Damn! 550 moves????????
This is boring of fun........?

Still going:

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=370322

Honorable mention (still going):

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=560197

And even a little longer then the one in the previous post (still ongoing also):

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=751978

BIG BAD WOLF: I guess if i and BBW play such a long AntiBackgammon game, with our regular super-quick play, we will finish when the sun becomes a red giant............!

BIG BAD WOLF: huh, may be someone should create 30 days per move prize tournament with 1000$ prize. May be some would even survive until the end

Oh, and in case anyone wants to look at all current games:

http://brainking.com/en/StartedGameList?bms=0&tp=25

I'm glad I never started an anti-backgammon game.

it's actually not too bad, i played a 300 mover with qusar but it can get nuts. I heard there's one over on IYT that started in 2003 and is over 1000 moves, ongoing.

. - if I may determine the rolls for my opponent, I'd certainly need
good software to make the probability of all my winning unconspicious ... ... ~*~

Jason and I have this one going .. http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=370322

Can someone who knows how to play this game take a look at this game and tell me if my latest move was the correct thing to do?

http://brainking.com/game/ShowGame?g=864260

I have never seen it a BAD THING TO DO TO BLOCK SOMEONE IN THE KITCHEN LIKE THIS, BUT IT SEEMS i JUST MIGHT HAVE MADE MY SITUATION WORSE?

Czuch Chuckers: I don't think it made your situation worse, but you will have to let him go anyway...

Czuch Chuckers: I would probable make a move like that.

How I see it, your opponent is probable going to put you on the bar for awhile where you get to sit and do nothing. So now, hopefully you will get some moves in with him sitting on the bar - hopefully putting you in a beter situation in the end where a quick run can still keep you in the game.

Thanks guys! I guess its just gonna take some lucky dice on the end either way :)

Sorry, but I think you did make matters worse. By blocking him out, all you can do is crunch your home board. You are giving your opponent even more timing than he already has. When he gets back in, he should have no difficulty rolling his prime forward. Even if you're lucky enough to get a hit, he will just get straight back in again. If you had not blocked him out, your homeboard wouldn't have crunched quite so much.

Mike UK: it wouldnt matter that much would it ? he would have had to capture the piece when he comes from the bar .. then he cab block black out for a few moves .. or not .. he doesnt block out .. black still has to roll 5 to get back into the game .. which forces white to crunch a bit anyway ... it just makes a difference of 1 move crunching .. black doesnt get crunched too fast .. and will probably send white to the bar soon and block him out

Hrqls: Yes I agree it's marginal. We're really clutching at straws here. Chances of Czuch winning this one are probably 5% or less.

Mike UK: I know I didnt have muc of a chance either way, and my instinct said that I might have a better chance not closing out my home like that, but I just couldnt let myself not do it. You are probably correct that it is marginal either way. think the way I played it, I will have all my peices except the last on on the #1 pip and then I will have to makje a mad dash with some very high rolls to have a chance :)

Czuch Chuckers: I let gnubg analyze the game and it says that your last move was the best you could make. However, it says that your play is "terrible!", marking 3 moves as very bad (moves No. 2, No. 7 and No. 10) and 2 as bad (No. 3 and No. 11). It also says that verbatim is playing like an "Amateur", having all of his moves marked as good.

Pedro Martínez: Well playing on webtv, I cannot use programs like that to help my game out. I wish I could. Seems I could sure use it! I know must have played terrible to get myself in the mess I am currently in! Sounds like I lost this game on the second move!

Czuch Chuckers: Actually, your move No. 2 was your first move in the game, having passed the No. 1. :)

what is the accepted move for double 4s to open a game?

Czuch Chuckers: 13-5 13-5, says gnubg.

Pedro Martínez: hanks. Does it change if you play second depending on the first move of your opponent, I would guess?

Czuch Chuckers: Actually someone once told me that is was a very good strategy to "control" your own 5 space (in your home area) - and what Pedro posted, it sounds like gnubg agrees.

Myself, I would not do that. What I would do is spilt up the double and control 2 areas - for example in your games Czuch, instead of your move, i would have moved 2 pieces from 12-16, then moves 2 other pieces from 19 to 23.

Czuch Chuckers: Of course it does...
BBW: That is the second best move according to the program.

BIG BAD WOLF: Yes, that looks like the best move to me as well. Thats what I thought I sould do, but sometimes I like to mix it up to find out what the results will be. I dont think I will try my move ever again now though :)

Is there any doubt that 6/5 opening roll means you make a run for it?

Czuch Chuckers: No doubt after me, 64 is more tricky...

YOu guys missed an important point.

In that game 13-5 (actually 12-20 since it was black) not only grabbed the important 5-point, but also put a checker on the bar. Without that the play 13-9, 24-20 is also not too bad, though the 5-point is the most important one to grab early.

