coan.net: Everything you said !

Plus making forced moves automatically, even when they are not "passes". That for all games without exception. This last request should probably give rise to a separate personal setting, since I guess that some Ludo players could be happy with autopass but not with autoplay.

I just think the current version of autopass needs to be scraped, and put in its place is a proper autopass - that will work in all games where a "pass" can be made.

I would think a simple auto message of "Your opponent had no move, so the game came back to you.". Any messages should just be shown when the opponent does have there next possible move. And then an auto message to the person who passed would be "You had no move(s) on the ## last move(s), so the system autopassed for you".

Plus each person can decide if they want the system to autopass for them. So for example, if I choose to auto pass but my opponenet does not - if it comes to me and I have to pass, then I should be able to autopass. If it goes to my opponenet and they choose not to autopass, then they can take the time to hit the "pass" button. I don't see why the current system will let 1 person dictate how the other person players their autopass.

And again, all games that have pass - Gammon & Ludo are the big 2 that come to mind.

= = = = =

Then for gammon games with cube, what I would like to see is when a person gets there first roll/double - then pass option if they are blocked, a little button to say "Roll & Autopass until next possible move" - so that will automaticly choose the roll & then pass until they are able to move again. (so then after they move, they will again have to roll & choose the option again if they are back into a pass position after making a move on the board.)

Autopass would be a great feature for this site - but I just don't consider what is here right now to be autopass... just a very weak version of it.

coan.net: I see. Thanks.

In this case, maybe my next Feature Request (look guys, don't start a discussion here , I'm just closing my thread) should be:

A checkbox, saying "Enable chat during autopass (Warning! This will break autopass.)"

coan.net: This needs to be explained a bit more thoroughly please?

AlliumCepa: Well it is one of the "reasons" why Fencer did not want to do autopass in the first place - he is afraid that the users would be unable to have a conversation if the game is autopassing. So he put in this thing that is called an autopass, but I believe it will not work if there is chat going on. I don't think it is documented anywhere.

coan.net: Yes, in fact there was chat. Is that it?! We must not chat during a game in order to keep auto pass running?! That's ridiculous. Is this "feature" documented somewhere?

AlliumCepa: Was there any in-game chat going on during those moves? That will also stop auto-pass from working

AbigailII: Yes, me and my opponent both have Auto pass turned on. At the bottom of game page it states that "This game uses auto pass". If it doesn't work, why the sign is there then?

AlliumCepa: Had both players turned on autopass before the game started? Otherwise, it won't work.

... In this game.
It is defined as a "5 wins match", so there isn't any Cube involved here. Look at game #2, moves from 11 to 13.

nabla: Thanks guys... thats the type of stuff that helps me more than the dry statistical book stuff!

grenv: It is complicated enough for me not to have dived into one method yet. The pips to add are not linear in function of the number of checker on either the 1 or the 2 points, gaps have to be accounted as well.

If you are interested, give a look to http://gammonline.com/members/Dec00/articles/pipples.htm . A bit too advanced stuff for me I must say.

nabla: good point on the low points, you need to basically add pip counts for checkers on the 1 or 2 point to be accurate. Alternatively you can look at the number of average moves left and calculate the odds variation, but that gets complicated.

Puckish: A very simple rule works fine in most situations. If on roll you are 10% (of your pip count) ahead minus 2 pips, you have a borderline double. If you are 10% ahead plus 2 pips, your opponent has a borderline take/pass.

That is of course in "money play". The take point can be different in function of the match score (and the presumed strength difference between the opponents) ; and when one of the opponents has too many checkers on low points.

wetware: Yeah, too much, I was hoping to stimulate some conversation and some off the cuff opinions, since off the cuff is my style anyway

Puckish: There's a wealth of info (maybe more than you need?) here:  http://www.bkgm.com/articles/page4.html#cubehandlinginraces

AlliumCepa: Okay, another stupid question...

I have had double 3s a lot it seems lately on my opening roll, there are so many choices, I just get confused, assume all my 3 moves are open?

Puckish: LOL, that's the "Eternal Question", isn't it?

When you are ahead in a run situation, you will win more times than not. So, should you always double when you need to, and conversely how often should you accept a double when slightly behind in a run?

Puckish:  Can't right now, I have a vacation coming up.  But thanks for the personal invitation!

Come on Alan, I know you are looking, pull the trigger and this tournament gets started!

One more needed to make 32!!!

wetware: Okay, I am in....

I sent out 125 invitatons to mine, so i know even if someone doesnt read the boards or check the tournament page, they have an invite, maybe some people were gone for awhile, but i would like to have more of the very best players play

Puckish: yes....and xxxxxxxx too :)

Andersp: Acuna Mattata and wetware
were shamed into playing, thanks!

I am sure playbunny could give us a 10 page dissertation as to why he wont play?

Just need 2 more now to start this bugger!

Puckish: LOL...heard about BKR? 

2200 plus 5 point cube

Okay, not 1 person in the top 25 ratings signed up for this one?????

Whats up with that anyway???

I need 4 more people to get it started!

Okay, I set up the last time wrong somehow, try this one here...

2200 plus 5 point cube

Czuch: I'm pretty sure it does.

Does auto pass work in cube games during the crowford rounds?

Snoopy: ...and over 500 moves no less!

Anti Backgammon, I got it.

and still going strong
Anti Backgammon (Snoopy vs. sandra...)

wetware: Put the match score in (parentheses) or [brackets] and/or in a different color. IT could also be in a different size font.

Thad: That could also prove a bit tricky.  You'd need something extra to tell the difference between a completed match (shown as 1-0) and a match that currently stands at a score of 1-0.  A cute solution might involve current match scores being shown on "mouse-over" of each dash or of each table cell.  (But at this point, I'm hesitant to suggest adding much more HTML code to our pages!

Thad:  It's not useless - it tells you the match is not finished ;-)

Why doesn't a tournament show the score of the match instead of a useless dash?

wetware: Probably not deep enough :-)

DailyGammon's .MAT format is fine and works also with Nackgammon matches.

If you are willing to write such a program, what about doing it in Java so that Fencer can integrate it to BK ?

wetware: You are right, this is BK bug #1181, that I posted back in March :-(

coan.net: Its okay, no apology necessary

Just try to be more distinct as to when you are posting as a moderator compared to other posts

Czuch: I've already told the bunny sorry twice, I will now say sorry to you also for whatever bad thing that I have done to you with my couple of posts.

Czuch:  I agree, only I should be allowed to be condescending, sarcastic, and modestly annoying.

coan.net: The discussion has been moving close to being an argument which is not wanted here. Thank you.


As a moderator that was all we expect.....

The condescending, sarcastic, and mostly annoying rhetoric lead us to believe that you werent acting as a moderator, but just plain ol BBW

rod03801: I think I remember hearing the same idea about video poker and one arm bandits in casinos too.

That the exact time that you push the button or pull the lever determines what the outcome will be.

Thad: I suspect sitting in a bar drinking beer would be a slightly higher priority. It would be for me.

grenv: Ok, but how hard can it be? And what other changes are being made that keeps Fencer from doing this one?