The following rule of backgammon does not seem to be implemented:
If there is some move you can make in which
you use both dice, you must do so.

the old variants ( even anchestors ) 'TricTrac' and 'Puff'
should not be too hard to implement either ... ~*~ :)

Anyone ever play 30-stone pickup?

You can't play it online though.. :-)

<GrassHopperSD,,,(:>*

babygirl,,,,,:)

he is bbw,but it takes awile to get things on right...LOL.

thats ok GrassHopperSD, not every one is. frncer just asked me to get people's atention thats all.

I would actually rather Fencer work on new games and new game features.

i can, for brainking, you can send e-cards to people on your friends list. fencer is thinking a bout it.

E-cards are sending cards via email from anyone to anyone. An electronic (greeting) card.

Sending cards from where? to who? could you be clearer about what it is exactly that demands our opinion?

I hate to say this,,,after all the hoopla explaining what an E-card is,,,
but,,,sorry babygirl,,,
I'm not real big on sending out cards...
(my opinion) :)

well i talked to fencer about that and he want's me to get everyones opion on this

Thank you Kevin,,,I understand... I thought it was some kind of electroinc backgammon or something,,,thnx...

Baby Girl is telling me what an E-Card is...

I think an E-card is like a card that you send via e-mail. For example, http://www.bluemountain.com handles e-cards.

Could someone shed some light on this conversation? Is this code of some sort?

sure I do...

sure GrassHopper, on your e mail do u hav a send a card to the person that u r wrighting to.

I am not clear at all on E-Cards.... Could you explain what they are?? :)

so people what would u think of e-cards that has all the verryations of backgamming?

and indeed ... after your post,
mine has qualified as the meaningful half ... ~*~

1. "for me the whole online backgammon is plain humbug."

Seems like you are wasting your time here then.

2. "it's a game with dice ... important, k ?
and I dare demand to be rolling them myself ... "

Well come over to my place then! Happy to play, according to the published rules, any Friday evening. Please let me know when. I'll be home.

3. "it's against the spirit of the rules known to me that somebody else rolls
- and least a so-called random-generator with a scheduled agenda "

See response to 2 above

4. "preaching again - no arguments ... who would follow stupid rules voluntarily ? :D ... that's why smart people have their own ... not to mention sensitive people who want to sense the dice period ( and roll themselves = not a rule??"

See 6 below.

5. "haven't I bidden 'feedback without iyt-bs welcome' ??"

What on earth is iyt - some sort of mumbo-jumbo to which we normal mortals are not privvy?

6. "next candidate please ... intelligent prefered"

Well I guess that would make at least half the converstion meaningful.

hopefully soon ... ~*~

So... if you have all your pieces home but haven't started bearing off, and then roll a 6, you can choose not to play the 6? This variation seems to negate the other rule by its very existance. Do you have a name for this variation? Fackgammon perhaps (the f is for fiddling). :)

you can't move a six from tacken 6 - the distance to tacken 1 is 5.

and I hardly cAn be convinced that luck is added - au contraire,
it is decreased ... for fiddling more moves fit than for removing. ~*~

Sounds like an interesting variation at least. I'm not convinced it adds smartness. For example what if you roll a 6 immediately, aren't you then forced to start removing right away? Or do you have a rule regarding that as well?

what an argument ... ugh :O ... nope, it adds smartness ...
as you cAn decide when you start removing stones... ~*~

That's exactly why I play the variants as well, not many Atomic chess programs out there I bet!

I'm not sure why protecting from being hit in bg is cowardly. Surely forcing play from the highest spot injects more luck into the game.

I had always wondered why you had become a varient chess expert. I guess that explains it. Hmmmm...not a bad idea.

Have a great week as well... :-)

impressions ... no arguments ...

the two dice rule makes the opponent more calculatable,
taking some smartness out of the game thus ...

fiddling in the house after the phase of removing stones started,
violates the spirit of backgammon ( you want out, so the farestmost
pieces have to be go forth if you can't remove a stone ... )
else only cowardliness and boredom take advantage ...

so far the rules that we use for tournaments and my arguments.

regarding chess software ... extensive misuse at iyt is exactly
the reason why I started to play rather the variants preferably ...

have a good week ... ~*~

I dunno dano...I think a random generator rolling the dice may very well be fairer than some bloke trying to make a fair roll with a pair of dice and a leather cup.

That being said, I enjoy online backgammon and do like the single game and the 5-point variant that iyt developed which implements the doubling cube.

I was there at iyt during the early years before they even had a 5-point backgammon version and when the single-game version had a lot of issues that needed to be worked out. To Pat Chu's credit, he did listen to the iyt backgammon players and developed games very close to what one can experience offline.

