Does it matter if the play goes clockwise or counter- clockwise? Most of the books and computer software I have seen are all counter- as well as the direction of play here- but some books and sites are just the opposite. Is there a reason?
DragonKing: It's entirely arbitrary. On a board in live play there will always be one player going clockwise and one going anti-clockwise. It's only possible for both players to makes their moves in the same direction if they each have a board, which is, of course, how it is on a game site.
In books it's likely to be the preference of the author. For a game site it may be their preference or it may be that they take their convention from elsewhere. Some sites, such as DailyGammon, allow each player to choose their direction of play.
playBunny: Thank you- one last question. If there is a checker on the bar, how does that figure in if I am counting the pips? Thank you for helping a new player.
DragonKing: There's a pip count shown next to each player's name, which has been labelled "Points" rather than "Pips". If you are doing your own pip count, a piece on the bar counts as 25.
(nascondi) Se clicchi sopra il nome del giocatore e poi clicchi sulle partite terminate avrete una lista delle partite che sono state completate. Poi clicca sopra il nome del gioco per ottenere un sommario di tutte queste partite, cliccando ancora sopra il nome del gioco otterrete la partita da osservare ed analizzare. (Servant) (mostra tutti i suggerimenti)