6-5 is always a run, there is not even a close second to consider.

Pedro Martínez: I like 8-2 6-2, but only because it isn't expected. It is probably the toughest opening roll to choose from.

Pedro Martínez: Sorry to disagree again but there is no way GNU recommends playing double 4 2x13/5 as an opening roll unless maybe if you have it on 0-ply. On both 2-ply and 3-ply it recommends 2x24/20 2x13/9 which is the generally accepted best move.

Mike UK: I think what pedro checked was the situation in czuch's game where his opponent had had opened with 54:24-20,13-8.

Mike UK: Yes, it does, I meant the 13-5 13-5 as the best move in the Chuck's game instead of what Chuck played...sorry for the misunderstanding, my fault...

Could you put a link to winners and rankings in here like you have for the pond games please?

Pedro Martínez: Ah OK I understand.

ok, same scenario as I recently posted..... I have my opponent stuck , am I better off trying to get captured to have a chance to come back on with two pieces together? Or is it better to let him back on the board without a capture?

Since there's no gammon, it may not be a bad idea to give yourself 2 pieces. More chance of hitting, and you may form a block.

and is not more than 300 below my ratings, feel free also to invite me
- we could have a nice comment exchange which my pleasance forbids here ... ~*~

danoschek: r u talking to me? cause Im not able to send you anything...

Duh!!! Neither am I...wonder wHy...~*~

i downloaded gnubg to see how i would do against it .. it seems i am an intermediate player most of he time :)

(sometimes it rates my moves as doubtful, but when i then have a look at what gbubg thinks to be the best move .. its exactly my move :))

i have a question about the match types though .. i can chose for a single game, or a match for several points .. or for a money game ... what does this mean ? what are the differences with a normal match ?

i played one money game match (finished it at 4-8 (gnubg got 4 points in the last game .. i took the chance and lost :)) .. and gammoned gnubg in one of the games .. but it didnt give me 2 points .. while gnubg gammoned me in another where i already had a piece on the bar ??

Hrqls: By default, in a money game, you only get double/triple points for a gammon/backgammon if the cube is on 2 or more. This is called the Jacoby rule.

I also downloaded gnubg, and I don't think it's playing very good. I played a money game for a while, and it didn't take me very long to get a 132-16 lead. And I'm not a good backgammon player at all.

AbigailII: ah! that explains in indeed ... my gammon was without the cube (and it states it uses the jacoby rule indeed, didnt know what it was :))

i am training myself :)

GNU is not very user-friendly to put it mildly. If you want it to play a decent game then you need to set it to at least 2-ply (World Class). Similarly any analysis at less than 2-ply is totally useless. Unfortunately the higher the standard, the longer it takes to play/analyse. Hope this helps.

Mike UK: where can you set the level ?

i have it (default) at expert (menu: settings - players - predefined setting)

Hrqls: Yes, you set the playing strength at Settings/Players. Just click on expert and select World Class. You can do this for both chequer play and cube decisions. Then do the same under Settings/Analysis and Settings/Evaluation. Experiment a bit if you like and when you're happy click on Settings/Save settings. Otherwise next time you run it, you'll be back where you started.

1-ply is a compromise between speed and ability. Just don't trust it too much.

Hrqls, Abigail: Further to Mike's suggestion. If you find World Class is fast enough, then move up to Supremo. They both use 2-ply but Supremo looks at more moves at each level. (This is the Move Filter shown at the bottom of the player settings.) I use Supremo on chequer play and cube decisions for both Player and Tutor analysis which gives me a reasonably paced game on a 1GHz machine.

When you come to looking at your games to examine your mistakes, click on the move that you made and the ones above it in the Annotation window and then click on the tiny [3] button down below. This will re-evaluate all those moves at 3-ply and give you much better accuracy. (4-ply is just toooooo slow except for end-game situations or when a piece is stuck on the bar).

You must click all the 2-ply moves above yours otherwise the unclicked ones will be displayed below all the 3-ply evaluations regardless of whether they are better or not. That's just how Gnubg sorts them. You might want to click on a couple of 2-ply moves below yours as well if they are evaluated as close to yours; 3-ply may show them to be better after all.

GnuBg is as user-friendly as Mike says: As always, you must use Settings/Save settings after any changes otherwise it'll throw your new settings away when you leave the program. You'll especially appreciate this snippet of advice if you put a lot of effort in creating a nice 3D board for yourself! ;-)

Is it proper to use this program to help with ongoing game sin here? And if so, is it proper to disclose this info to your opponent?

Czuch Chuckers:

Game Guidelines:

1. NO CHEATING. This includes using outside programs to help play and losing on purpose for the goal of boosting ratings. Your account may be banned, and ratings will be removed.