3200
(IP address 192.233.90.2 3200) [Thanks Garrett]
Genie
-----
- Genie - An electronic service which includes multi-player games
including backgammon. Pay by the hour for use.
[Who has information for getting started on Genie?]
[Who has opinions about backgammon on Genie (Mine were quite negative) ]
B6. Are there any electronic tournaments?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are tournaments on FIBS and Genie.
Tournaments on FIBS have been organized by David Eggert. They are
particularly fun, as they seem to be designed to try and equalize playing
skill levels! Contact: -- 'Snoopy' on FIBS
-- eggert@mozart.ms.uky.edu
'igor' and 'davide' have also orginzed money tournaments on FIBS.
Genie has a quarterly single elimination tournament. $25 entry fee. Cash
and credit prizes for first-fourth place. Hourly fee in effect while you
play. The draw is non random, in that previous winners are placed such that
they do not play each other in the first several rounds.
B7. Do other game servers exist?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Backgammon
----------
There is now a second backgammon server on-line, running on a 486 UNIX
box. 'Netgammon' can be reached 24 hours at balder.novalink.com 3200
(IP address 192.233.90.2 3200) [Thanks Garrett]
Bridge
------
Get 'OK.FAQ' from rec.games.bridge or rtfm.mit.edu for info
on an Internet bridge server.
Scrabble
--------
telnet 134.53.14.112 7777
Chinese Chess
-------------
USA: telnet coolidge.harvard.edu 5555 or 128.103.28.15 5555
Sweden: telnet hippolytos.ud.chalmers.se 5555 or 129.16.79.39 5555
Othello
-------
Othello(tm)/Reversi: telnet faust.uni-paderborn.de 5000
Chess
-----
Chess:
rafael.metiu.ucsb.edu 5000 128.111.246.2 5000
ics.uoknor.edu 5000 129.15.10.21 5000
Section C: ELECTRONIC BACKGAMMON: VS MACHINE
============================================
C1. Are there any BG programs out there for my computer? Where are they?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
bg06
----
Most PD/Shareware backgammon programs are currently weak. The strongest
that I have played has been bg06.zip for windows. This _looks_ an awful
lot like the commercial program "BG by George". I've also seen the
Spinnaker program sold as public domain, even though it is still being
sold commercially.
bg06 is available for anonymous ftp from ftp.cica.indiana.edu in the
directory /pub/win3/games/
A PD mac program called ?
-------------------------
There is a backgammon game for the Macintosh by Stephen Young, Debra
Willrett, and David Young. The 1.0 version is fairly widespread, although
there is a 2.0 version (dated May 25, 1989) available on America Online.
The play is pretty weak, and the graphics are designed for the original
small B&W Mac screen, but if you're really bored and can't find a human
opponent, it works. The game is freeware, and you get what you pay for.
-- Paul Ferguson
Expert Backgammon
-----------------
If you are serious about playing, Expert BG 2.1 can be bought for
US$50, with the rollout features disabled, or for US$150, with them
included. A 'Pro' version with enhanced rollout features is also
available. See the 'What Programs Are Good...' section.
A new Mac version has been mentioned for early 1994.
There is a review in the software section of the FAQ.
Death by Backgammon
-------------------
For those interested in a good bg game for Windows, why not try Death By
Backgammon for Windows.
It runs under Windows 3.1 or OS2/2.1, and features animated dice/game
pieces, comprehensive help, move undo, suggest move, speed control over
all motion, and is fully resizeable.
Best of all, its strategy is very competitive (I wrote the thing, and
have a roughly 50:50 average against it over many hundreds of games).
If you are interested, I would be happy to send out a shareware version
for evaluation. The shareware version is fully functional, except that
the computer's moves are painfully slow.
There is also a DOS version, which is a bit older, but still features
animation and VGA graphics.
To get hold of the program there are two options:
1. To get the shareware version, (free of charge) let me know and I can
email you a zipped uuencoded version of the shareware. Alternatively,
I can send you a floppy if you provide your mailing address.
2. To get a registered copy of the program, send a cheque made out to
Chris Kanaris, and I will email or post as above.
Prices: Shareware - Nil
Registered: WIN $AS 35.00, $US 30.00.
DOS $AS 20.00, $US1 5.00.
My Postal address is: Chris Kanaris
PO Box 495
Essendon,
Victoria, 3040
Australia.
[ People who have tried the shareware version claim that the program
plays a pretty weak game. Hopefully computer bg game writers will
continue to make their games stronger and stronger. Not and easy
task! ]
xgammon
--------
From: klasen@obelix.uni-muenster.de at SMTP-Post-Office
Subject: contribution to FAQ
xgammon.0.96
xgammon is a BG-playing programm originally written for Linux.
The authors are Lambert Klasen (klasen@uni-muenster.de) and
Detlef Steuer (steuer@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de, blotstorm on FIBS)
Features:
xgammon is Freeware under the Gnu Copyright.
xgammon has nice graphical interface, you move by clicking on mousebuttons.
You can do a maildump for a position, that means you get a file with
a FIBS style board with current position in it.
You can do money game or tournament game.
You can edit positions via mouse on the board or via ascii plain text files.
You can turn doubling on and off.
You can do rollouts with doubling turned on and off.
The programm uses an endgame database for perfect bearing off (and for
reasonable running game).
There is an compi_finish for shorten the boring part of the game.
and and and ....
You can have fun with xgammon.
Give xgammon a chance getting compiled on your machine.
We'd like any reactions, especially porting reports to OS different
from Linux.
(heard of AIX and Sun OS compiling), especially bug reports .
Send a mail if you use it, please!
You find the latest Version of xgammon, at the time xgammon.0.96.tar.gz,
at ftp sunsite.unc.edu /pub/Linux/X11/games/strategy/xgammon.0.96.tar.gz.
Detlef Steuer
steuer@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de
(blotstorm on FIBS)
C2. Which programs are good? How good is good?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Program Name Source Type Score
----------------- ------ ------ ------
*TD-GAMMON 2.1 N/A N/A -0.05
Expert BG 2.1 Weaver IBM-PC -0.20
Expert BG 1.61 Weaver IBM-PC -0.35
Championship BG Spinnaker IBM-PC -0.66
Expert BG Komodo Macintosh -0.82
Sensory BG 2 Scitek Portable -0.94
Backgammon Odesta IBM-PC -1.20
BG by George GS Labs IBM-PC/Win -1.52
Video Gammon Baudville IBM-PC -1.61
PC-Gammon Repsted IBM-PC -3.67
Gammon Gakken Portable -12.40
Windows BG Baudville IBM-PC/Win -13.83
Gammon Pal Fidelity Portable -15.63
Micro BG Fidelity Portable -15.53
Games People Play Toolworks IBM-PC -26.60
[ From the 1994 The GAMMON PRESS catalog. ]
* Not available commercially, but may sometimes be played on FIBS.
Score is the number of points won per game, on average, against a top
flight human player. Very large numbers are caused by bad doubling
algorithms which cause a program to double when behind (typically when
primed but ahead in the race), causing the computer to lose some very
large cubes.
TD-Gammon, a neural network backgammon program by Gerry Tesauro,
plays at the level of human experts. It is not, alas, available
commercially. See 'What Is TD-Gammon' for more details. The most
recent version, 2.1, has been estimated to play at -0.05 points
per game against a top flight human expert, making the program
the best anywhere, and one of the strongest players in the world;
period!
C3. Why is it so hard to write a good backgammon program?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are two basic ways that a computer can play a game as well as or
better than humans. One is to be really smart, the other is to do an
awful lot of work. The general strategy most game-playing programs use
is to use an evaluation function that isn't very smart, but to make up
for it by looking ahead a lot of moves (doing a lot of work).
With chess, there are typically 20-30 moves by each player per turn.
With backgammon, there are 21 unique rolls and often 4-6 ways to play
each one (not counting doubles with could have 10 or more ways of
playing). This makes it very difficult to look ahead very many levels.
Looking ahead 3 moves by both players examining all possibilities when
there are 25 choices at each play requires evaluating "only" 244 million
positions. If there are 90 ways to play each move, there are 530,000
million, positions.
With a game like chess, one can discard all but the best 5 or 10 plays
per person. With backgammon, there are always 21 different choices of
best plays, depending on the dice. This makes it crucial to have an
excellent evaluation function.
The difficulty in doing this is that factors such as the race have a
different effect on the value of the position depending on what stage
the game is in. Consider the concept of timing -- hard enough for
people to grasp, extremely difficult for computers.
Another example of the difficulty of evaluating plays: It's almost
always beneficial to close out your opponents checkers. But if you've
hit one checker and you almost have to hit a second to be able to win,
closing out your opponent is very bad.
-michael j zehr
C4. What is TD-GAMMON?
----------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
From: tesauro@watson.ibm.com (Gerry Tesauro)
Subject: TD-Gammon paper available by FTP
Sender: Gerald Tesauro (tesauro@watson.ibm.com)
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1993 18:06:35 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily
those of IBM.
The following paper, which has been accepted for publication
in Neural Computation, has been placed in the neuroprose
archive at Ohio State. Instructions for retrieving the paper
by anonymous ftp are appended below.
---------------------------------------------------------------
TD-Gammon, A Self-Teaching Backgammon Program,
Achieves Master-Level Play
Gerald Tesauro
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
P. O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
(tesauro@watson.ibm.com)
Abstract:
TD-Gammon is a neural network that is able to teach
itself to play backgammon solely by playing against
itself and learning from the results, based on the
TD(lambda) reinforcement learning algorithm (Sutton, 1988).
Despite starting from random initial weights (and hence
random initial strategy), TD-Gammon achieves a surprisingly
strong level of play. With zero knowledge built in at the
start of learning (i.e. given only a ``raw'' description
of the board state), the network learns to play at a strong
intermediate level. Furthermore, when a set of hand-crafted
features is added to the network's input representation, the
result is a truly staggering level of performance:
the latest version of TD-Gammon is now estimated to
play at a strong master level that is extremely close to the
world's best human players.
