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BGonline.org Forums
Nactation: match annotation study
Posted By: Nack Ballard
Date: Wednesday, 19 January 2011, at 9:48 p.m.
Nactation is primarily intended for early game use. However, Stick's excellent post and a spin-off thread about nactating entire matches including Bill Riles's comment got me thinking.
I googled "Backgammon Annotated Matches" and clicked on the first link. The first three games were longer than I wanted for this purpose, so I went to Game 4. (It is the fourth game of a 1994 FIBS match between Kit Woolsey and Jeremy Bagai, the current score being 2–4, played to 9 points.)
I am asking interested readers to please participate in a little study.
Please copy and paste the nactated move list below into a response post. Each three-character line represents a roll and a play. For example, "21S" means that 21 is the dice roll, and the play is S (as in Sam).
Start by looking at the diagram of the opening position (on the page that you've left open at the Game 4 link), where a 21 has been rolled and guess what opening "21S" means. You are allowed to use your knowledge of backgammon to deduce what I probably mean, and even if you don't understand the letter/symbol at all you are allowed to guess what the player played. Always make some guess.
Do not scroll past the bottom border of the diagram.
Otherwise, you might accidentally see the move that is played.To the right of 21S (first line), type a space followed by the move that you think was played using traditional notation. If the answer (however you may have deduced it) is so obvious that you are sure you got it right you can type just "R" for Right. (Or, to save typing, even leaving it blank is acceptable -- I'll assume that means "Right.")
Once you've made your translation guess (regardless of whether it is right or wrong), scroll down to the next diagram (again being careful not to scroll past the bottom border). White has played his 21S, and now Red has a roll of 41 to play. According to what I have written, Red now plays "41S," so to the right of where I typed 41S, write what you think that means in traditional notation.
Then scroll to the next diagram where White has rolled 22, look at the position and guess what "22m" means. And so on.
21S
41S
22m
41P
33P
43H
31@
21L
52T
21@
53A
53R
63R
42P
53N
31$
52D
11N
11P
54D
32C
55I
Cub
Tak
11F
64H
Fan
422
41C
63H
Fan
Rcb
Pas[I used assumption in a very few cases. There are two or three plays that I would nactate differently for advanced interpreters (or for a computer program, to get 0% ambiguity by strict usage), but the rest I'd do the same way.]
When you've finished, please insert an html line break (left-angle-bracket, b, r, space, right-angle-bracket) before each line and send back in a response post. Do NOT look at anyone else's response post before you have submitted yours (else it compromises the value of the study).
If you have time to contribute additional information, please share your thought processes for moves about which your guesses felt uncertain, or you were somewhat clueless what the letter meant even though you got the play right due to it being obvious on the board. (Questions are fine too: I'll be happy to answer them when the study has been completed.)
I realize that if you are actually handed a nactated match and you interpret a move wrongly that back-tracking will be involved and even a danger of non-reconciliation, which would be intolerable. Notwithstanding, the percentage of moves gotten right will give me a general measure of current understanding and a basis of comparison for another possible study later.
This study will assist me (and the collective you, in future Nactation communications) in a number of ways. Most immediately, I would like to get a better idea of people's general level of Nactation knowledge, which letters/symbols are most difficult to follow, and how I should shape my explanations in the tutorial update.
Thanks to any and all in advance who participate in this study.
Nack
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