Although you are an excellent chess player, and I would never accuse you of using a software progam to determine what moves you're going to make in a game, unfortunately many online chess players do take the sport out of the game and resort to such software when making moves in their games. And although I am a rather decent chess player, I will only play the game when sitting directly across from my opponent due to online cheaters destroying my trust and faith in the online chess game.

I know that there are backgammon move generators such as snowy and jellyfish; however, I cannot recall ever having a problem with an opponent using one in a match.

Whether we play what games we like online based on superstition, faith, or fact, the important thing is that we have rules we can agree on so that the game remains fun even to the end.

Have a good day my friend... :-)

hi chellee what would your thoughts on e-cards that has brainking games on them?

I refrain from requesting to implement some artificial intelligence as new
feature for our comrades with such an immense natural stupidity because
respecting board topics is an unconquerable obstacle for hollow ramble-
fanatics and, their dwarfhood of screwing up to personal attacks ... ~*~

and I don't disrecommend the official bg-rules strictly ...

still waiting for feedback featuring arguments ... ~*~

Fisher's version of chess was a variant and is not called "chess", but "random chess". If you want to keep this varient of backgammon that's fine, but let's get the official version on the site as well.

I still don't get the reference to iyt.

although it seems kinda silly to me ... a personal impression.

I don't want to disturb yesmen and the official variant ...

no reason though to not implement the option of a real pro-game ...

Fisher tried that for chess too btw - on details, not essentials ...

just to clarify before even more of the obsessive fraction are mobilized ...

I'm not interested in sublimates of your iyt-damage ~*~

what has iyt to do with this? if you're intelligent how about displaying a little?

haven't I bidden 'feedback without iyt-bs welcome' ??

next candidate please ... intelligent prefered ~*~

What if chess had been implemented without en passent and I was to argue it was a stupid rule? It seems to me you just like to argue for the sake of argueing, or alternatively you are not a backgammon player of any note. Which is it?

no message ~*~

You, or anyone else, can look it up if you like. Here is the official rule (cut and paste). If you find an alternate source to back up the current rule let us know.

(from http://www.cybercom.net/~damish/backgammon/bg-rules.html AND my game rules and any book I have ever read)

"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 possible, the lower if not."

for me the whole online backgammon is plain humbug.

it's a game with dice ... important, k ?
and I dare demand to be rolling them myself ...

it's against the spirit of the rules known to me that somebody else rolls
- and least a so-called random-generator with a scheduled agenda ... ~*~

yho isn't mho ... again just preaching, no arguments.
why important ?? phrases nothing but phrases ... ~*~

PS
hopefully it will remain an option at least to play the adults variants

Danoschek, it is certainly a rule of backgammon that you must use both dice if you can. This means in certain situations you don't have a choice. This little but important rule should be implemented before any other backgammon variants are added IMHO.

the doubling cube was already requested as feature ...

there is some nonsense circulating about the one and only truth
some people seem to claim as their own ... aka philosophy aliens ... :P

actually I'm surprised that the commonly misused rule of restricting
my choice which die to use first comes from different places than
North-Korea - where anything related to freedom might cause pain.

so I am definitely pleased that it is not the brainking rule ...
as nobody from my closer circles uses that gamesense-distortion either.

claiming it as kinda 'pro' is just blonde-pro imho ...
rules are judged by their impact on the smartness of the game, not static.

we call 'our' rules 'pro' of course ... :P

amazingly no player here seems to miss a certain core-rule,
probably too complicated for some of the easy talkers who
don't even know their previous post when nailed to it ... :O

this fiddling in the house after removing of stones started
is children's play and sheer annoying ... our rule:
you may arrange your house-position as long as you haven't
removed any stones yet - then moving must happen from the
highest 'tacken' (as we call the triangles on the board)
to avoid the boredom and cowardliness of evading due strikes ...

to clarify - everything as known even here :D - until the
first stone is removed - that's actually a new phase - and even
if you would love so badly to move a '1' from tacken 4 to 3
you mustn't if you still have stones on tacken 5 or 6 ... ~*~

PS feedback without iyt-bs welcome ...

what do you people think of a pic of bacgamming on an e-card?

Please let's have it; it would speed up resignations dramatically!! For rating purposes, a doubled win could count as just that - two wins!!

I agree with both of Grenv's points. Claiming victory when unable to be beaten wouold certainly have sped up his own "Grenv's Backgammon Challenge". But implementing the doubling cube would achieve the same result, and make a 5-point or 9-point match a really attractive option.

That was the point, through humour. Some people have an irony deficiency it seems. To get back to the point of the board:
I wonder if we should implement a feature where a player can claim victory if they cannot mathematically be beaten. It would save some time, especially in tournaments, if we weren't forced to play to the last roll if the result is already known. Did that make sense?

Also, for what it's worth, I endorse the Acey Duecey nomination. It is more well known than BG race and also more of a unique game. Nice suggestion.