---------------------------------------------------------------
FTP INSTRUCTIONS
unix% ftp archive.cis.ohio-state.edu (or 128.146.8.52)
Name: anonymous
Password: (use your e-mail address)
ftp> cd pub/neuroprose
ftp> binary
ftp> get tesauro.tdgammon.ps.Z
ftp> bye
unix% uncompress tesauro.tdgammon.ps
unix% lpr tesauro.tdgammon.ps
[ In the November/December 93 issue of Inside Backgammon, there is an
article by Kit Woolsey, which rates ALL of the moves made by 3 programs
for an entire 31 game series. TD-GAMMON was the strongest! I think that
this is enough to officially call it the strongest backgammon program
currently in existence!!!! ...Mark ]
Section D: RESOURCES
====================
D1. I'm looking for a club to play in...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Backgammon clubs in North America
---------------------------------
Below is a list of backgammon clubs in North America. It was taken from
the January/Febrary 1994 issue of the Chicago Point newsletter. It may
be copied for noncommercial purposes as long as you give full credit to
"CHICAGO POINT, 2726 West Lunt Avenue, Chicago, IL 60645-3039."
(FORMAT)
CLUB NAME....................... LOCATION..................
CITY & STATE........ MEETING ON................ TIME...
CONTACT............. TELEPHONE...
MAIL INQUIRIES TO...................................
(WEST)
Gammon Associates Bombay Bicycle Club
Burbank, CA Tuesday 7:00 PM
Patrick Gibson 818/901-0464
7641 Orion Avenue; Van Nuys, CA 91406
Gammon Associates Bombay Bicycle Club
Burbank, CA Sunday 2:00 PM
Patrick Gibson 818/901-0464
*
Backgammon Club of San Diego Kopper Kettle
El Cajon, CA Wednesday 6:30 PM
Mike Fujita 619/294-2007
P.O. Box 178119; San Diego, CA 92117
From: ldr@helium.msss.com (Laura Ravine)
Subject: backgammon FAQ update
-
The Backgammon Club of San Diego now meets on Sundays at 5:00pm and
Wednesdays at 6:30 pm at Banx Restaurant, Nightclub, & Billiards in the
Mission Valley area of San Diego, CA. The information line is still
619/294-2007.
San Francisco Backgammon Golden Gate Grill
San Francisco, CA Tuesday 7:45 PM
Doug Adsit 415/931-4600
3200 Fillmore Street; San Francisco, CA 94123
San Francisco Bridge & BG Club Clubroom
San Francisco, CA Mon., Wed., Fri. 9:00 PM
Augie Hunt 415/776-6949
777 Jones Street; San Francisco, CA 94109
Colorado Backgammon J.L.'s Cheers
Denver, CO Tuesday 7:30 PM
Earl Earp 303/778-1105
102 W. 4th Avenue; Denver, CO 80223
No. Nevada Backgammon Assn. Rapscallion Seafood House
Reno, NV Thursday 7:30 PM
Jim Allen 702/329-1227
449 W. Plumb Lane; Reno, NV 89509
Pacific NW Backgammon Assn. Shakey's Pizza
Bellevue, WA Monday 7:00 PM
Chuck Breckenridge 206/778-8181
18204 Olympic View Drive; Edmonds, WA 98020
Puget Sound Backgammon Assn. European Connecktion
Seattle, WA Tuesday 7:30 PM
Guy Thurber 206/244-6737
428 SW 127th Street; Seattle, WA 98146
(CENTRAL)
Bloomington-Normal BG Club Ride The Nine
Bloomington, IL 1st/3rd/5th Tues. 6:15 PM
Lane O'Connor 309/454-1947
108 Riss Drive; Normal, IL 61761
North Club Office Building
Chicago, IL Daily except Sun. 12:30PM
Greg Defotis 312/286-6719
4747 W. Peterson Ave. 402; Chicago, IL 60646
Chicago Bar Point Club Golden Flame
Chicago, IL Tuesday 6:30 PM
Bill Davis 312/338-6380
2726 W. Lunt Avenue; Chicago, IL 60645
Chicago Bar Point Club Braxton Seafood Grill
Oak Brook, IL Sunday bimonthly 12:30 PM
Peter Kalba 312/252-7755
2510 W. Iowa Street; Chicago, IL 60622
Pub Club Cricket's Pub & Gdll
Glendale Hts., IL Most Sundays 1:30 PM
V.W. Zimnicki 708/924-8632
P.O. Box 72216; Roselle, IL 60172
Pub Club Fiddler's Restaurant
Villa Park, IL Monday 7:30 PM
V.W. Zimnicki 708/924-8632
*
Prime BG Club of Chicago TJ's Lounge/Radisson Hotel
Lincolnwood, IL Friday 7:00 PM
Joann Feinstein 708/674-0120
8149 Kenton; Skokie, IL 60076
Central Illinois Backgammon Club Chi-Chi's
Peoria, IL Thursday 6:30 PM
Ed Zell 309/673-7622
1920 W. Sherman Avenue; Peoria, IL 61604
Sangamon Valley BG Assn. Parker's Sports Bar
Springfield, IL Tuesday 6:00 PM
Mark Kaye 217/789-6275
2602 Peoria Road A; Springfield, IL 62702
Sangamon Valley BG Assn. Parker's Sports Bar
Springfield, IL 1st Sat./Nov.-Apr. 11:30 AM
Mark Kaye 217/789-6275
*
Winnetka Backgammon Club Winnetka Community House
Winnetka, IL Wednesday 7:00 PM
Trudie Stern 708/446-0537
4200 W. Lake 302C; Glenview, IL 60025
Hoosier Backgammon Club Spats
Indianapolis, IN Thursday 7:00 PM
Butch Meese 317/845-8435
7620 Kilmer Lane; Indianapolis, IN 46256
Flint Area Backgammon Club Ramada Inn
Flint, Ml Thursday 7:00 PM
Carol Joy Cole 810/232-9731
3003 Ridgecliffe Drive; Flint, MI 48532
Plymouth Backgammon Club Box Bar & Grill
Plymouth, MI Wednesday 7:30 PM
Dean Adamian 313/981-5706
42954 Barchester; Canton, MI 48187
Cavendish North BG Club Clubhouse
Southfield, MI Daily except Sun. 1:00 PM
Joe Sylvester 810/642-9616
30065 Greenfield Road; Southfield, MI 48076
Minneapolis Backgammon Minneapolis Athletic Club
Minneapolis, MN Monday 5:00 PM
Fred Kalantari 612/339-4971
4701 Valley View Road; Edina, MN 55424
Cleveland Area Backgammon Boulevard Sports Tavem
Cuyahoga Falls, OH Tuesday, Alt. Sat. 6:30 PM
Irv Taylor 216/663-7332
P.O. Box 28515; Cleveland, OH 44128
Austin Backgammon Assn. Bombay Bicycle Club
Austin, TX Monday 7:30 PM
Jackie Seiders-Smart 512/280-5945
7715 Copano Drive, Austin, TX 78749
American Backgammon Club Vickery Feed Store
Dallas, TX Sunday 6:00 PM
Kati Pratt 214/827-8402
5631 Ellsworth; Dallas, TX 75206
Dallas Backgammon League Humperdink's
Dallas, TX Wednesday 7:45 PM
Rich Weaver 214/620-7462
2682 Hearthstone; Dallas, TX 75234
Houston Backgammon Club Sidney's
Houston, TX Tuesday 8:00 PM
Jack Butler 713/774-9439
5931 Reamer Street; Houston, TX 77074
San Antonio Backgammon Dad's
San Antonio, TX Mon., Wed., Fri. 8:00 PM
Marcel Mommers 512/620/5210
3812 Greenridge Drive; Cilbo, TX 78108
Milwaukee Backgammon Club Gas Lite North
Milwaukee, WI Wednesday 7:00 PM
Marv Amol 414/355-8805
9031 N. 70th Street; Milwaukee, WI 53223
Milwaukee Backgammon Univ. of Wis.-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI Occasional Fridays 7:00 PM
Bob Holyon 414/672-8359
911 South 11th Street; Milwaukee, WI 53204
(NORTHEAST)
College Park Backgammon Club Promenade Cardroom
Bethesda, MD 2nd & 4th Sunday 12:00 N
Barry Steinberg 301/530-0604
6100 Westchester Pk. Dr. T2; College Park, MD 20740
Cavendish Club of Boston Clubroom
Brookline, MA Daily 12:00 N
Cad Saldinger 617/734-2230
111 Cypress Street; Brookline, MA 02146
New England Backgammon Club Sheraton Commander Hotel
Cambridge, MA Sunday monthly [Sep-Jun] 12:30 PM
Seth Towle 617/643-8154
975 Massachusetts Avenue 501; Arlington, MA 02174
New England Backgammon Club Sheraton Commander Hotel
Cambridge, MA Monday 7:00 PM
Seth Towle 617/643-8154
*
Granite State Backgammon Club Folkway Restaurant
Peterborough, NH Occasional Wed. 7:00 PM
Lincoln Bedell 603/863-4711
South Road; East Lempster, NH 03605
New Jersey Backgammon Assn. Best Western Oritani Hotel
Hackensack,NJ Tues. & Fri. 7:45 PM
Ron Whitney 201/833-2915
279 Glen Court; Teaneck, NJ 07666
Ace Point Backgammon Club Clubroom
New York, NY Daily 3:00 PM
Michael Valentine 212/753-0842
41 E. 60th Street; New York, NY 10022
Backgammon & Chess Express Clubroom
Now York, NY Daily; Tour. Sun. monthly 1:00 PM
Nick Rabchenok 212/587-8038
64 Fulton Street 606; New York, NY 10038
Coterie Clubroom
New York, NY Daily 1:00 PM
Louise Goldsmith 212/371-5151
Private club. Telephone for information.
New York Chess & Backgammon Office Building
New York, NY Daily, Tour. Sunday 12:00 N
Steve Manning 212/302-5874
120 W. 41st Street 3; New York, NY 10036
Saratoga Backgammon Club Spa City Diner
Saratoga Springs, NY Tuesday 7:00 PM
Lee Hoge 518/584-1714
P.O. Box 563; Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Greater New York BG Club Woodbury Ramada Inn
Woodbury, NY Friday 8:00 PM
Dr. Bob Hill 718/341-3779
194-22 115th Road; Jamaica, NY 11412
Cavendish Club of Philadelphia Clubroom
Philadelphia, PA Daily except Sunday 1:00 PM
Ken Relver 215/473-9564
3801 Conshohocken Avenue; Philadelphia, PA 19131
Pittsburgh Backgammon Assn. Murphy's Tap Room
Pittsburgh, PA Tuesday 8:30 PM
Steve Hast 412/823-7500
3560 Ridgewood Road; Pittsburgh, PA 15235
(SOUTH)
Suncoast Backgammon Assn. New York, New York Lounge
Clearwater, FL Mon. & Wed. 7:00 PM
Drew Giovanis 813/726-1398
25350 U.S. Hwy 19 N. 67; Clearwater, FL 34623
South Florida Backgammon Popfinger's
Ft. Lauderdale, FL Sunday 1:00 PM
Elayne Feinstein 305/785-1282
2621 NE 7th Terrace; Pompano Beach, FL 33064
Backgammon Club of N.W. Florida Olde English Pub
Lynn Haven, FL Thursday 7:30 PM
Rick Bieniak 904/773-2013
P.O. Box 416; Wausau, FL 32463
Odando Backgammon Coach's Locker Room
Odando, FL Tuesday 7:30 PM
David Thomas 904/736-2844
P.O. Box 803, Deland, FL 32721
Backgammon Society of Sarasota Crazy Fox Tavem
Sarasota, FL Tuesday 7:30 PM
Cal Kendall 813/486-9119
824 Capri Isle Blvd. 207; Venice, FL 34292
Atlanta Backgammon Tony's Grill & Tap
Roswell, GA Wednesday 7:00 PM
Dave Cardwell 404/682-1969
P.O. Box 956547; Duluth, GA 30136
Backgammon In Louisville Delta Lounge
Louisville, KY 2nd & 4th Tuesday 6:30 PM
Quint McTyeire 502/896-9783
4906 Crofton Road; Louisville, KY 40207
(CANADA)
Calgary Backgammon Buckingham Pub
Calgary, AB Occasional Mondays 7:00 PM
Hal Heinrich 403/234-9944
402-1122 15th Ave. SW; Calgary, AB T2R 1K5; CANADA
Toronto Backgammon Le Spot
Scarborough, ON Thursday 8:00 PM
Charles Morrison 416/841-3523
135 Timpson Drive; Aurora, ON L4G 5N2; CANADA
Jackhammer's Backgammon Jackhammers
Scarborough, ON Friday, Saturday 7:00 PM
Al Jones 416/434-8113
414 Century Street; Oshawa, ON LlK 1C6; CANADA
Nat'l Capital Backgammon Club Lunergan's Pub
Vanier, ON lst Sun./Sep.-Jun. 12:00 N
Eden Windish 613/741-2530
396 Talbot Street; Offawa, ON KlK 2N6; CANADA
Le Gammon Clubroom
Montreal, QB Daily, Tour. Thur. & Sun. 2:00 PM
Michel Medifti 514/845-8370
552 St. Catherine East, Montreal, OB H2L 2E1; CANADA
Playing Backgammon in the Boston area
-------------------------------------
From: mau@world.std.com (Michael A Urban)
Date: 19 Oct 1993
Frequently, membership fees are waived for initial participants.
For complete details, contact the club of interest.
Cavendish Club 617-734-2230
111 Cypress St.
Brookline, MA 02146 USA Fee: $150/year
The Cavendish runs chouettes on Thursday evenings and Saturday
afternoons. The club also has duplicate and rubber bridge.
New England Backgammon Club 617-643-8154
c/o Sheraton Commander Hotel President: Seth Towle
16 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-3609 USA Fee: $35/year
The NEBC runs weekly Monday tournaments starting at 7pm and
monthly Sunday tournaments beginning at 1pm. No smoking is
permitted in the tournament room. The NEBC publishes, "Anchors",
a monthly newsletter.
[Note: There are no Sunday tournaments in July or August]
[Note: Some Sunday tournaments start at noon. Nov and May in 93/94 season]
D2. Where are the tournaments?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-- Look for ads in backgammon newsletters.
-- Check backgammon clubs.
-- Sometimes announcements are posted to the news group
rec.games.backgammon.
D3. I'm looking for information about newsletters and other publications.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anchors
-------
Anchors: Newsletter of the New England Backgammon Club
Monthly except July, usually 8 pages, two devoted to local news
with remaining to analytical material and backgammon related
stories with minimal advertising.
Subscription: USA/Canada/Mexico: $15/year.
Overseas: $25/year (check drawn on U.S. bank).
Contact: NEBC
c/o Sheraton-Commander Hotel
16 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-3609
Backgammon Magazine
--------------------
Backgammon Magazine
Lately this has been published quarterly in a combined German/English edition.
Vertrieb
Edith Johanni
Emil-Nolde-Str. 26
90455 Nurnberg
Tel.: 0911/883253
Redaktion (Editor)
Harold Johanni
Hochstr. 7
90429 Nurnberg
Tel.:0911/269567
BLITZ
-----
BLITZ
Bi-monthly, 24 A5 sized pages. in Danish. It is a newsletter/magazine
for a BG club in Copenhagen. 4-6 pages are directed towrds the members
of the club, the rest is general analysis, commentated matches,
articles, problems etc. There is a quiz a la Inside BG's quiz. 4
problems each issue, with the answers taking 4-6 pages.
Subscription: Scandinavia Danish kr. 120
Europe Dkr. 140
Overseas (USA/Canada) Dkr. 160
Contact: Asger Kring (proj13@srv.imsor.dth.dk)
Lykkesholms Alle 4B,3 th.
1902 Frederiksberg C.
Denmark
tlf: 3131 1439
Chicago Point Newsletter
------------------------
Chicago Point Newsletter - A Prime Source of Backgammon Information
Monthly newsletter, 10 pages:
Subscription: USA/Canada/Mexico: $25/year.
Overseas: $35/year airmail in USD check drawn on
U.S. bank.
Contact: Chicago Point
Bill Davis, Editor
2726 West Lunt Avenue
Chicago, IL 60645
Flint Area Backgammon News
--------------------------
Flint Area Backgammon News
Monthly newsletter, 10 pages: Problem analysis, book and software
reviews, tournament schedules and complete results, local, national
and international backgammon news and views. Full page catalog of
backgammon merchandise.
Subscription: USA/Canada/Mexico: $20/year or $200 lifetime.
Overseas: $25/year or $250 lifetime subscription.
Contact: Carol Joy Cole, Editor
3003 Ridgecliffe Drive
Flint, Michigan 48532-3730 USA
Phone/Fax: 810-232-9731.
Hoosier Backgammon Club Newsletter
----------------------------------
Hoosier Backgammon Club Newsletter
Bi-monthly, 8 pages: Articles/problems plus very issue
non-annotated matches of todays best players.
Subscription: USA: $10/years Canada/Mexico: $12/year.
Overseas: $14/year (cash or check drawn on US bank.)
Contact: Butch & Mary Ann Meese
Hoosier Backgammon Club
7620 Kilmer Lane
Indianapolis, IN 46256 USA
Inside Backgammon
-----------------
Inside Backgammon
Bi-monthly, 24 pages: Technical magazine with quizzes, articles and
annotated matches by the best backgammon player today.
Subscription: USA: $40/years
Canada/Mexico and oversea ground: $45/year.
Overseas airmail: $60/year (US funds).
Contact: INSIDE BACKGAMMON
P. O. Box 294
Arlington, MA 02174 USA
International Backgammon Newsletter
------------------------------------
International Backgammon Newsletter
[Address here]
D4. Backgammon books and book reviews.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BG books [summary] by Marty Storer
----------------------------------
(From rec.games.backgammon)
From: hunter@work.nlm.nih.gov (Larry Hunter)
Subject: Bibliography
Date: 21 May 92 20:11:35 GMT
Sender: usenet@nlm.nih.gov (usenet news poster)
One more for the FAQ. Before Marty Storer left the list, I pestered him
for an annotated bibliography. He came through in grand style. Here it
is:
Must have:
_Backgammon_, Paul Magriel, NY Times/Quadrangle Press, New York 1976.
The best introduction to the game. Covers basic checker play very well.
If you read and thoroughly understand this book, you'll play a decent
game. Weaknesses--skimpy treatment of the doubling cube.
_Genud_vs_Dwek:_The_1981_World_Backgammon_Championship_ (or similar
title), Bill Robertie, The GAMMON PRESS, Arlington, Mass. 1982.
Very thorough coverage of the 25-point finals of the 1981 Monte Carlo
tournament. Goes into quite a bit of detail about ins and outs of match
play. Excellent section on backgames. I've referred to this as
Robertie(red) since it has a red cover 8-).
_Backgammon_With_The_Champions_, Kent Goulding, ~1980-82.
Series of annotated matches between good players. Forget how many in
all. Excellent material, giving very good insight into how top players
think. Commentary by Goulding, often in collaboration with Kit Woolsey;
both of these guys are very, very strong players. Let's see, the
matches are Seidel vs. Hodis; Magriel vs. Sconyers; Genud vs. Posner;
Pasko vs. Motakhasses; two (?) 5-point matches in one volume: Lester
vs. Horan and Woolsey vs. Pasko; Robertie vs. Senkiewicz; Goulding vs.
Maxakuli; Dwek vs. Chafetz; Ballard vs. Lubetkin; Eisenberg vs.
Magriel(?); and more I can't remember. I can't recommend this series
too highly (though Genud vs. Posner was a lousy match).
_Advanced_Backgammon_ (2nd edition; two volumes), Bill Robertie,
The GAMMON PRESS, Arlington, Mass. '91.
I haven't seen this yet--only the first edition of one volume. Series
of problems, giving very good introduction to truly advanced concepts.
Errors in first edition are supposedly corrected. The first edition is
what I call Robertie(blue); the second is Robertie(white).
_Backgammon_Times_, all back editions.
This was a very good backgammon newspaper that was around in about
'82-'83. A lot of interesting articles by top players and analysts.
Probably hard to get these days.
_Reno_1986_, Bill Robertie, The Gammon Press, Arlington, Mass. 1987.
Two annotated matches from the very strong Reno tournament of '86.
Semifinal match is between Nack Ballard and Mike Senkiewicz; an
excellent match, well annotated. Finals between Ballard and Howard
Markowitz. The book is in quiz format, so you can test your skill
against Ballard's (well, kind of: Ballard had to find his moves
over-the-board under great pressure--nothing like the finals of a big
tournament to get the adrenalin flowing!). I've only found a couple of
mistakes in the annotations. This book is referred to as
Robertie(yellow).
_World_Class_Backgammon_,_Move_By_Move_, Roy Friedman, 1989 or 90;
forget other publication info. Annotated matches between Robertie and
"international star" Rick Barabino (Barabino is strong, but
"international star"--I dunno...). Three 9-point matches with some
excellent games (check out the second game of the first match
particularly). Annotations are very good; Friedman put a lot of work
into rolling out many of the diagrammed positions. The annotation style
is terse; Friedman takes a very scientific approach.
_Vision_Laughs_at_Counting_ (two volumes), Danny Kleinman, ~1978.
-all other material by Kleinman is "must have"--write to him at 5312-1/2
Village Green, Los Angeles, CA 90016 and tell him I sent ya.
Seminal work on match play, money play, doubling cube, races, and more.
Kleinman is very prolific. His analyses are often more mathematical
than the average reader can handle, but Real Mathematicians [tm] and
even the layperson with math aptitude shouldn't be fazed. A Real
Mathematician wouldn't call Kleinman's math "deep", but it sure is
accurate, and you won't find anything similar anywhere else. He does
the important work of formulating the right problems the right way,
where many others couldn't.
Drawbacks: his books are self-published with lousy layout and graphics.
He's supposedly not that great a player (I've never seen him play), so
his analyses often lack the world-class insight into the thought
processes of the strong practical player that you could get from a
Goulding or a Robertie. In particular, his middle-game intuition seems
less than world-class. But these drawbacks are more than made up for by
the wealth of information in his books, which I still haven't completely
soaked up after many years. Kleinman is a subtle thinker and a
meticulous analyst of the countable, and he does a lot to develop
backgammon "vision." His stuff is often uproariously funny, but
sometimes one gets impatient trying to filter out what's relevant to the
practical player from the humor.
I repeat--all his books are "must have's" for the serious player.
They're a bit expensive since I think he bears all the production costs
himself, but for the serious player they're worth every cent.
Pretty Good Books But Not "Must Have's":
_Backgammon_For_Profit_, Joe Dwek, Stein and Day, New York 1975 (out of
print)
Problems that would now be considered fairly basic. Almost all
solutions are right. Tables of replies to opening moves show how badly
people played in 1975.
_Paradoxes_and_Probabilities_, Barclay Cooke, Random House, New York 1978.
This is almost a "must have." 168 problems, most of which are very
interesting. Current thinking is that solutions to about a third of them
are wrong, but the analysis gives very good insight into how Cooke, a
first-generation world class player, thought about backgammon.
_The_Doubling_Cube_In_Backgammon_, Jeff Ward, Aquarian Enterprises,
San Diego 1982.
Goes into basic doubling-cube concepts and gives some benchmark
positions with equities derived from rollouts. Gives some bearoff
tables, etc. Analysis of benchmark positions is pretty good but
sometimes skimpy; Ward only admits to having done 100-200 rollouts to
derive his equities. Worth having.
_Backgammon_Master_Games_, Bill Kennedy and Chuck Papazian, 1982 (forget
other publication info).
Annotated games and positions from master match play. Analysis is
largely based on intuitive concepts, and isn't well grounded in
match-equity considerations etc. Not well supported by rollouts; a fair
amount of errors, but the analysis overall is pretty sound.
Other books that I've read aren't worth much, including
_Competitive_Backgammon_ Vol._II_, Mike Labins, Marty Storer, and Bill
Tallmadge, Competitive Backgammon Publications, Syracuse 1981. (It was
good for the time but would be considered lousy now.)
As I mentioned before, you can reach Gammon Press at (617)641-2091,
fax: (617)641-2660 or PO Box 294 Arlington, MA 02174 USA
Larry
--
Lawrence Hunter, PhD.
National Library of Medicine
Bldg. 38A, MS-54
Bethesda. MD 20894
(301) 496-9300
(301) 496-0673 (fax)
hunter@nlm.nih.gov (internet)
[Note: Fax number edited to reflect the current number.]
BG books [summary] by John Bazigos
----------------------------------
Article: 1666 of rec.games.backgammon
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
From: johnsson@sara.cc.utu.fi (MIKA JOHNSSON)
Subject: BG BOOKS INFO
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1993 10:20:19 GMT
HI !
Many people (last Snoopy) have asked about good BG books, well here is and
answer that i got from John Bazigos (Doc), when I asked him about books
-Mika
BG BOOKS BY JOHN BAZIGOS
The two best introductory books are Paul Magriel's "Backgammon" (New York
Times Quadrangle Press; New York, NY; USA; 1976) and Enno Heyken's and
Martin B. Fischer's "The Backgammon Handbook" (The Crowood Press;
Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 2HE; Great Britain; 1990).
The advantages of Magriel's "Backgammon" are, first, Magriel was a
clear-minded, distinguished mathematician at the top of the backgammon
world when he wrote it; second, it was the only truly analytic book on
backgammon since Oswald Jacoby's and John R. Crawford's "The Backgammon
Book"; third, it rendered all backgammon texts preceding it (including
"The Backgammon Book"), and even some subsequent backgammon texts,
obsolete as introductory texts; fourth, it systematically elucidates
backgammon strategy, from fundamental to intermediate to advanced; fifth,
it does great justice to its topics in its well-diagrammed over-400 pages;
and sixth, it has passed the test of time as an introductory text, having
been commonly referred to as "The Bible" of backgammon. Its disadvantages
are, first, some important details of some advanced topics (e.g.,
desirable back-game points), and even some major points of some
beginning/intermediate topics (e.g., tradeoffs between positional and
racing equity) are obsolete; second, the prose, though very readable, is
structurally and stylistically weak; third, the text has been out-of-print
since some time last year, though is well worth a search of *all* your
local used/out-of-print bookstores; and fourth, though the publication
price was $24.95, the only mail-order list on which I have found it prices
it at $80, which makes a used/out-of-print bookstore an even better source
-- since it is typically discounted to about $15 there, in my experience
(here in the San Francisco Bay Area).
The advantages of "The Backgammon Handbook" are, first, like "Backgammon",
it systematically elucidates backgammon strategy; second, it contains the
complete score, with some annotations, of the very illuminating, 26-game
match between two-time World Backgammon Champion and leading bg theorist
Bill Robertie and now-inactive international master Nack Ballard (Reno,
1987) that the former described as "...perhaps the most interesting one
I've ever played in my life!"; and third, it is still in print with a
publication price of about $35. Its disadvantages are, first, Heyken
--though an International Master in chess-- does not have an international
backgammon rating, and Fischer does not have a master rating in
backgammon; second, it contains only about 60% as much text as
"Backgammon", while not being significantly terser; and third, the
authors' lack of qualifications is evidenced in some of their misleading
and/or naive analyses.
I think that you should search your local, or even not quite local,
used/out-of-print bookstores for "Backgammon", and pay up to about $50 for
it -- though if you find it in such a store, it is likely to be discounted
to about $15; and then, if you cannot find it at a reasonable price, buy
and read "The Backgammon Handbook" -- after which your time won't be best
spent reading Magriel soon thereafter.
> are you familiar with Danny Kleinmans books,
I have read most of his "magnum opus" "Vision Laughs at Counting", which
contains much sound advice on the practical aspects of bg play (e.g.,
sections on bg hustlers, bg cheaters, chouette money management), seminal
advice on handling the doubler, and even a few unprecedented mathematical
characterizations of certain aspects of certain positions (e.g., how many
pips to penalize a player for having one or more checkers on the bar).
> are they good ?
"Vision Laughs at Counting" is generally insightful and often very
amusingly written, but not suitable as an introductory text, sometimes
obsolete, and sometimes simply wrong; and though it is the only text by
Kleinman that I have read, I have good reason to believe that that
judgment applies to Kleinman's other texts, as well.
Ok; then after finishing "Backgammon" or "The Backgammon Handbook", study
Jeff Ward's "The Doubling Cube in Backgammon" -- which has long been
offered through Carol Joy Cole.
Magriel's "Backgammon" routinely used to be, and sometimes still is,
referred to as "the Bible (of backgammon)"; but since the publication of
Robertie's three books on backgammon --i.e., "Lee Genud vs. Joe Dwek"
(1982), "Advanced Backgammon" (1984 and 1991, the latter edition in two
volumes), and "Reno, 1986" (1987)-- I think that it's more appropriate to
refer to "Backgammon" and collectively those three as the Old and New
Testaments of backgammon, respectively. Given that you have already
finished studying "The Backgammon Handbook" and "The Doubling Cube in
Backgammon", I think that you should read one or more books of Robertie's
"New Testament" fairly soon after finishing Roy Friedman's "World Class
Backgammon, Move-By-Move" -- which I, also, recently received a copy of
from Carol Joy Cole, and is the backgammon book that I intend to read next.
Well, from the quality perspective, I was significantly more impressed
with it when perhaps the only bg literature I had read was typical junk
from the 1970s (i.e., Bruce Becker's monumentally horrible "Backgammon for
Blood", and Barclay Cooke's often-misleading "The Cruelest Game" and
slightly-better "Championship Backgammon"), "The Backgammon Book", and
Magriel's "Backgammon"; and from the price perspective, the decision is
strictly yours, though I hereby make the following three interrelated
claims:
1. If you read enough backgammon books, there will quite possibly
come a time when "Vision Laughs at Counting" will be the best book
for to read next to improve your technique maximally.
2. You are probably at least seven books from that point: "World Class
Backgammon, Move-By-Move", the four volumes of backgammon's New
Testament, and both volumes of Kent Goulding's "Backgammon With
The Champions" are presently better for that purpose (and you can
perhaps most profitably read them in that order).
3. "Vision Laughs at Counting" is the most entertaining
instructional backgammon book that has been published to date.
> BTW are there other good bg newspapers or magazines ?
Last year was an unprecedentedly good one for backgammon periodicals, in
that it saw the first issues of what I strongly believe were and still are
the two best periodicals for backgammon theory ever --i.e., Bill Robertie'
and Kent Goulding's bi-monthly "Inside Backgammon", and Roy Friedman's
almost bi-monthly "Leading Edge Backgammon". The former is still being
published (I recently received my copy of the fourth issue of its second
volume), and publication of the latter was suspended at the end of last
year (due to some personal problems that Roy was having); but it was
possible to order either or both of them from Carol the last time I
checked (Please inform me if you need ordering information on either or
both of them).
Those are the only three backgammon periodicals to which I (have ever)
subscribe(d), though that may change soon; more on that in a forthcoming
e-mail message from me.
> Do you know any technical papers about BG,
One of the best features of both "Inside Backgammon" and "Leading Edge
Backgammon" is they consist mostly of (what I would consider) technical
papers on backgammon.
>I have read Keelers and Spencers "optimal doubling in BG"
So have I, but I have also read a paper co-authored by Zadeh, titled "On
Optimal Doubling in Backgammon", that explicitly rendered that paper
obsolete. I'll provide you with more information on both that and other
technical papers from the 1970s in a forthcoming e-mail message.
> and in one AI-magazine was an article about Tesauros TD-gammon (about
20 p)
The second volume of "Inside Backgammon" contains about one article per
issue on TD-Gammon, two of which document (recent) sessions that Robertie,
Magriel, and at least one other bg master had against it; more on that,
also, in an forthcoming e-mail message from me.
How to play tournament BG [book]
--------------------------------
"How to play tournament BG" by Kit Woolsey
This is an excellent introduction to how play and particularly cube
handling varies in games. It shows how to compute push and cash points,
recube equity, how to figure gammon costs, etc. It gives Kit's latest
match equity chart and gives a method for remembering most of it fairly
well. If you play matches games and don't immediately recognize any of
these terms, I strongly suggest reading it.
-michael j zehr
Backgammon (Robin Clay) [book]
------------------------------
Backgammon by Robin Clay $7.95 NTC Publishing Group
I was surprised to see this book for sale recently at a local book shop.
This book was 'skimmed' by two intermediate players, and both immediately
found that the some of the concepts and advice given were grossly
incorrect. One of these 'reviewers', went as far as to say: "If your
opponent says that he has just read this book, immediately raise the
stakes!".
...Mark
In The Game Until The End... [booklet]
--------------------------------------
In The Game Until The End: Winning In Ace-Point Endgames by Bob Watchel
You've played an ace-point game; Your opponent is down to his last
few checkers. Should you run? Should you stay? If your opponent wants
to settle, what's the game worth? How aggressively should you try to
pick up a second checker?
If you don't know the answers to these critical questions, you need
this book. In Chapter 4 alone you'll discover the secrets of the
famous "Tino Road Position," an endgame so complicated that - once
you know how to play it - you can take the position from either side
and win. Olympiad Champion Bob Watchel has thoroughly analyzed
hundreds of ace-point game positions to generate a complete picture
of what's really going on in these common yet widely-misplayed
situations.
Soft bound, 112 Pages. Level: Advanced and Serious Intermediate.
Available from The GAMMON PRESS. US$25 + Shipping
[From a flyer from The GAMMON PRESS]
Learning From the Machine... [booklet]
--------------------------------------
Learning from the Machine: Robertie vs. TD-GAMMON by Bill Robertie
For years, computer backgammon was a languishing sideshow, with the
best computer programs barely able to rise to the intermediate level.
This all changed in 1991 with the emergence of TD-Gammon, an
experimental neural network program developed at IBM's research
labs. TD-Gammon taught itself to play, starting with a knowledge of
the rules of the game. After playing thousands of games against
itself, the program reached strong Open player level; within months,
it became world-class. TD-Gammon plays like a strong human player in
many parts of the game. In some areas, it plays quite unlike what has
generally been accepted as "correct strategy" leading increasing
numbers of top players to begin to experiment with some of
TD-Gammon's unconventional plays. Here is your chance to see for
yourself.
Bill Robertie played two long matches against TD-Gammon as part of
its evaluation process. "Learning from the Machine" is the complete
account of the 31 games of the first match, with annotations by
Robertie.
Soft bound, 56 Pages. Level: All.
Available from The GAMMON PRESS. US$20 + Shipping
[From a flyer from the GAMMON PRESS]
[Note: This is TD-GAMMON Version 1.?]
Other Books
-----------
Other books seeking write-ups:
-- Fascinating Backgammon by Antonio Ortega, Edited by Danny Klienman,
forwarded by Carol Joy Cole and Neil Kazaross (English Version)
-- Backgammon For Winners by Bill Robertie. $6.95 Cardoza Publishing
-- Backgammon With The Champions will be re-released by The GAMMON PRESS
over the course of the next several years with modern commentary,
presumably by Kent Goulding and/or Bill Robertie. The first match
book is to be released around December 93.
[ Seems a little dated now. Perhaps a decision not to go ahead was
reached? ]
Danny Kleinman Books
--------------------
A list of Danny Kleinman books (Backgammon)
Pages Price (US$)
----- -----------
VISION LAUGHS AT COUNTING with ADVICE TO THE DICELORN 438 $64
WONDERFUL WORLD OF BACKGAMMON 132 $18
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE CHOUETTE 142 $29
DOUBLE-SIXES FROM THE BAR 135 $19
IS THERE LIFE AFTER BACKGAMMON? 148 $21
HOW CAN I KEEP FROM DANCING? 134 $19
THE DICE CONQUER ALL 228 $33
HOW LITTLE WE KNOW ABOUT BACKGAMMON 168 $25
THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT 142 $20
... BUT ONLY THE HOGS WIN BACKGAMMONS 244 $37
A Backgammon Book For Gabriel. ??? $??
D5. A List of Backgammon Articles in Science and Business
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Original list submited by Mika Johnsson]
E.B. Keeler, J. Spencer: "Optimal doubling in Backgammon", Operations
research Vol. 23 No. 6, November-December 1975
David Levner: "is Brute Force Backgammon Possible ?", SIGART newsletter
No. 58, June 1976
N. Zadeh and G.Kobliska: "On optimal doubling in backgammon" , Management
science 23, 853-858 (1977)
Hans Berliner: "Backgammon computer program beats world champion",
Artificial intelligence 14 (1980), 205-220
Hans Berliner: "Computer Backgammon", Scientific American 243:1, 64-72
(1980)
G. Tesauro: "Neurogammon wins Computer Olympiad.", Neural computation 1,
321-323 (1989)
G.Tesauro, T.J.Sejnowski: "A parallel network that learns to play
Backgammon", Artificial intelligence 39 (1989) 357-390
G. Tesauro, ``Neurogammon: a neural network backgammon program.''
IJCNN Proceedings vol. III, 33-40 (1990).
G. Tesauro, ``Practical issues in temporal difference learning.''
Machine Learning vol. 8, 257-277 (1992).
G. Tesauro, ``TD-Gammon, a self-teaching backgammon program,
achieves master-level play.'' Neural Computation, vol. 6,
215-219 (1994).
D6. Backgammon software and software reviews.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BOINQ
-----
Boinq is a program which analyzes bearoffs. It can handle any
position where both sides have all their men in the inner board. All
results are cubeless. For any position you enter, you can get the
probabality of each side winning, equity on a 1-cube, proper way to play
any roll of the dice, and a distribution of probabality of bearing off in
any number of rolls. The results are displayed virtually
instantaneously, since they are read directly from a data file rather
than done by simulation. Very user friendly and easy to use -- I use it
a lot for a quick check on bearoff problems. Program takes about 4 meg,
so have some room on your hard disk. Produced by Hal Heinrich -- cost is
$100 I think. Can contact Hal at:
Hal Heinrich
#203, 215 14th Ave. SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2R 0M2
Phone: (403) 234-9944
E-mail address: heinrich@cuug.ab.ca
Kit
[Note: Also available from Carol Joy Cole]
[Note: As far as I know, this is a PC program ...Mark]
Hyperbackgammon
---------------
Hypergammon is a short version of backgammon where each side has
three checkers. In initial position, these checkers start on opponent's
ace, two and three points. From then on normal backgammon rules apply.
Cube is in play, Jacoby rule, gammons and backgammons count (and are quite
frequent). Proper play is much more subtle than might be imagined. The
program produced by Hugh Sconyers plays the game perfectly, since Hugh has
established a full data base which has the equities for all possible
positions, and the program will tell you if you make an error. It can be
a lot of fun to play, the games go quickly, and by playing the program
you learn pretty quickly the correct strategies.
Kit
[Note: Also available from Carol Joy Cole and The GAMMON PRESS]
[Note: As far as I know, the distribution is a CD-ROM for the PC ...Mark]
Matchqiz (and demo)
-------------------
With the MatchQiz software, Kit Woolsey (long time contributer
to Inside Backgammon and Backgammon with the Champions, author of
How to Play Tournament Backgammon, and currently ranked #9 in the
world) has added his name to the short list of backgammon
indispensables. The very short list. Magriel, Robertie, Woolsey.
I think that's all you really need.
MatchQiz is more than very good; it is the single best tool I
know of for transforming your game from intermediate to expert.
First let me describe the format:
You choose a match from a menu, and the computer shows you the
starting position and opening roll. *Then you choose your play.*
Now you get to see the actual play, plus Kit Woolsey's commentary.
This happens for every play, every cube decision. It is an
improvement over printed annotated matches in several ways:
Convenience and speed. How many times have you followed a
match on your own board only to find that the moves and commentary
have stopped making sense? Perhaps you moved the wrong piece two
rolls ago? Or was it three rolls ago? Maybe you should just start
this game over. Never again with MQ.
How many hints do you receive when going over printed matches?
You can see that the player drops the cube because a new game
begins next page. Or did the index card you use to cover the
bottom of the page slip, denying you the chance to come up with
your play without seeing Svobodny's? Not with MQ.
Perfect use of default options. Do you have a tendency to
forget the cube in complex positions? MQ will let you make that
mistake -- but will chide you for it.
Of course the format wouldn't mean much if the annotations
weren't up to par. But they are exquisite. Woolsey is complete,
concise, and entertaining. He covers all aspects of play, from the
most elementary opening moves to the most subtle match equity
considerations. Here is one small sample:
"This is an expert play which many players would not find. If
Magriel quietly plays 13/5, O'Laughlin will be free to make any
point that his dice dictate, and Magriel will be poorly placed in
the upcoming prime vs. prime battle since he will have two men back
will O'Laughlin will have only one man back. Magriel's play forces
O'Laughlin to attack on the bar point whether he wants to or not,
thus preventing him from making optimal use of such point making
numbers as 42 or 51. It is thematic when you have the better board
and your opponent has one man back to split your runners to make it
difficult for your opponent to catch up in the board-building
battle." You get this level of analysis after every nearly every
play.
One final benefit that might go unnoticed is volume. Woolsey
has 18 matches available now, and volume four is due soon. That is
quite a library. Often an annotater will mention some general
theme or principle and show how it applies it to a specific
position. But would that principle apply if the position were
slightly different? With the MQ library, you will be able to
compare similar positions and examine if the same principles apply.
This is especially true for the opening phase of the game, where
the same sorts of decisions come up all the time.
Woolsey sells one match for $20, or a set of 6 for $100. This
is a fantastic deal considering that most printed annotated matches
go for $20 or so, and I guarantee that you'll get more use out of
these. Write to:
Hal Heinrich
#203, 215 14th Ave. SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2R 0M2
or call (403) 234-9944
Jeremy Bagai
[Note: Also available from Carol Joy Cole and The GAMMON PRESS]
[Note: This program is written for the IBM-PC, but it 'should'
run under "Soft-PC" for the Macintosh, any level, as the graphics
are CGA (640x200x2) ...Mark]
From: kwoolsey@netcom.com (Kit Woolsey)
Subject: Matchqiz Demo
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1]
As many of you know, Hal Heinrich and I have produced several annotated
matches which run on computer (PC only -- sorry, you MAC users). Hal is
the programmer, I wrote the annotations. We have a demo match which we
give away for free, so I thought it would be a good idea to make it
available on the net both for the enjoyment of R.G.B. readers and, of
course, to entice you to purchase the other annotated matches. This is
my first effort at doing this so I may have screwed up somewhere -- if
so, please let me know what went wrong.
The program can be gotten via an anonymous ftp to netcom2.netcom.com. go
to the directory /pub/kwoolsey/gammon/matchqiz -- there you will find 2
files. One is: readme, which is instructions for retrieving and running
the program. The other is: mqizdemo.exe, which is the program and
necessary files.
Feel free to distribute this demo package to any friends who may be
interested. If you run into any problems, please contact me at:
kwoolsey@netcom.com
Kit Woolsey
Expert Backgammon
-----------------
Expert Backgammon 2.1 for PC: List of features.
Mark Damish E-Mail: damish@ll.mit.edu
Here is some initial information on Expert Backgammon version 2.1 for
the IBM PC.
Intro:
I remember November 92, the first time I walked into a backgammon
club to participate in a tourney. After playing on FIBS for a month,
I thought that I was already a decent player. Wrong. I won a match,
and lost a match. Afterwards, I played a few games for $1/point. I
reached a simple and common holding game position where I was
doubled, and thought surely it was worth 25%, and took. My opponent,
being helpful to a newcomer, pointed out that the position was only
worth about 15%. Later, I was able to verify his claim using Expert
Backgammon, and had my first 'benchmark' position. I have since used
Expert Backgammon to benchmark many other simple positions, as well
as to play hundreds of games against it.
What it is:
Expert Backgammon, (EXBG), is a program which allows you to play
backgammon against the computer either in a 'money' or 'tournament'
format. It also allows you enter a position, and let the computer
'roll it out' --- that is, to let it play both sides many times, and
show you the results. Expert Backgammon is currently the strongest
computer program available commercially, and the game version is
quite affordable! Only TD-GAMMON might lay claim to being the
strongest program in the world, but alas, it is not available
commercially.
Brief Description of EXBG versions:
Expert Backgammon is currently available in two releases: 1.61,
and 2.1. Release 2.1 has 3 different versions, with different
features
EXBG 2.1 GAME VERSION $50. Plays the game of backgammon.
EXBG 2.1 EXPERT VERSION $150. Plays BG, and Rolls out positions.
EXBG 2.1 PRO VERSION $300. Plays BG, and Rolls out positions. Has
some advanced rollout features.
EXBG 1.61 EXPERT VERSION $100 Plays BG, and Rolls out positions.
Upgrades from EXBG 1.61[expert] to EXBG 2.1[expert] $60
Upgrades from EXBG 1.61[expert] to EXBG 2.1[pro] $200
There are other upgrades available for the other versions as well.
Some Random Features (pro version):
-- Fast non mouse interface for moving the checkers.
-- Match or Money play options.
-- Optional Jacoby rule.
-- Cube profile statistics.
-- Save positions for future evaluation.
-- Save games to be played back later.
-- Computer can suggest a move.
-- Shot counter.
-- Computer can finish game, when it becomes routine.
-- Woolsey or 35% (Friedman?) match equity table for matches.
-- Pip count.
-- Quick or Extended cube searches. Speed vs. accuracy.
-- Rollouts:
-- Random dice.
-- Sequenced dice for one or two sides. That is all 36 possible
starting combinations for one or two sides.
-- Rollout multiple positions simultaneously in batch mode.
-- Duplicate dice when rolling out multiple positions.
Performance:
Speed: Less than 5 seconds per game to play a game from the starting
position on a 486DX2-66 processer. This assumes that the
graphical display is disabled. ie: moves and rolls are not
shown.
Strength: Seems stronger than 1.61.
Strength is also a somewhat controversial subject. Can the machine
play a complex prop as well as a human who is familiar with the
position? Does the machine have any 'blind spots' in early game play?
Can it 'work a prime' to get a second checker when needed? Does it
blitz too often, not enough? 'Seems stronger' is as far as I'll
venture until I learn more about how to play the game myself!
See the section on 'How good is good' for Bill Roberties ratings
of backgammon programs.
Copy Protection:
The program is copy protected. The distribution disks will allow
you to install the program to two hard disks, as well as allowing you
to run the program from the floppy. You may 'uninstall' the program
from the hard disk, back to the floppy for installation on another
disk/machine if required. It is best to uninstall the program before
using backup programs, or reformatting your hard disk/partition, as
you can loose your installation.
Early versions of 1.61 used a differant scheme. They simply stopped
running after a certain date. The authur supplies free updates to those
with the early protection scheme.
Sample Cube Analysis Screen:
B L A C K C U B I N G A N A L Y S I S
C U B E Game won by - lost by Gammons Backgammons Equity
location size cube play cube play won lost won lost /Game
Center 1 47 3 22 8 4 9 0 0 0.108
Black 2 8 0 0 11 0 0 0 1 -0.600
Red 2 0 21 2 2 4 0 2 0 2.000
Black 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.000
Red 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Black 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -8.000
01-21-1994 The Jacoby Rule was NOT USED
Only Money Play with Extended Cube Search
MARK won 61.074% of the games played
Equity for MARK = 0.349 per game for 149 games
Cubeless equity for MARK = 0.228
Net equity when Black took a 2 cube = -0.870 per game
Net equity when Red took a 2 cube = 1.879 per game
[An above average performance in this set.]
Help Screen:
F1 = MENU OF AVAILABLE OPTIONS - Professional Edition
A - Automatic Double Ctrl+A - Automatic Concession
B - Beaver Ctrl+B - Clear Board
C - Checker Setup Ctrl+C - Cube Setup
D - Double the Cube Ctrl+D - Manual Dice Entry
E - Extended Cube Search Ctrl+E - Match Equity
F - New Player Name Ctrl+F - File - Alternate Path
G - Game - Money or Match Play Ctrl+G - Delete Game
H - On-Line Help Service Ctrl+H - Using Option Defaults
I - Invert Position Ctrl+I - Alter the Starting Position
J - Jacoby Rule Ctrl+J - Title for Rollout
K - Monitor Type Ctrl+K - Player Cube Profile
L - Level of Difficulty Ctrl+L - Listing of Game
M - Take Back Move
N - Sound Ctrl+N - Start New Game
O - Options Currently Selected Ctrl+O - Open Position
P - Player on Roll Ctrl+P - Print Position
Q - Show PiP Count Ctrl+Q - Black Shotcounter
R - Replay Game Ctrl+R - Rollout Position
S - Speed of Checker Movement Ctrl+S - Save Position
T - Suggest Move for Black Ctrl+T - Match Win % Table
U - Skip Save Game/Position Ctrl+U - Delete Position
V - Black Detailed Shotcounter
W - Expert to Finish the Game Ctrl+W - Write Rollout to Disk
X - Cancel Move and Reroll Dice Ctrl+X - Print Disk Rollout
Z - Zero the Score
Spacebar - Roll the Dice Escape - Leave EXBG
Rollout summary printout:
EXPERT BACKGAMMON ROLLOUT SUMMARY
Date: 12-12-1993 Games viewed = 0
File: 65_21_A Summary only = 1296
Version: 2.1 1296 games rolled out at
Used Hrs:Min:Sec 1:37:41 4.522 seconds per game.
Batched Duplicate Rollout of 1296 games.
No doubling allowed - Cube at 1 level
[ Diagram of board position was cut from here...]
O on roll.
O won
45.83% games 594
11.42% gammons 148
0.46% backgammons 6
---------------------------
57.72% of the games 748
+0.170 points per game.
X won
32.18% games 417
9.41% gammons 122
0.69% backgammons 9
---------------------------
42.28% of the games. 548
-0.170 points per game.
The dice rolls were generated randomly.
Note: There is also a screen which shows the results of several games
rolled out simultaniously.
Note: Above screens were 'captured' by redirecting my printer port to
a file, and have been edited slightly.
Ordering Info:
Tom Weaver
Expert Backgammon
8063 Meadow Road, # 108
Dallas, Texas
75231
Call: Expert Backgammon (214) 692-1234 M-F 10am-10pm Central US time.
An answering service answers
when Tom isn't around.
Also available from Carol Joy Cole and The GAMMON PRESS.
BG-SCRIBE
---------
Software Review: BG-SCRIBE, A Program By Walter Trice.
Mark Damish (E-mail: damish@ll.mit.edu)
BG-Scribe -- A system for editing, replaying, and printing
backgammon matches for the IBM-PC by Walter Trice.
This is a program which I consider essential for myself. It will:
-- Allow one to enter matches from books and magazines, or from those
personally recorded, to be played back and studied later. Entry is
done using the numeric keypad. After a while, you end up being able
to enter a match very quickly, and become quite proficient at
touch-typing the keypad to boot. An `AT' style keyboard is
preferable for entering matches.
-- Play back matches purchased from Walter. Watching great matches
between the masters is definitely enlightening. My favorite matches
are the ones from annotated books. It shouldn't be hard to
write a program to convert a match from one format to another, if
already have a collection of matches. I've converted matches posted
to Internet by Butch Meese using nothing more than simple editor
macros. The matches are currently stored as plain ASCII files---one
directory per match, and one file per game.
-- Print out matches to disk or printer. I like to: print out to disk,
annotate my comments using a simple editor, then print the resulting
file to a printer. The program will also embed diagrams of positions
to the printout, but it uses IBM graphics characters, which might
have to be changed if your printer doesn't support them. The diagram
feature is especially useful for diagramming doubling decisions.
The program is run from one of two screens. The first is a text
screen with options for creating a new match, loading, saving, etc.
The second screen displays the backgammon board using a CGA 4 color,
40 column text mode. Trust me here---this mode, with its X's and O's,
looks a lot better than backgammon boards I've seen drawn using the CGA 2
color graphics mode. Why CGA text mode? Probably because it will run on
any portable or palmtop machine, and likely on most PC emulators on other
platforms. It also runs fine in a window under MS Windows, without having
to mess around with a .pif file.
The second screen is where matches are entered or played back. When
playing back a match, you may see the dice, then the players choice, and
then see the move when the screen is updated. It is possible to go forwards
or backwards in a game. Although you may have entered your rolls in
`landing spot' format, the program can optionally display them in
`from/to' format. It only prints in the format which it was entered
though. You may also mark positions which you would like to have
diagrammed.
As stated above, the user interface consists of two screens. Unlike
modern X/Windows/Mac programs which do a lot for you, this program
assumes that what you tell, or don't tell the program is exactly what you
want. I.E.: You can enter data, then quit the program. If you didn't save,
the program won't prompt you. It is like driving a standard after getting
used to cruise control. The program does a lot, you have to remember to
tell it what to do though! The learning curve has a slight incline, but
the program is well worth the time it takes to become familiar with it.
I found the instructions clear.
I want to start bringing pen and steno paper to local events to record
some `master games' for later entry/playback. I also want to review
some of my `bad games', searching for weakness. There is a lot to be
learned!
The price of the program is $50, including 11 matches. Additional matches
are available from Walter.
I am not affiliated with BG-SCRIBE in any way, except for being a very
satisfied customer. Please mention where you saw this article if you
should contact Walter. I did mention to him that I was going to write
a review---Last spring!
...Mark
Contact: Walter G. Trice
549 Wachusett St.
Holden, MA 01520
(508) 829-3283
The Match Strategist (and demo)
-------------------------------
Tom Johnson (komodo@netcom.com) has written a progam which is best
described as a match equity calculator. Given: Match length, Score,
Gammon chances, Cube value, and wether the cube is on the last roll,
last two rolls, or a normal cube, the program will will calculate
the information shown in the sample screen shown below.
BLACK WHITE Menu
Input data --------------------- -----
match length (2 - 25) | 3 | 3 | L) Match length
score (0 - 2) | 0 | 0 | S) Score
cube value | 1 | | C) Cube value
chance of winning the game | 35 % | 65 % | W) Winning chance
chance of winning a gammon | 20 % | 20 % | G) Gammon chance
cube situation (1 - 3) | 3 | 3 | V) Cube situation
--------------------- N) New table
Static match winning chance with --------------------- X) Exit
no double this game | 45.99% | 54.01% | A) About demo
double and take | 41.00% | 59.00% |
double and drop | 60.44% | 39.56% | Cube situations
double, take and redouble | 35.00% | 65.00% | ---------------
Dynamic data (game win %) --------------------- 1) Last roll
minimum give point | 50.00% | N/A | 2) Last two rolls
optimum give point | 61.63% | N/A | 3) Normal cube
minimum take point | N/A | 30.43% |
doubling window (size) | 19.57% | 19.57% | N/A = Not applicable.
---------------------
Strategy: Black should not double.
His position is not strong enough.
THE MATCH STRATEGIST DEMO - copyright(c) 1994 Komodo Software
The demo program is limited to 3-point matches and is available for
anonymous ftp from:
machine: ftp.netcom.com
directry: pub/damish
file: matstrat.zip
The program runs on a MS-DOS machine, and the file needs to be 'unzipped'
with pkunzip 2.04 or later.
A comercial version, which gives equities up to a 25-point match may be
obtained from the auther for $45 + S&H.
rfibs (fibs recorder & playback)
---------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
From: spitz@irb.uni-hannover.de (Jan Spitzkowsky)
Subject: Recording and replaying games played on FIBS
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 10:00:21 GMT
Hello fibsters,
I wrote two utilities for FIBS and i want to distribute them. The tools are
able to record (rfibs) own games and watched games and to replay (sfibs) them.
I observe a lot of discussions about interesting positions in this group.
With 'rfibs' and 'sfibs' it is possible to extract special positions played
on FIBS (or even a whole game) and to comment it.
I am interested in a collection of good and interesting games, commented or
not, to improve my own playing. If someone wants to get these utilities
for collecting and sharing some games, too, the address of our ftp-server is:
ftp.irb.uni-hannover.de
File: pub/spitz/bg/bg.tar.gz
Below I give a short description of the two tools:
Hope to find much interest for my work and many good games,
Jan (hotspot on FIBS)
Version 26th August 94:
Any bug reports, comments ... etc.
rfibs [<record file>] [-c]
'rfibs' records games played on FIBS and filters the textual output. Therefore
the setting boardstyle must be set to 3 and the stdout of FIBS must be piped
through 'rfibs'. The correct call for 'rfibs' is: 'telnet <...> | rfibs <args>'.
Two additional FIBS-commands are available with 'rfibs':
- bstyle <b>: switches the board display. Additional board displays can be
created and added in the source 'boards.c' and 'fibs.h'. <b> currently
ranges from 0 to 1.
- switch: switches the player and the board.
- recinit: stops recording of the actual game.
- comment <comment>: A comment is inserted into the record file.
Every started, resumed or watched game will be stored in <record file>. Every
talk of the players or watchers will be included in the game as a comment.
The argument '-c' suppresses recording the talks as comments.
The created file has the same syntax like the output of the FIBS-command
'oldmoves'.
Bugs:
The prompt '>' is missing
Prompts for login and password are missing, too.
sfibs { <gamefile> [-g] | -p } [-y<b>] [-s]
'sfibs' shows a recorded game given in <gamefile> The gamefile can be created
with 'rfibs' or with the FIBS-command 'oldmoves'.
Argument '-g' suppresses interaction: The whole game is printed.
Argument '-y' gives the boardstyle. The available boardstyles are the same as
in 'rfibs'.
Argument '-s' puts player O on the downside. Default is player X on the
downside.
Argument '-p' doesn't show a game. It enables the user to create and to print
his own positions.
'rfibs' and 'sfibs' are given in the following files:
readme, makefile, fibs.h, sfibs.c, rfibs.c, boards.c
D7. Where does one purchase backgammon supplies and books?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The GAMMON PRESS
----------------
The GAMMON PRESS (Bill Robertie)
PO Box 294
Arlington, MA
02174
U.S.A.
PHONE: (617) 641-2091
FAX: (617) 641-2660
Books, software, video, backgammon sets, precision dice, ++.
The GAMMON PRESS publishes Inside Backgammon, as well as books
and booklets.
Carol Joy Cole
--------------
Carol Joy Cole
3003 Ridgecliffe Dr.
Flint, MI
48532
U.S.A.
(810) 232-9731.
Books, software, backgammon sets, precision dice, cubes, ++.
Carol Joy Cole is also the editor of the Flint Area Backgammon News.
Danny Kleinman
--------------
Danny Kleinman
5312 1/2 Village Green
Los Angeles, CA
90016
U.S.A.
Books on Backgammon, Bridge, O'Hell, and life.
Dansk Backgammon Forlag
-----------------------
Dansk Backgammon Forlag
Gersonsvej 25
dk-2900 Hellerup
Denmark
phone: +45 39 40 06 07
Books, sets, dice and generel backgammon equipment. You can get all
the modern books there, plus some of the old ones from the seventies,
among them 'Backgammon' (Magriel).
Crisloid
--------
Crisloid INC.
P.O. Box 2205
Providence, Rhode Island
02905
tel: (401) 461-7200
fax: (401) 785-3750
They require a minimum order of $100 to obtain wholesale prices.
D8. An index of backgammon resources available on the Internet.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By Site:
http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/backgammon/main.html
The World Wide Web backgammon page.
ftp.netcom.com /pub/kwoolsey/gammon/matchqiz/matchqiz.exe
matchqiz.exe Match Qiz demo for DOS. Self extracting.
ftp.netcom.com /pub/pattib/backgammon/
kvj_*.ps.gz Kit Woolsey vs. Jeremy Bagai match. Postscript format.
Typeset by jrichter@aldebaran.cs.uni-sb.de
(Joerg Richter)
ftp.netcom.com /pub/damish/
bg-faq.html A Experimental hypertext version of FAQ
bg-rules.html A Backgammon Rules in formated hyper-text.
bqdemo.zip B Walter Trices Bearoff Quizmaster Demo. (MS-DOS)
fibshelp.html A Formated HTML of FIBS help screens. AUG 94
kw_jb.tar.Z B Kit Woolsey vs. Jeremy Bagai match. Text version.
matstrat.zip B MS-DOS demo of Tom Johnsons 'Match Strategist'.
race.tar.Z B 2 bearoff programs: 'race2' & 'race4'. No makefile
figment.csee.usf.edu /pub/misc/FIBS_client
tiny-fugue text interface to FIBS.
itekiris.kjemi.unit.no /pub
xfibs07 X interface to FIBS.
shuksan.cs.berkeley.edu /pub/tkfibs/
TkFibs X Tk/Tcl interface to FIBS.
resudox.net /pub/pc/windows/games/fibsw/
fibsw MS Windows interface to FIBS.
ftp.cd.chalmers.se /pub/xibc/
xibc-X.XX.tar.Z X Tcl/Tk/Expect interface to FIBS.
Section E: MISC.
================
E1. What other games can be played on a backgammon board?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Acey-Deucy
- TricTrac
- Jacquet
- Moultezim
- Plakto (Portes)
- Fevka (spelling?)
- Narde
- Three Checker Hyper Backgammon
- Nackgammon
- Cubeless, one point backgammon games.
- Many versions of 'diceless' backgammon.
- On some boards, you can flip it over, and play checkers or chess. :-)
Hyper Backgammon
----------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
From: mau@world.std.com (Michael A Urban)
Subject: Re: 3-Checker Hyper Backgammon
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 02:23:24 GMT
Each side starts with 3 checkers on their respective 24, 23, and 22
points. The cube is in play. Jacoby rule in effect. Matches will start
at 7 points and work their way up in later rounds. All other normal
backgammon rules apply.
Nackgammon
----------
From: kleef@cs.utwente.nl (Rolf Kleef) at SMTP-Post-Office 10/15/93
Nackgammon: The same as backgammon, but with a different starting
position: instead of five men on both your midpoint and 6-point, you just
put four there. The remaining two men end up at the 23-point:
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
+------------------------------------------+ X:
| O X | | X O O |
| O X | | X O O |
| O X | | X |
| O | | X |
| | | |
v| |BAR| |
| | | |
| X | | O |
| X O | | O |
| X O | | O X X |
| X O | | O X X |
+------------------------------------------+ O:
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This was invented by Nack Ballard (hence the name), to force his bg
students to practice positional play. Games tend to be much longer, since
you can't easily start a race with a 65 or 66 opening-phase roll. In July
this year, we hosted the first European Championship Nackgammon during our
series of Kater Cup tournaments. Teun Ruardy from Groningen, The
Netherlands became the first EC Nackgammon!
Narde
-----
From: zweije@wi.leidenuniv.nl (Vincent Zweije)
In Kazachstan, and probably Russia too, people play a game called
"Narde" on a backgammon board. It is also played with 15 checkers
each, in the following starting position (point numbering is taken from
backgammon).
O's side
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
+------------------------------------------+
| | | OOO|
| | | OOO|
| | | OOO|
| | | OOO|
| | | OOO|
v| |BAR| |^
|XXX | | |
|XXX | | |
|XXX | | |
|XXX | | |
|XXX | | |
+------------------------------------------+
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
X's side
Do to language problems I never got a formal introduction to the game.
I'll have to write down the rules out of my head. It is played like
backgammon, with the following exceptions:
1: Both players move in the same direction. X moves from 12 down to
1, then to 24 and down to 13, and finally off; O moves from 24 down
to 13, then to 12 and down to 1, and finally off.
2: A point is already made with one checker on it. There is no
hitting in the game.
3: Doublets are not special. If you roll 3-3, you get to move a
checker three pips twice. Possibly the same checker.
Bearing off is like backgammon. Moving is mandatory when possible. I
don't know whether, like in backgammon, you have to move the higher of
the dice if you have to choose. It never happened during actual play.
The game is almost fully one of chance. The main thing is to take care
not to get blocked by a six-point prime (already made with six checkers
in a row!).
[ There seems to be quite a few games with this starting postion,
going the same direction, where 1 blot is a blocker, and there is
no hitting. The rules vary with how many may be in a row, doubles,
and starting criteria. It seems to be a game where 'blocking' is
the predonimant strategy. Some games have double games, triple
games, quad games, depending upon what quadrant the opponent has
his remaining checkers in. I've never seen this played in the USA.
...Mark ]
Diceless Backgammon
-------------------
From: igor@krest.kharkov.ukraine.ussr (Igor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.backgammon
Subject: Re: Diceless Backgammon?
Date: 27 Mar 92 00:48:51 GMT
Organization: Society of connoiseurs of female beauty
In fact, there's a version of backgammon, which is much more popular
than regular bg in USSR, especially in Azerbajdzhan and Uzbekistan.
Main features are following:
-both players go same direction ( namely counterclockwise )
-starting position is different
-you're not allowed to hit ( which changes strategy a lot).
And, as far as I know, there are tournaments, where people play
this version without dices, i.e. calling their rolls. Consequently,
there exist time control in this tournaments.
Acey-deucy
----------
In this game all the men start off the board. They enter and move
around the board in the same way as men sent home in regular backgammon.
In other words, the white men enter in black's home board and move around
through black's outer board and white's outer board until all are gathered
in white's home board; then white can start to bear them off. Black enters
his men in the white home board and moves around in the same manner.
Rules are the same as for backgammon, except that you can move any man
you want to at any time, whether or not you have men to bring in.
In addition, the roll of 1-2 -- acey-deucy -- is an especially valuable
roll. You begin by playing your ace-deuce. Then you play any number four
times (in other words, you pick any double you wish). Then you get an
extra roll. and if this extra roll is also 1-2 you get the same extras
with it.
Early game strategy in acey-deucy is to try to establish advanced
points as quickly as you can, and if possible also establish adjacent
points as base for a prime. If both sides develop primes right smack up
against one another, the advantage lies with the prime that is farther
advanced. Even if the man with the farther-advanced prime has to break his
first, he will probably win the game; if he can hold his prime longer, he
almost surely will win.
Credit: The Backgammon Book, Oswald Jacoby/John Crawford
My own comments: Acey-deucy is a fun game, with a much greater element of
luck or chance than regular backgammon. 1-2 rolls are deadly. You are
never out-of-it right to the end. The pace is fast and furious (at least
compared to regular backgammon -- which, incidentally, I still prefer, but
Acey-deucy makes a nice change of pace once in a while). One key point of
strategy -- block your opponent from a play of 1 or 2 if you can. This
opportunity only occasionally presents itself, but watch for it. If you
can't play your lowly 1-2, you lose the bonus double and extra roll.
-- Acey-Deucy typed/submitted by Peter Nickless
(nickless@ccs.carleton.ca)
E2. How does one become a better player?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Suggestions/articles from ALL levels sought for this space]
----
[Edited from a message about proper cube handling. ...Mark]
Always play backgammon for affordable but meaningful stakes. This
is surprisingly important. If you play "just for fun" you'll take
doubles "to see how they'll turn out" and win some of those games
anyway, giving yourself incorrect reinforcement. Likewise you'll drop
doubles you should take because "you dont' feel like playing it out."
If something is riding on the game, you're much less likely to do that.
In short, it hones the senses and makes you think about the cube all the
time. There is also definite penalties and rewards for correct cube
action.
Practice practice practice.
-- michael j zehr
I think the first step in becoming a good player is to realize what a
game backgammon is. Many people think they're unlucky when they lose,
and don't realize that it is actually also a game of skill.
The first thing I learned from backgammon was to lose, even from the
most incredible positions. You shouldn't spend your energy whining
about your bad rolls, spend it on making good moves (and cube
decitions!) instead.
Other than that, it's simple to describe how to become a good
backgammonplayer: Study, and read all books you can get your hand
on. If you go to a club or a tournament, watch the good players. One
of my friends did that a lot when he started. Also, don't be afraid
to ask strong players questions about a move you made, a move HE made
or something like that. Most of the strong players are very friendly
when people ask them about their opinion.
You can also record matches. This can be matches between two good
players, or you can have ask a friend to record one of your matches.
There's a big difference in what you can learn from the former compared
to the latter.
I played a tournament in Chicago in '92 and recorded a couple of
matches, one between Rick Barabino and Dean Muench. Afterwards I went
through the match myself, and noted the plays I would certairnly not have
made myself. I asked Dean Muench about why he did this and that, and he
explained it in a very logical way to me. He asked me which flight i
played in, I answeared 'Intermediate', and he said 'You won't be that for
much longer if you keep studying like that!' I was also lucky to get an
extremely interesting game in that match.
If you get one of your friends to record your match, you get a chance to
analyse your own play. This can particularly helpfull if you do it a while
after the match has played, to see how (if) your game has evolved.
-- Asger Kring
[...]
But a must if you want to reach a high level of backgammon skill is to build
a positions database. Study positions, and remember as many benchmark positions
as you can. The most costly mistakes are bad middlegame cube actions, and
the more benchmarks you have available, the better your equity estimates can be,
and the more accurate will be your related match-equity calculations. Also, the less
time you have to spend grunting and sweating over equities, the more time you'll have for
figuring out your opponent--and you'll just have more energy, which is at a premium in
long tournaments or money sessions.
--Marty Storer
Just study and play. What else is there?
-- Roy Friedman
E3. Misc.
+++++++++
-- Apparantly it is possable to receive and post to newsgroups via
E-mail. Send mail to netnews@db.stanford.edu Put "help" in your
message. You will receive a reply explaining how you can subscribe
to all Usenet messages that contain a particular keyword or list
of keywords in them. radev@news.cs.columbia.edu (Dragomir R. Radev)
Mark Damish <damish@ll.mit.edu>
Last modified: Thu Sep 15 11:45:25 1994
----------------------------------------
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